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News from ICTP 115 - Monitor
Mohamed ElBaradei at ICTP in September 1999
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize
for Peace to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei "for their
efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military
purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes
is used in the safest possible way". Mohamed ElBaradei has
visited ICTP several times. His latest visit took place in 1999
when he came to discuss how to strengthen ties between ICTP and
IAEA. At the time, he conducted a lengthy interview
with ICTP's public information officer, which was subsequently
published in News from ICTP, Spring 2000.
Ramanujan Prize Award Ceremony
Marcelo A. Viana, Instituto de Matemática
Pura e Aplicada (IMPA) in Brazil, was awarded the first Ramanujan
Prize on 15 December. Guests of honour attending the ceremony
included Arne Sletsjoe, vice-chair of the Niels Henrik Abel Memorial
Fund; John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union
(IMU); Rajiv Dogra, India's ambassador to Italy; and Eva Bugge,
Norway's ambassador to Italy. Viana lectured on "Lorenz Strange
Attractors." Sponsored by the Niels Henrik Abel Memorial
Fund and jointly organised by ICTP and IMU, the prize carries
a US$10,000 cash award. It is named after Srinivasa Ramanujan,
whom many consider India's most gifted mathematician.
ICTP's Dirac Medal 2005 award ceremony took place in the ICTP
Main Lecture Hall on 11 November. ICTP director K.R. Sreenivasan
presented the Dirac Medal to Sir Sam Edwards and Patrick
A. Lee. In the awardees' lectures that followed, Edwards spoke
about the potential applications of statistical mechanics to granular
systems and Lee about the Dirac spectrum in condensed matter physics.
ICTP served as host for UN Day on 24 October. The celebration, presided over by ICTP Director K.R. Sreenivasan, took place in the Main Lecture Hall. Representatives of Trieste's UN-related institutions-including the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS) and The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)- were present. So too were officials from Trieste and the surrounding region. The celebration began with a video message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Giulio Giorello, University of Milan, Italy, presented a lecture on Albert Einstein in honour of the 2005 International Year of Physics. High school students from Trieste who have excelled in physics received cash prizes for their achievements. A photographic exhibit by local photographer Carlo Pacorini and a concert by SISSA's Choir were also part of the event. This year marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.
G-77 and Trieste's Scientific Institutions
In early November, ICTP director K.R. Sreenivasan met with Stafford O. Neil, president of the Group of 77, to discuss possible avenues of cooperation between the UN's largest network of member states and the Centre.
ICTP and Consuls Meet
Claudio Tuniz, ICTP assistant director, met in December
with the Corp Consulaire in Trieste. Speaking before consuls
from nearly 40 countries, Tuniz described the Centre's broad-ranging
research and training activities and discussed ways to enhance
interactions between ICTP's staff and visitors and representatives
from the consular offices in Trieste.
Women and Physics
UNESCO's Center in Turin, Italy, in collaboration with the University of Turin's Department of Physics, Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Gustavo Colonnetti Meteorological Institute (IMGC), and Centro studi e documentazione pensiero femminile in Turin, organised a two-day trip to Trieste for winners of the contest "Women and Physics: A Possible Vocation". In addition to visiting ICTP, the 40 winners (chosen from an applicant pool of 300) spent time at Elettra Synchrotron Light Laboratory and the Astronomic Observatory.
IN MEMORIAM
John Ziman with Abdus Salam at ICTP, 1987
John Michael Ziman, a friend and colleague of Abdus
Salam and former member of the ICTP Scientific Council, has died
at the age of 79. Born in New Zealand, he obtained his Ph.D in
mathematics and physics at Balliol College in Oxford, UK. He then
moved to Cambridge where he lectured and conducted fundamental
research on the theory of liquid metals. In 1964 he was appointed
professor of theoretical physics at Bristol University. Four years
later, he expanded his intellectual fields of interest from science
to humanities publishing his first non-technical book, Public
Knowledge, emphasising the social character of science. Ziman
subsequently devoted increasing time to reflections on the relationship
between science, politics and society. In 1982, he closed out
his career as a research scientist when he became a visiting professor
in the department of humanities at Imperial College, London. His
most important books are The Force of Knowledge (1976)
and Real Science (2000). Ziman was a frequent visitor to
ICTP, coming for his last time in November 1997 to participate
in the Abdus Salam Memorial Meeting.