UNU-IAS began operating out of its new premises in the International Organizations Center of the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center in Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama as of 1 April 2004.

UNU is most appreciative of the invitation extended by the City of Yokohama, and believes that, given the international, progressive and forward-looking environment of Yokohama City, the new location will enable UNU-IAS to further extend its research and training activities.

UNU-IAS is one of the Research and Training Centres of United Nations University. UNU is an organ of the United Nations that devotes its work to research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare. UNU-IAS is dedicated to advancing knowledge and promoting learning for policy-making to meet the challenges of sustainable development.

The United Nations University (UNU) is an organ of the United Nations that devotes its work to research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare. The UNU's academic activities are coordinated and carried out by the UNU Centre and 14 RTC/Ps (Research and Training Centres/Programmes) as well as through a global network of associated and cooperating institutions and scholars.

The UNU-IAS is one of the five Research and Training Centres of the UNU. As an integral part of the UNU, the UNU-IAS is dedicated to advancing knowledge and promoting learning for policymaking to meet the challenges of sustainable development. The UNU-IAS is mandated to create rigorous community of scholars to conduct research and learning to foster multidisciplinary approaches and creative solutions to major problems of humankind.

The current research agenda is focused on strategic approaches to sustainable development. Under this broad theme, the UNU-IAS is working on projects around the issues of Biodiversity Initiative that supports international diplomacy and policy-making concerning the advancement of biological sciences, Urban Ecosystems, Sustainable Development Governance, Science and Technology Policy Options for Developing Countries, and Education for Sustainable Development. The UNU-IAS also conducts capacity development / fellowships programme that aims at improving the capacity of young scientists, researchers and policy makers of developing countries.

[Organization of the UNU-IAS]
37 in-house faculty members
39 chair professors and visiting faculty

[The Rector of UNU and the Director of UNU-IAS]

The Rector of the UNU (Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations) is Professor Dr. J. A. van Ginkel whose fields of interest are urban and regional development, population, housing studies, science policy, internationalization and university management. He has published widely on these areas, and has contributed extensively to the work of various international educational organizations. He was elected as President of the International Association of Universities (IAU, Paris) in August 2000. He is the former Rector of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

The Director of the UNU-IAS is Professor Dr. A. H. Zakri, whose interests include biotechnology and biodiversity policies for developing countries. He is also the Co-Chair of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, an undertaking launched by the UN Secretary-General to assess the state-of-health of the world's ecosystems. He is a Vice President of the Third World Academy of Sciences, member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.