ICTP and the G20

ICTP will host two high-level meetings of delegates from Brazil and Turkey this week as side events to the G20 Ministerial Meeting taking place in Trieste, as well as meet with South Africa's Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology.

The delegates will discuss ongoing and future initiatives between ICTP and their countries. ICTP plays an important role in supporting cutting edge science and creating international science alliances. Its reputation as a world-class research institute combined with top-quality training and education programmes makes it a hub for international collaborations, in an environment that overcomes social, economic or political borders.

A Science Bridge between East and West

In recognition of ICTP's crucial role in international science development, the Turkish G20 delegation, led by Minister of  Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, will follow up on a recent agreement with ICTP to establish a regional research centre in Turkey, the ICTP - Eurasian Centre for Advanced Research (ICTP - ECAR).

The centre, which would be based at the Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), would foster the advancement of basic sciences in Eastern Europe and Near Asia. It would start its operations in areas of fundamental physical sciences that have strong relevance to technological applications (such as Condensed Matter Physics, Material Science, Renewable Energy, Biophysics, Computational Physics, Life Sciences and related fields).

ICTP-ECAR would offer training and research at graduate and post-doctoral levels. In particular, it would support and facilitate research in Turkey and in the Eurasia region (including Balkan, Black Sea, Inner Asia, Middle East and Northern Africa countries) in cutting-edge technologies and scientific developments. The centre's activities would be modelled on those of ICTP, and would include annual schools, courses, workshops and conferences in the centre's areas of competence combined with an active visiting programme.

Building Science Capacity in Africa

ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar will be meeting with South African G20 delegate Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande,  Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, to discuss synergies between the Centre, South Africa and science on the continent. In 2018, ICTP created a partner institute in Rwanda, the ICTP-East African Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-EAIFR), which offers the same quality research and educational opportunities for which ICTP is world-renowned, but at a location more easily accessible to African scientists. ICTP's support of science in Africa was recently strengthened by a new agreement with South Africa's newly established National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS). The agreement calls for joint research, education and visiting opportunities as well as collaboration with ICTP-EAIFR.

"New scientific directions such as data science, machine learning or quantum computing rely on a solid foundation of strong basic science, the backbone of any scientific or technological advancement," said ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar, adding, "ICTP is ideally positioned to assist African efforts in scientific computing to address the challenges that are at the core of a sustainable future for the Earth."

Supporting Science in Latin America

The Brazilian delegation will include Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. In Brazil, ICTP has established the ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), hosted at the São Paulo State University (UNESP). ICTP-SAIFR is a regional hub for local scientific development and a focal point of fundamental research in theoretical physics in South America. In addition, over the past 40 years ICTP has supported the visits of more than 4500 Brazilian scientists to its Trieste campus.

"Brazil is among the countries in the South that recognise how national investment in science and technology drives innovation and economic development. ICTP is proud of its contribution to Brazilian science, and looks forward to enhancing existing collaborations," said ICTP Director Dabholkar.