Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
The International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Studies aims to mobilise a global intellectual community to examine problems which have not been officially recognised and subjected to political convenience. Wendy Barnaby reports.