International Centre for Theoretical Physics

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
© The Abdus Salam ICTP
Established	1964
Type	Research Institute
Director	Fernando Quevedo Previous Director: K.R. Sreenivasan Founding Director: Abdus Salam
Location	Trieste, Italy
Website	http://www.ictp.it

The ICTP Main building has recently been renamed as the Leonardo da Vinci building by the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) was founded in 1964 by Pakistani scientist and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. It operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government, UNESCO, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is located near the Miramare Park, about 10 kilometres from the city of Trieste, Italy.

Mission

• Foster the growth of advanced studies and research in physical and mathematical sciences, especially in support of excellence in developing countries;
• Develop high-level scientific programmes keeping in mind the needs of developing countries, and provide an international forum of scientific contact for scientists from all countries;
• Conduct research at the highest international standards and maintain a conducive environment of scientific inquiry for the entire ICTP community.

The scientific activities at the centre are conducted in close collaboration with the other bodies present in the Trieste-Miramare area.

• Theoretical Physics Department of the University of Trieste
• International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS)
• National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN)
• International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA)
• TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world (TWAS)

Research

The research at ICTP is divided into six scientific sections:

• Applied Physics
• Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics
• Earth System Physics
• High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
• Mathematics
• Multidisciplinary Laboratory

Research at the centre is carried out by the staff of these sections, postdoctoral fellows and long-term and short-term visitors engaged in independent or collaborative research. Visitor programmes include junior and senior associate fellowships, which enables selected scientists from developing countries to visit the ICTP for limited periods. The scientific sections are also responsible for organizing high-level training courses, workshops, conferences and topical meetings throughout the year.

ICTP staff scientists are international experts who do research at the cutting edge of their fields. Constant interactions with a large number of visiting scientists enable many of the centre's research activities to remain at the cutting-edge. Scientists from developed and developing countries attending ICTP activities learn from one another in a stimulating environment that remains responsive to the needs of world-class scientists without neglecting the needs of researchers, particularly young researchers from the developing world, to remain at the forefront of their fields.

The ICTP is also implementing an Italian Grid infrastructure for financial and economic research in the framework of the EGRID Project, funded by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Italy). The EGRID Grid portal, based on P-GRADE Portal technology, allows scientists to submit jobs and perform data management tasks by a web interface. (See also: Grid computing)

Post Graduate Programmes

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics offers the following post-graduate opportunities :

• Diploma:

There is a one year diploma course at the post graduate level in three separate fields, Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy Physics and Mathematics to young outstanding students from developing countries since 1991. In 2006, a new Diploma Programme in Earth System Physics was added. In addition, since September 2007, the Abdus Salam ICTP offers a Diploma Programme in Basic Physics designed to provide young physicists and mathematicians from the Sub-Saharan Africa with a solid foundation in physics before they pursue further studies at the graduate level. The Academic programme consists of three terms: the first is dedicated to courses in basic subjects; the second comprises selected advanced topics in the field; and during the third, Diploma students carry out research under the guidance of a Faculty supervisor. During the first 9 months of the programme, students attend on the average around 10 hours of lectures per week, and do obligatory homework assignments. Final examinations are administered for each of the 8-10 courses. Those who successfully pass this stage go on to work on dissertations during the last 3 months of the programme, ending in an oral defense of the written dissertation.

• ICTP-IAEA Sandwich Training Educational Programme:

The ICTP Sandwich Training Educational Programme (STEP) aims at offering IAEA fellowship opportunities to Ph.D. candidates from developing countries in scientific fields covered by both the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programmes and falling in the scientific and technical competence of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and its associated institutions. A limited number of fellowships are offered by the ICTP in fields not covered by the ICTP-IAEA Programme. The goal of STEP is to strengthen the scientific capability of young scientists and researchers from developing IAEA member States in order to better contribute and serve the scientific and technical development of their home countries.

• ICTP-ELETTRA Users Programme:

The ICTP-ELETTRA Users Programme offers access to the synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA in Trieste in the years 2007-2011 to scientists who are citizens of developing countries and work in those countries. The programme also offers a limited number of grants to cover travel and living expenses of individuals and small groups who are meant to participate in the beamtime at ELETTRA. The number of scientists who can receive support depends on the number of allocated shifts and available funds.

For further questions contact the ICTP-ELETTRA Users Programme Secretariat at the ICTP webpage .

• The SESAME Training Committee calls for applications from scientists from the Middle East to the following programmes:

Cooperative research: trainees join existing research groups in Synchrotron Laboratories.

Training of scientists in sectors relevant to the setting up and operation of the machine beamlines. The trainees join technical teams of laboratories to work together to acquire the expertise for preparing the projects and operating the beamlines.

General Activities

ICTP welcomes about 5,000 scientists each year. About 50% of the 100,000 scientists who have participated in ICTP research activities since the centre's inception in 1964 are from developing countries. Visitors have represented some 170 nations and 40 international organizations. With more than 64,000 books, 443 current print subscriptions and full-text access to nearly 3,500 e-journals, the library has the biggest single collection of specialized physics and mathematics literature in the whole of Europe. Every month it receives 1,000 preprints from scientific institutes the world over.

• Scientific Events

Each year, ICTP offers more than 50 schools, colleges, workshops and conferences. Topics range from optics to earthquakes; complex systems to scientific e-learning; climate variability to nanotechnology; cosmology to medical physics; and radiopropagation to neurophysics. There are also a few ICTP activities taking place outside Trieste.

• ICTP Associate and Federation Schemes

The Associate Scheme is one of ICTP's oldest Programmes, established to provide support for distinguished scientists in developing countries in an effort to lessen the brain-drain.

The Federation Scheme was established with the aim of giving the opportunity to junior representatives of scientific institutes in developing countries to participate in the ICTP's activities.

The Associate and Federation Schemes of the ICTP are located on entrance level of the Leonardo Building.

Up-to-date information on the ICTP's Associate and Federation Schemes, including detailed description and rules, can be obtained from

• Grants and Fellowships

ICTP advertises grants and fellowships for scientists from developing and transition countries on its Programmes' web pages. Direct links to the grants and fellowships that are currently available, both internally and outside of ICTP, are provided.

• ICTP Visitor's Programme

Besides the high-level training courses, workshops, conferences, topical meetings and regular research activities which take place throughout the year at ICTP, the scientific sections also offer visitor programmes. These activities provide scientists from developing countries with opportunities to conduct research and to study new developments in physics and mathematics thanks to generous funding received by the Centre.

See also

• Abdus Salam
• International School for Advanced Studies
• Miramare
• Trieste
• ICTP Prize
• University of Trieste