International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP)

Published Date: 8 November 2010

Under the vision and leadership of Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964. For over 45 years, the ICTP has played a crucial role as a bridge between North and South and between East and West during the Cold War. Through the universal language of science, ICTP demonstrates the importance of a global approach to address the problems of our time. Its fundamental mission is to bring together scientists from all over the world to help pass on scientific know-how to the developing world. The Symposium on Elementary Particles Interactions marks the first time Abdus Salam meets Trieste University's physicists, Trieste, Italy, June 1960. The IAEA holds an 'experimental' International Seminar on Theoretical Physics in Trieste to test the feasibility of establishing an international centre. The event holds such importance for the city that the Mayor of Trieste welcomes the participants to the Town Hall. Sitting on the Mayor's right are IAEA Director General Sigvard Eklund and Abdus Salam, Trieste, July 1962. Professor Paolo Budinich, ICTP Deputy Director, and Professor Abdus Salam, the co-founders of the ICTP, lay the cornerstone for the ICTP's headquarters, Trieste, 18 June 1964. IAEA Director General Sigvard Eklund signs the parchment to be sealed in the ICTP building's cornerstone. Trieste's Mayor Mario Franzil (left) looks on, Trieste, 18 June 1964. IAEA Director General Sigvard Eklund speaks at the opening of the ICTP's first official event, the International Seminar on Plasma Physics, held at the Jolly Hotel, Trieste, 5 October 1964. While waiting for its own building to be constructed, the ICTP administrative offices and scientific activities are housed in a building in the city centre, Trieste, 1965. The ICTP Building is inaugurated with a major Symposium on Contemporary Physics, attended by numerous world-class scientists - for example, (in the second row from the right) Nobel Laureate Francis H.C. Crick and Laureates-to-be Aaron Klug and Sydney Brenner. In the first row, Abdus Salam is seated. IAEA Director General Sigvard Eklund addresses the Symposium, ICTP, June 1968. The Carabinieri in full dress uniforms hoist the UN flag at the just-opened ICTP Building, ICTP, June 1968. Smoking was allowed during lectures, ICTP, late 1960s. ICTP will have its own guesthouse. The ICTP Deputy Director, Professor Paolo Budinich, overlooks the laying of its cornerstone, Trieste, 28 June 1977. Abdus Salam jokingly pays a symbolic rent of one U.S. dollar to the representative of the Italian Government and Rector of Trieste University, Professor Giampaolo de Ferra, Trieste, 1977. The Nobel Foundation announces the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to Abdus Salam while he is in England. Upon his return to ICTP, the staff and scientists celebrate his achievement, ICTP, October 1979. Scientists congratulate Abdus Salam on the experimental confirmation of his theory by Carlo Rubbia, ICTP, 1983. A meeting with IAEA Director General Hans Blix, IAEA Deputy Director General Maurizio Zifferero and IAEA Director of Administration Mohamed ElBaradei, ICTP, 1991. Ms. Margit Dirac, widow of Paul A.M. Dirac, receives an 'honorary' ICTP Dirac Medal, ICTP, 1991. IAEA Director General Hans Blix, ICTP Director Miguel Angel Virasoro and UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor-Zaragoza at the ceremony marking the transfer of administrative responsibility for ICTP from IAEA to UNESCO, ICTP, 11 January 1996. One year after Abdus Salam's death, the ICTP is renamed the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics during the Abdus Salam Memorial Meeting, November 1997. ICTP Director Miguel Angel Virasoro holds the UN Day for the first time at ICTP. The Mayor of Trieste is second from left, ICTP, October 2001. Staff and scientists form a band on the ICTP's first Open Day, ICTP, September 2004. Group portrait at the end of the symposium 'Africa Day', ICTP, 31 March 2007. Participants with a gamma detector at the ICTP-IAEA Workshop on Understanding and Evaluating Radioanalytical Measurement Uncertainty, ICTP, November 2007. Behind the scenes of the visit of the President of Italy, some staff pose for a photo with mandatorily tall 'Corazzieri' presidential guards, ICTP, 27 March 2008. Practical session at Trieste Hospital using a linear accelerator during the Joint ICTP-IAEA School on Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy, Trieste, December 2008. Farewell party for ICTP Director Katepalli R. Sreenivasan. The new Director, Professor Fernando Quevedo, is on the left, behind Mr. Natesan Ramamoorthy of the IAEA, ICTP, November 2009.