Trained as a mathematician and hydrologist, Professor Pavel Kabat has been a distinguished figure in the field of earth system sciences since the early 1980s, with a focus on transdisciplinary approaches. In June 2021, he was appointed Secretary General of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO), which was established in 1987 by the G7 nations and the European Union to advance international research at the frontier of the life sciences. As of 2024, HFSPO is supported by the G7 nations, together with Australia, India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and the European Commission. Since its inception, HFSPO has facilitated over 8,500 researchers from more than 70 countries, to conduct high-risk, high-gain research projects. By encouraging this open approach to science, 31 HFSP awardees have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize, and additionally, four Nobel Prizes have been granted to the laureates of the prestigious HFSPO Nakasone Award.
Before HFSPO, Professor Kabat served as the inaugural Chief Scientist and Research Director of the Geneva based World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the United Nations, where he oversaw the overall strategic direction of WMO science and science to application activities worldwide. Previously, he was the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, an independent, international science and science-to-policy institute. Since the late 1990s, he has been a Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, where he has supervised more than 100 PhD students, from around the world. Prof Kabat is the author or co-author of around 450 publications, including nine books, and a member of editorial boards of international journals.
Among his engagements in international organizations, Professor Kabat is a member of the UN Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); a Fellow of the International Science Council (ISC); a member of the Board of Directors and Council Member of the STS Forum (Japan); a member of the program Committee of the World Premier Institutes (WPI); and a member of the advisory and supervisory boards to the Dutch government and other international bodies.
In recognition of his contributions, Professor Kabat was knighted in 2013 by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. receiving the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the country’s highest honors. In 2018, he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class by the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, acknowledging his outstanding achievements in science. Other academic and societal awards and distinctions include 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (co-recipient of a group prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC), The Zayed International Prize for the Environment, and several honorary degrees, memberships and distinguished fellowships worldwide.