The APCTP

Three years ago, at the first meeting of the International Planning Committee for the Asia Pacific Centre for Theoretical Physics (APCTP), Y.M. Cho, who had spent many years spearheading the effort for the Centre's creation, jotted down what he viewed as its two major responsibilities.

APCTP, he said, should be "A centre of excellence for research in theoretical physics and a centre for the training of theoretical physicists at the post-doctoral and doctoral levels."

That proposal became a reality last June when the newly formed APCTP hosted its first official research activity: an international conference on particles and cosmology.

The administrative offices for APCTP, which is modelled after the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), will be headquartered in Seoul, Korea. The 10 members of the planning committee-Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam-subsequently became founding members of the Centre.

"We are delighted to have participated in the inaugural conference of the APCTP," says Miguel Virasoro, ICTP's Director. "It's been heartening to see the ICTP concept spread to other parts of the world."

The two institutions-ICTP and APCTP-will remain completely independent of one another, although both hope to eventually work together on specific research projects of mutual interest.

The APCTP's Science Council met in Seoul, Korea, in September to discuss the Centre's 1998 calendar. Next year's activities include a school on string theory and a workshop on condensed matter.

At the September meeting, it was also announced that Nobel Laureate C.N. Yang, Professor of Physics at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook and another driving force behind the APCTP, will be the Centre's first President. Y.M. Cho will serve as first Secretary General. He will be responsible for the Centre's day-to-day activities.

Nigeria on the Net

Thanks largely to the ICTP, Nigerian scientists will soon be able to communicate with their colleagues worldwide via the Internet. In fact, computers at five Nigerian universities are now "wired".

The project, launched in November 1995 in cooperation with the Obafemi Awolowo University, has grown into a nationwide initiative.

The National Universities Commission of Nigeria has been instrumental in this effort. The World Bank has invested US$130,000 in the project, and the United Nations University and the ICTP each have provided another US$50,000.

Nigerian universities will be linked to the Internet through the National Academic Network, which in the initial phase will use the ICTP as its gateway to cyberspace. For now, the ICTP provides the link via electronic mail. The Centre has also provided Internet training for Nigerian personnel.

This marks the first time that the ICTP has offered assistance and support for the establishment of computer networks on university campuses in developing countries.

"The initiative helps broaden the reach of the ICTP without extending its physical boundaries," says Alvise Nobile, Head of the Scientific Computer Section, who coordinates the project along with Sandro Radicella, ICTP's Head of the Aeronomy and Radiopropation Laboratory. "It gives us an opportunity to use our facilities in ways that help overcome the problems of professional isolation, which plague many scientists in the developing world, particularly those in Africa".

The ICTP will now seek to replicate the "networking" success it has achieved in Nigeria in other African nations. The Centre, in cooperation with the Cape Coast University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana, is presently organizing training activities. The goal is to establish a permanent training system in the future.

ICTP Connections in Latin America

The ICTP's regional colleges and workshops are on the road again. Last spring, the ICTP organized its second Latin American Course on Data Acquisition and Filtering in San Luis, Argentina. The World Bank, United Nations University and National University of San Luis (UNSL) funded the activity. Alberto Colavita, Head of the ICTP's Microprocessor Laboratory and a Professor of Physics at UNSL, directed the course; Andres Cicuttin, ICTP Research Scientist, supervised the laboratory work.

The activity attracted 30 young researchers. Most came from Argentina-about 20 in all. But youthful scientists from Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru were also in attendance.

Latin America plans to call on the ICTP again next autumn when F. Cino Matacotta, a researcher at the Spectroscopy Institute of the Italian Research Council in Bologna, Italy, heads an ICTP Experimental Workshop on High Temperature Superconductors in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. The workshop will be co-sponsored by Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission and the Universidad de Cuyo.

NEWS FROM ASSOCIATES

Hari Prakash Garg, President of the Indian Chapter of the ICTP, has been named a Senior Associate. Garg, a pioneer researcher in the field of renewable energies, is Professor and Coordinator of the Solar Energy Programme at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. His areas of specialization include photovoltaics, thermal and solar energy, and energy education and curricular development. Garg has authored or co-authored a number of books, including Renewable Energy Engineering Education, Renewable Energy Technologies, and Solar Energy: Fundamentals and Applications. Garg's tenure as Senior Associate will continue until 1999.

Nguyen Ai Viet, a Regular Associate working in the field of condensed matter physics, has been appointed Director of the Institute of Physics in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Institute, one of Vietnam's most respected research centres, employs 100 scientists. Nguyen will remain a Regular Associate until 2000.

Etienne Desquith, a Regular Associate specialising in algebraic studies, has been named the new Director of the Institut de Recherches Mathématiques (IRMA) in Abidjan, capital city of Côte d'Ivoire. Desquith has taught at IRMA's Math Department and Engineering School. His term as a Regular Associate ends in December.

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