OFID/ICTP Postgraduate Fellowship Program

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) supports global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world. This three-year program aims at strengthening the scientific capability of young postgraduate students from developing countries. Priority will be given to candidates from least-developed countries studying the fields of physics, mathematics, earth sciences, ICT, renewable energy and related areas. Under the OFID-sponsored program, 15 PhD students will be able to spend up to 6 months/ year for three consecutive years in ICTP's research and training facilities or in collaborating scientific institutions in Austria, Italy, Monaco and Slovenia while they remain enrolled at their home institutions and work in their home countries. ICTP received 110 applications of eligible candidates. The selection process shortlisted 36 candidates, and then 15 were eventually approved. One of the Fellows withdrew from the programme in 2016. With OFID's approval this Fellow from Ethiopia was replaced with another short-listed candidate from the same country. All OFID-ICTP Fellows started their first research visit to the Centre in the first year of the programme. During the programme duration, all 15 Fellows visited ICTP three times, resulting in a total of 45 research visits under this programme. Three of the Fellows have already successfully defended their PhD thesis. Eleven of the other Fellows are expected to defend their thesis later in 2019 and one in 2020. The OFID-ICTP Fellows not only benefited from expert training and world class research facilities, but also gained in international contact and network from the ICTP environment, enriching their scientific work, as illustrated by their feedback and comments on the programme. A multiplying effect is also expected as most of these fellows with expert training have returned to teach students in their home country. The programme also catalyzed new South-North collaborations between home and host groups, which are bound to extend well after the fellowships. During the period of the project, the Fellows already published, submitted, or prepared to submit for publication a total of 31 research papers resulting from their visits. The report contained full details on the programme, including the list of the Fellows (8 men and 7 women, from 14 different countries) together with a summary of their visits during the period of the project, as well as the fellow’s individual reports, including a short summary of their research work during the visits, their experience and feedback on the programme, and the list of the research articles they produced.