The 12th Disasters Roundtable workshop, held earlier this year, focused on grand challenges in science and technology related to society s vulnerability to disaster. Agencies and stakeholders from the disaster research and policy community gathered to discuss research and program priorities for the future. They identified problems in science and technology that might be resolved by coordinated and sustained investments in research, education, communication, and the application of knowledge and technology. Attendees talked about how such investments might help produce significant reductions in the loss of life and property from natural, technological and human-induced disasters.