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News from ICTP 114 - Dateline
Mori Fellowships
The Japanese Government has approved a proposal by ICTP to fund
doctoral and post-doctoral students from sub-Saharan Africa. The
Mori Fellowship programme will provide research and training opportunities
in mathematics and physics (broadly defined to include, for example,
the physics of climate and weather, fluid dynamics, oceanography
and seismology) to 20 doctoral or post-doctoral students per year.
Fellows will enrol in universities in their home countries while
receiving training at ICTP for extended periods. The aim is to
nurture the next generation of African physicists and mathematicians.
The programme is named after Japan's former Prime Minister, Yoshiro
Mori. For additional information, please contact oea@ictp.it.
Ramanujan Prize
Marcelo Viana, Instituto de Matemática Pura
e Aplicada (IMPA), Brazil, has been awarded the first-ever
Srinivasa Ramanujan Prize. The prize is sponsored by the Niels
Henrik Abel Memorial Fund in Norway in collaboration with the
International Mathematical Union (IMU). Administered by ICTP,
it is designed to honour researchers under 45 years of age who
have conducted outstanding research in developing countries. Viana
is an internationally renowned mathematician in the field of dynamical
systems. He has also played a key role in the development of mathematics
at IMPA and, more generally, in Brazil. Viana has lectured at
ICTP schools and workshops on dynamical systems since 1988 and
was course director in 2001 and 2004.
Ghana Honours Allotey
Francis K.A. Allotey, a member of ICTP's Scientific Council since 1996, has received Ghana's 2005 Millennium Excellence Award "for his contributions to science and for promoting science in Ghana and Africa." The awards, which are given once every five years, are designed to honour Ghana's most prominent citizens in broad fields of endeavour that include agriculture, education, gender balance, industrial and rural development, and science. Twenty-five individuals and institutions were honoured in 2005, including UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. The awards are sponsored by Ghana's Excellence Awards Foundation, a private institution established in 1999. The ceremony took place in Accra, Ghana, on 19 August.
Radicella Earns Honorary Degree
Sandro Maria Radicella, head of the Aeronomy and Radiopropagation Laboratory (ARPL), will receive an honorary degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The official ceremony will take place at Obafemi Awolowo University. ARPL has collaborated with Obafemi Awolowo University since 1995, helping it and other Nigerian universities to develop electronic communication networks that provide quick and easy access to information on the world wide web.
Denardo Receives SPIE Educator Award
Gallieno Denardo, former head of the ICTP Office of External Activities and organiser of training and research activities in optical physics, has been awarded the SPIE (International Society for Optical Engineering) Educator Award "for organising dozens of optics and photonics ICTP schools, colleges, conferences, and workshops educating students and young researchers throughout the last 20 years." SPIE established the award in recognition of outstanding contributions to optics education. For additional information, see the June 2005 issue of OE Magazine at oemagazine.com.
Palis and Rao Selected Members of Legion d'Honneur
Jacob Palis, chairperson of the ICTP Scientific Council 2003-2005,
and C.N.R. Rao, long-time visitor to ICTP and president of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), have been selected members of France's Legion d'Honneur, the national order of merit instituted by Napoleon in 1802. The honour is given to individuals of the highest accomplishment in a broad range of human endeavours, including science.
2005 Dirac Medal
Sir Samuel Frederick Edwards
Sir Samuel Frederick Edwards, emeritus Cavendish professor of physics, University of Cambridge, UK, and Patrick A. Lee, William and Emma Rogers professor of physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, have been awarded the 2005 ICTP Dirac Medal. Edwards, one of the founding fathers of condensed matter physics, is being honoured for his fundamental contributions to polymer physics, spin glass theory and the physics of granular matter. Lee, who is internationally known for his work on weak localisation and interaction effects, is being recognised for his pioneering contributions to our understanding of disordered and strongly interacting many-body systems. Edwards lectured at the ICTP Research Workshop on Challenges in Granular Physics in 2001 and the Seminar on Plasma Physics in 1964. Patrick A. Lee participated in condensed matter training activities in 1995 and 2000. For additional information about the Dirac Medal and the list of previous winners, see www.ictp.it/~sci_info/awards/Dirac/DiracMedal.html.
Diploma Graduates 2004-2005
Twenty-four students have successfully completed their year-long Diploma Course studies. The 'graduation' ceremony, in which 18 students were present to receive their certificates, was held on 29 August. ICTP Director K.R. Sreenivasan presided. The programme enables promising university students from the world's least developed countries (LDCs) to pursue their studies in high energy physics, condensed matter physics and mathematics.
Open Access Archive
ICTP has launched an Open Access Archive that allows scientists from around the world to file their research findings free-of-charge. Postings include pre-prints, reprints, conference papers, pre-publications, book chapters and curriculum vitae. For additional information, see eprints.ictp.it.
Stenflo's Honorary Degree
Lennart Stenflo, an internationally renowned plasma physicist and professor of physics, University of Umeå, Sweden (see "Profile", News from ICTP, Winter 2004-2005), has received an honorary degree from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Vladimir Fortov and Lennart Stenflo
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