Abdus Salam ICTP

December 2025

News

Season's Greetings from ICTP

ICTP takes this opportunity to wish our global community a happy and healthy 2026! As the year 2025 comes to an end, we invite you to reflect on the year's events by watching our highlights video. For those who crave a more scientific content, ICTP has just released new video interviews between ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar and several Nobel Laureates who attended the Joint ICTP-Lincei Conference on Quantum Physics: from Foundations to Emerging Technologies last May, including Serge Haroche and Anne L'Huillier, Eric Cornell and Wolfgang Ketterle, Shinsei Ryu and Tadashi Takayanagi, and Duncan Haldane. Read more ...

2025 ICTP Prize Announced

The 2025 ICTP Prize has been awarded to Titas Chanda of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and Sthitadhi Roy of the Tata institute of fundamental research, Bengaluru, India. The award recognises the winners’ exceptional and original contributions to the theory of quantum many-body systems, at the interface of condensed matter and quantum information science. Their work has opened new directions in the understanding of non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum systems, quantum correlations, and measurement-driven phase transitions, including conceptual as well as methodological breakthroughs. Read more ...

Graduation Ceremony, Master in Medical Physics

On Friday 12 December, 20 students, most of whom come from the Global South, graduated from ICTP's Master of Advanced Studies in Medical Physics programme, run jointly with the University of Trieste. The graduates, from 18 countries, now have the advanced theoretical and clinical training needed to be recognised as clinical medical physicists in their home countries. Read more ...

The ICTP SciFabLab Meets Kuwait

ICTP and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) have been working together to support scientific development across the Middle East and Northern Africa since 1981. Their collaboration, which so far has focussed on supporting researchers and scholars, has recently expanded to include outreach activities in Kuwait. The new collaboration aims to create a Scientific Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) in The Scientific Center of Kuwait (TSCK). Read more ...

New Releases in ICTP Associates Video Series

In 2024 ICTP and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development launched a three-year support programme for advancing the capabilities of Arab researchers and students in science and technology. Among the programmes supported by the Arab Fund is the ICTP Associates Programme. The ICTP-Arab Fund programme has benefitted 12 associates who have had the possibility to spend one-month visits at ICTP and bring a student with them. New videos in the series “Science is Our Common Language” focus on the stories of four of them. Read more ...

Supporting Physics in the Pacific

Scientists from ICTP joined representatives from several international organizations and regional universities to discuss a cooperative strategy to develop physics in the Pacific Island region. The Pacific Island Physics Summit, held in Fiji from 18 to 19 November 2025, was conceived and carried out by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) together with UNESCO, ICTP's UN partner. The meeting discussed the state of physics in the Pacific Islands, highlighting the lack of infrastructure and international connections among scientists in the region.
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ICTP Link to the 2025 Breakthrough Prize

Launched in 2008 by Bobby Acharya, a research scientist at ICTP and the only theoretician in the team, and Marina Cobal, a professor at the University of Udine, the ICTP-Udine ATLAS group brings together the research efforts of scientists at the two institutes. The group works on the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which was awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics earlier this year. Read more ...

Ice Fluorescence Study Published

A collaboration between ICTP’s Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics section and the University of Chicago has recently used accurate first-principle simulations to study what happens when ice crystals interact with UV light. They have found that defects in the crystal affect ice’s properties and determine its capacity to fluoresce. The study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is the first that investigates the theory of how defects control the interplay between light and ice. Read more ...

A Year of Impact at ICTP

The year 2025 has been a remarkable one in ICTP’s story of advancing science, fostering global collaboration, and empowering future generations. Across the year, the outcomes of our initiatives and partnerships have become increasingly tangible, thanks to the generosity and vision of our supporters worldwide. Read more ...

Launching the ICTP Global Science Portal App

The ICTP Global Science Portal community platform now has over 4000 members spanning 157 countries and every field represented at ICTP. To help researchers in the ICTP family stay connected to each other and the institute, this year, the Portal team worked with developers to create an easy-to-use mobile app. The Portal app is now available on both the Apple Store and Google Play, and provides a simple, portable way to stay connected and up-to-date with the community. Read more ...

In Memoriam: Lê Dũng Tráng

ICTP was saddened to learn of the passing of mathematician Lê Dũng Tráng, former head of the Centre's Mathematics section. Lê also worked energetically for the development of Vietnamese mathematics and in particular promoted the invitation to Vietnam of foreign mathematicians. He made major contributions to the study of the topology of singular complex analytic spaces and mappings.
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Opportunities

Math Research Opportunities

The ICTP and the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica-INdAM have launched a joint programme of "Research in Pairs" aimed to fund research projects in mathematics to be carried out between 1 March 2026 and 31 December 2026, in collaboration between mathematicians from developing countries and INdAM members at ICTP in Trieste. Application deadline: 6 January 2026. Details ...

Call for Nominations, Spirit of Abdus Salam Award 2026

ICTP is seeking nominations for the Spirit of Abdus Salam Award, which recognises any ICTP member (scientists or non-scientists) who has worked to further Abdus Salam's humanitarian passion and vision for the cooperation, promotion and development of science and technology in the developing world. Application deadline: 12 January 2026. Details ...

Applications now open for the AAAS-TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy

The annual AAAS–TWAS Course on Science Diplomacy, supported by SIDA, will take place in Trieste, Italy, from 20 to 23 July 2026. Applications are now open for participant pairs comprising one early career scientist and one decision-making policy expert. Application deadline: 29 January 2026. Details ...

Postdoctoral Fellowship on Neural Networks Available

ICTP's Quantitative Life Sciences section is seeking applications from outstanding scientists of any nationality with a strong research record for a postdoctoral position starting during spring 2026. The position is linked to the European Research Council project on the Computational Hardness Of RepresentAtion Learning (CHORAL), with ICTP scientist Jean Barbier as principal investigator. Application deadline: 31 January 2026. Details ...

Call for Proposals, ICTP Scientific Calendar 2027

ICTP is planning its 2027 offering of conferences, workshops and schools—-also known as its Scientific Calendar—-and seeks proposals from the international scientific community for activities to include. Proposals must be submitted through ICTP's online application system. Application deadline: 15 February 2026. Details ...

Climate Postdoc Position Available

ICTP seeks applications for one postdoctoral position starting as soon as possible in 2026 from outstanding young scientists with a strong research record. The position is in the Earth System Physics (ESP) section in the broad areas of climate dynamics, climate variability and ocean-atmosphere interactions. Application deadline: 15 February. Details ...

Call for Applications, Postgraduate Diploma Programme

Applications for ICTP's Postgraduate Diploma Programme are now being accepted for the academic year 2026-2027. The programme is open to young, qualified graduates with a degree equivalent to an MSc in physics, mathematics, or a related field, and fluency in English. Application deadline: 28 February 2026. Details ...

ICTP Associateships for Sub-Saharan Africa Scientists

ICTP announces a special edition of its Associates Programme for scientists working in Sub-Saharan Africa, to provide greater opportunities for researchers there to benefit from the research and networking opportunities at ICTP, reflecting the Centre's committed to supporting scientists from underrepresented regions. Application deadline: 28 February 2026. Details ...

2026 CMSP Postdoctoral Position Available

ICTP's Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (CMSP) section seeks applications for postdoctoral positions starting Fall 2026 from outstanding young scientists of any nationality with a strong research record. Application deadline: 28 February 2026.. Details ...

Call for Applications, STEP Programme

ICTP's Sandwich Training Educational Programme (STEP), coordinated jointly with its UN partner the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has opened a call for applications for students in developing countries who are enrolled in a PhD course at their home university. Physics and mathematics students from a wide range of fields are encouraged to apply. Application deadline: 28 February 2026. Details ...

Call for Nominations, 2026 Ramanujan Prize

ICTP is now accepting nominations for the 2026 ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries. The prize is awarded annually to a researcher from a developing country who has conducted outstanding research in a developing country. Researchers working in any branch of the mathematical sciences are eligible. Application deadline: 30 April 2026. Details ...