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ICTP Call for Proposals


Each year, ICTP organizes on its premises some 50 research and training activities essentially in all areas of physical sciences including mathematics.
Subjects are not restricted to theory and the activities are selected on the basis of scientific novelty, the impact on the international community with special emphasis on bringing together scientists from South and North, basic training for younger scientists, and hands-on training for computer-intensive subjects. Where appropriate, proposals that combine pedagogical material with advanced research results, or those that spur new results in an emerging or multidisciplinary field, or those that resolve an outstanding or controversial issue will be preferred.

Proposals are invited from the international scientific community for any of the following types of activities:

  • Schools/Colleges: These events normally cover important topics with lectures at an expository level, and may include exercise sessions, discussion groups and computer laboratory sessions. The lectures are intended to be self-contained, requiring a general background of the subject, and addressing a young and relatively inexperienced audience. Typical duration of a school is 3-5 weeks, with three to five lectures and seminars per day, and of the order of three lectures from each lecturer.
  • Advanced Schools/Workshops: These events deal with specific or specialized topics. In some cases, particularly when held periodically over time, the main purpose may be to cover developments of the last few years. A fraction of the audience may consist of former participants who should be actively involved in the programme, for instance through poster sessions. Typical length is 2-3 weeks
  • Conferences: These activities last for a few days to a week and consist of presentations of recent results on timely and exciting subjects. A typical Conference may consist of three one-hour morning keynote lectures that include a broader introduction for non-experts, and by up to five shorter specialized afternoon lectures or seminars.
  • Extended Workshops: These less structured activities last from 2 to 3 months and cover selected research topics. Organizers should plan, in close agreement with members of the ICTP staff research group, on staying for the full length of the workshop. Informal seminars by the participants and discussion sessions will serve to foster new research collaborations.
  • Co-sponsored Activities: Proposed activities typically bring most of their own funding and organization but seek an international venue and only modest support from ICTP. For consideration, they should be open to participants from developing countries on a cost-free basis, and should otherwise be relevant to ICTP's mission, according to the criteria spelled out above.
  • Hosted Activities: Proposed activities that bring their own funds and organization (requiring, in particular, no secretarial help from ICTP), but seek an international venue, will be considered provided that they are open to emerging country participants on a cost-free basis, and are otherwise of relevance for ICTP's mission, according to the criteria spelled out above. For all logistical purposes, hosted activities will be reserved second priority with respect to the other ICTP activities.
  • Outside Activities: Regional activities are meant for promoting science in the host country and the surrounding region. The proposal should be in a format indicated below. It is expected that some of the expenses for the meeting should be taken care of by the host institution, for example the board, lodging and travel for at least local participants and faculty. It is also expected that there will be logistical support on items such as the use of the internet, telephone, fax, photocopier, office space and computers, pick-up service from and to the airport, internal transportation, housekeeping, lecture halls, laboratories, reception, lunch, dinner and coffee breaks. These commitments should be communicated to ICTP in a letter.

In areas where there is in-house interest and/or research at ICTP, including

  • High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
  • Condensed Matter Physics including Statistical Physics
  • Fundamental and Applied Mathematics
  • Earth System Physics including Geophysics, Ocean Dynamics, Weather and Climate Modeling, Upper Atmosphere
  • Applied Physics including Fluid Dynamics, Plasma Physics, Nuclear Data and Applications, Laser Physics, Energy Systems, Medical Physics, Ecological and Environmental Economics, Machine Learning, Computer Algorithms, Soft Matter, Biophysics and quantitative aspects of Life Sciences and Radio Propagation

prospective proposers should contact relevant ICTP resident scientists for preliminary discussions and/or information (see the research activities page).
Proposals on Web Technologies and Distance Education, Information and Communication Technologies, Open Source for Science and Development are also welcome.


The proposals should include the following information (preferably in the format shown):

  • Type of Proposal (e.g., Conference, Co-sponsored)
  • Title of the proposal
  • Author of the proposal, including a curriculum vitae
  • Possible organizers
  • Description of the topics to be covered and reasons for their special interest
  • Tentative names of main speakers and the number of lecturers
  • Expected number of participants
  • Duration of the meeting and three choices of preferred dates (at least one of them outside the busy summer period)
  • Preferred venue
  • Infolab requirements
  • Relevance to scientists in developing countries
  • Financial support requested from ICTP
  • Other sources/extent of financial support

All proposals will be evaluated by an Advisory Panel. The criteria for selection are:

  • (A) The scientific merit
  • (B) The potential impact on scientists in developing countries
  • (C) Timeliness and impact on the development of the subject, as described above
  • (D) Possibility of supplementing the ICTP contribution with external funding

Important Notes:

  • (1) A school may be combined with a conference.
  • (2) If proposals from nearby areas come from different sources, the Advisory Panel may attempt to merge them in cooperation with the proposers, in order to encourage better interaction among segments of a larger community. The organizers should be open to such suggestions.
  • (3) For logistic purposes, it is useful to involve an ICTP scientist in each of the proposals, though scientific direction could reside outside. Everything else being the same, ICTP has a non-binding preference for at least one programme director to come from the developing world, with one other coming from a developed country.
  • (4) Proposals are welcome at any time, and should be submitted in electronic or printed format. Decisions concerning the programme for any given year are taken around March of the previous year. Since the decision process involves several stages, early submission of proposals with a lead time of a few months is strongly encouraged. Proposals arriving after 15 February of a given year will as a rule not be processed for inclusion in the following year's programme, and might be considered for subsequent years only if there is room.
  • (5) Because of space and other logistical reasons, some iteration on the duration, size and time of the programmes may be required. In particular, it is desirable to plan extended activities outside the crowded summer months.

Printed applications should be sent to:

Call For Proposals
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
Strada Costiera, 11
Trieste 34151
Italy

Electronic applications should be in either PDF or Word format and should be sent to
proposals@ictp.it











The Abdus Salam
International Centre
for Theoretical Physics
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