With the help of ICTP, the Latin American Centre for Physics (CLAF) hopes to create an intricate network of physics research communities stretching from the Rio Grande to Cape Horn.

Fostering Physics in Latin America

What's the current and future state of physics in Latin America? The answer depends on where you look.

In Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, which enjoy strong traditions in physics research and training, the profession is in good health. In Chile, Colombia and Venezuela, which now have a critical mass of physicists, the prognosis is encouraging. In Costa Rica and Uruguay, which have built small but energetic research groups, the outlook is cautiously optimistic.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, which has a substantial number of well-trained but inadequately funded physicists, the forecast is cloudy. In Peru, home to a large number of young physicists struggling to construct a viable physics research community, it's unsettled. And in Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Panama and Guatemala, which still must develop postgraduate research and training facilities from the ground up, it's precarious.

The Latin American Centre for Physics (CLAF), an intergovernmental organisation that promotes the development of physics throughout the region, signed a memorandum of agreement with ICTP in 1997 to (1) assess the needs of physics communities in Latin America, particularly in countries with weak research and education facilities, and (2) devise a strategy of institutional co-operation to help physicists throughout the continent pursue fruitful and productive careers.

Why was this initiative launched? Because over the past few decades two closely related trends have placed physics programmes in Latin America in greater jeopardy. Many promising young physicists from Latin America's distinguished universities have sought to advance their careers abroad, either in Europe or the United States. At the same time, many undergraduate students from countries with inadequate physics research facilities have continued their studies in nearby countries--most notably, in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico--where they are likely to receive better training.

In either case, the most talented physicists in many Latin American nations often have left their homes for greener intellectual pastures. The scientists may have benefited from such freedom of movement but clearly the nations in which they were born, raised and received their early schooling have not, especially when you consider that many of these scientists often choose never to return home.

With ICTP's help, CLAF has sought to plug the internal and external brain drain of physicists through a co-operative Ph.D. programme established among Latin American universities. On another front, ICTP and CLAF have worked together to promote physics research among Latin America's relatively less developed countries.

The co-operative Ph.D. programme works like this: a pair of universities in different countries agree to jointly supervise the work of a Ph.D. graduate student. The student, in turn, agrees to spend time at each university.

At its best, the programme not only allows a student to keep in touch with his or her country, but builds an enduring framework for research collaboration between the two institutions. The latter serves as critical force for strengthening the state of physics research and training across the continent over the long term.

To date, eight students--five men and three women--involving seven countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) have participated in the CLAF/ICTP Ph.D. programme.

This past April, the programme, less than six months after its inception, experienced its greatest success story when Paraguayan-born Alejandro Peruzzi, whose Ph.D. studies in Argentina had been interrupted for several years, completed his thesis on experimental thermodynamics of phase transitions. The Instituto Balseiro in Bariloche, Argentina, granted Peruzzi his degree with the agreement of his institution of origin, the Universidad Nacional de Asunción in Paraguay.

The two institutions were brought together under the auspices of the CLAF/ICTP Ph.D. programme. The bottom line is this: Paraguay would have lost one of its most promising physicists if not for the collaboration that took place between these two institutions.

Under the programme's umbrella, a common research activity in physics is now planned between one of the region's more developed countries (Argentina) and one of its less developed countries (Paraguay). In addition, a second doctorate degree will be awarded at the end of the year to a student who attended universities in Argentina and Uruguay, and a third doctorate degree likely will be granted in mid-2000 through a joint arrangement between universities in Mexico and Brazil.

The administrative framework for these partnerships has been built through CLAF, which currently has 13 Latin American member-countries and supports some 30 activities each year.

ICTP's role is simple, yet irreplaceable: Through its Office of External Activities (OEA), the Centre provides money to cover student transportation costs and, when necessary, offers fellowship money for expenses incurred abroad during the time of the recipient's studies.

With this help, the programme not only gives a young student a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfil his or her potential, but it also helps to nurture a positive environment for co-operation among the participating institutions.

For those nations that have yet to develop strong vehicles for advancing physics within their borders, the agreement between CLAF and ICTP holds the promise of jump-starting a discipline that has been stalled for too long. Peru, for example, recently became a full member of CLAF.

Physicists throughout the continent, in fact, view this membership as a confirmation of the progress that Peru has made in the development of its physics research and training activities--and as an indication that additional growth will take place in the future. In Paraguay, meanwhile, an Association of Physics has recently been launched, again thanks largely to the groundwork laid by the CLAF/ICTP initiative.

No programme alone can be expected to build a strong physics research community, especially in nations facing a host of difficult challenges related to economic and social development.

However, as the CLAF/ICTP partnership shows, dramatic progress can take place through modest investments at critical junctures in the careers of young researchers and timely support to incipient research groups. Moreover, as the quality of research institutions continues to rise in many developing nations, such efforts can increasingly take the form of neighbour helping neighbour.

Much has been written about the importance of South/South co-operation in science and technology in the developing world. The CLAF/ICTP initiative for aiding young doctoral students in physics offers a road map for transforming these lofty sentiments into a strategy that yields positive results for both scientists and society.

Luis Masperi

An ICTP Senior Associate from 1975 to 1992, Luis Masperi is the director of the Latin American Centre for Physics (CLAF), headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For additional information about CLAF, contact claf@cbpf.br or ICTP Office of External Activities, fax 39 040 2240 443, or e-mail oea@ictp.trieste.it.

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