The Center for Russian Studies (CRS) at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Social Sciences, Israel's Archimedes Center, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) held a joint workshop in Laxenburg, Austria, on July 17, 2024, on the possibility of working together on projects related to their core research in Russian demography, labor market, economics, and their methodology. The meeting served a starting point for discussing options for collaborations among the three groups. The workshop was hosted by IIASA and was attended by Prof. Wolfgang Lutz, Dr. Sergei Schebov, Dr. Elena Rovenskaya, Dr. Anne Goujon (all - IIASA). Prof. Itai Sened, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at TAU, and Prof. Vered Blass from TAU, who are involved in IIASSA projects, Vered also represented the Archimedes Center at the meeting. The CRS was represented by Anatoly Chubais, Dr. Aleksander Arkhangelskii, Yohanan Gurevich, Dmitry Butrin, Dr. Victor Vakhshtayn. Alsp in attendance were Alexander Baunov from the European University Institute and Prof. Alexander Libman from Freie Universität Berlin.

The main objectives of the seminar were to present the CRS research program at IIASA and to discuss prospects of establishing working groups on the directions of these projects over the next three years. The subjects of separate discussion at the seminar were issues related to the theory of human capital, the use of IIASA methodological developments in other sectors of social sciences, as well as developments related to the theory of analysis of complex adaptive systems. In turn, IIASA scientists emphasized the need for the CRS project to explore aspects related to the resilience of natural and socioeconomic systems, issues linking Russia's economic development and the environment and climate change.

According to Prof. Itai Sened, the rich knowledge at IIASA in the field of social sciences, modeling and forecasting of social processes can become significant for the effective development of the CRS project. "IIASA's experience in this field is unique, and I see great potential in bringing it into the Russian interdisciplinary research project of CRS’. We hope that today's meeting will give impetus to substantive discussions by representatives of the centers on the possibility of working together - this is a very encouraging prospect" - he said.

Research in Russian history, economics, Russian society and culture has been conducted at various TAU units for decades, reflecting the relevance of Russia as an object of study, and the historical ties between the Russian and Israeli academic spheres. CRS, operating since February 2024, is engaged in interdisciplinary economic, sociological, political science, and cultural studies of Russia's recent history (post-1991). The central task of the CRS project, Future of Russia Research Initiative, is to investigate the mutual influence of the four directions of Russia's development as a state, society, culture and economy on the trajectory of the scenarios already realized and to continue creating a theoretical and methodological basis for analyzing its future.