Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is a decade-long, international interdisciplinary research program initiated and sponsored by the International Science Council (ISC, created in 2018 from a merger of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC)) in partnership with the United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). It is a global initiative seeking to address the challenges brought by natural disasters, mitigate their impacts, and improve related policy-making mechanisms.

The first Integrated Research on Disaster Risk, International Centre of Excellence (IRDR ICoE) was established in Taipei in November 2010 at Academia Sinica (AS), and incorporated into the Center for Sustainability Science (CSS) in 2012. Under CSS's full support, ICoE-Taipei serves as an international interdisciplinary platform for 1) promoting integrated research comprehensively on disaster risk from both the natural and social science perspectives, 2) building an international partnership network of disaster reduction research, and 3) sharing the practical experiences in Taiwan among disaster early warning/responding/preparedness and preparation via international training courses, workshops and Advanced Institutes.

The tasks of the ICoE-Taipei include:

   Exchange of scholars between research institutes

   Exchange of ideas and information

   Collaborative research and regional site study

   Education and training for young scientists

   Establish a partnership network of disaster reduction research

   Conduct international and domestic collaboration

IRDR ICoE-Taipei Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting was set to be held annually for obtaining suggestions in strategic directions and future plans. The SAB members are all from international/academia reputable organizations and with great experiences in international collaboration, the ICoE-Taipei has actively participated in IRDR events and annual Science Committee Meeting.

The center of ICoE-Taipei emphasizes on capacity building for countries in Southeast Asia. We organized different training workshops (Advanced Institutes) particularly for younger/early career scientists and provided them with seed grants for initiating regional DRR theme projects especially within the Global South.

The center has kept close partnerships with UNDRR, ISC ROAP, START, and other international organizations for implementation as "action network" rather than simply research-based collaborations. Meanwhile, ICoE-Taipei has worked closely with governmental agencies and institutes (Academia Sinica, NCDR, CWB, NCREE etc.) and strengthened the capability in engagement as collaboration partners in regional site studies.