Gloria Benedikt was born in Austria and trained at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School and English National Ballet School (London). Since 2002 she has worked as a dancer and choreographer across Europe and the USA. A graduate of Harvard University (2013), she is particularly interested in connecting art and science, thus defining her dance pieces as choreographed papers and in creating artistically innovative, impact-driven arts projects that link the humanities and sciences to solve global challenges. In 2015 she became the first Research Associate for Science and Arts at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Recent performance and speaking engagements include the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; Carnegie Hall, the House of the European Union, Vienna; the European Culture Forum, Brussels; the European Forum, Alpbach; the Bridging Europe Festival, Budapest; the European Commission’s Joint Research Center, Ispra; the Forum on European Culture, Amsterdam; and the Stockholm Act. She co-directed the Citizen Artists Incubator project 2016 and co-curated the UN Concert for a Sustainable Planet 2017.www.gloriabenedikt.com