ICTP at World Science Forum 2022

ICTP has joined up with the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) to host a session at the 2022 World Science Forum on "Physics and Accelerators for Science and Social Justice". The event takes place Thursday 8 December from 11:30 to 13:00. The Forum's livestream can be followed here.

ICTP scientist Kate Shaw will moderate the session, which will address how networks of researchers and multi-disciplinary scientific facilities can bring together global scientific communities, where the mission of advancing science intermixes finely with a firm societal commitment. These facilities must be accessible to all nations in order for them to benefit from the vast social and economic impacts, the local knowledge and technology transfer, and finally address challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In particular, SESAME will be highlighted, as will research centres that provide facilities and training to create a substantial and technically advanced scientific community in the Global South such as ICTP and its partner institute, the East African Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR).

Such new large scale research facilities, and the institutes that support them,  address important multidisciplinary challenges from physics to infectious diseases, and can lead to massive capacity building, to foster scientific and technological excellence, build scientific and cultural bridges between diverse societies, develop local innovative competitive industry and help to prevent and reverse the scientific brain drain.

Access to training and education for students and researchers on all continents is a vital pathway towards sustainable development. The ICTP/SESAME session panellists will explore the impact and outcomes from ICTP’s flagship training outreach programme Physics Without Frontiers (PWF), which empowers international researchers to initiate motivational and research-led training activities for university students who lack access to cutting-edge research, and provide careers advice and mentoring, to help create the next generation of scientists.

Panellists include:

• Gihan Kamel, IR Beamline Responsible Scientist , SESAME Synchrotron Light Source
• Bobby Acharya, Senior Research Scientist , The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and King’s College London
• Sekazi Mtingwa, TriSEED Consultants, LLC, TriSEED Consultants, LLC
• Galileo Violini, Director Emeritus, Centro Internacional de Física

The World Science Forum is among the most significant international science gatherings.  It takes place every two years and attracts scientists from all over the world.  Established by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the gathering deliberates on the social and economic relevance, influence and responsibilities of science.