Diploma 30th Anniversary

Thirty years of high-level physics and mathematics instruction, and more than 1000 graduates from 80 countries: the success of ICTP's Postgraduate Diploma Programme will be front and centre at a three-day online event to mark its 30th anniversary.

The event, which will take place from 23 to 25 August 2021, will celebrate one of ICTP's most cherished programmes, and will offer a chance for Diploma alumni to share their memories and make new connections.

Details about the Diploma 30th Anniversary can be found here. Download the event programme (pdf).

Highlights of the event will include:

• a keynote speech by 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics Andrea Ghez
• a talk on diversity in science by Sylvester James Gates, Jr, president of the American Physical Society
• talks by prominent Diploma alumni, including Mabouba Diagne, a Diploma mathematics graduate who is now vice-president of finance and corporate services at the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development
• parallel sessions in various regions of the world to foster the creation of networks
• social activities to encourage Diploma alumni to connect, reconnect and celebrate.

Most event sessions will be livestreamed via ICTP's YouTube channel; all are welcome to follow the talks, as well as to congratulate the DIploma class of 2021, whose graduation ceremony on 25 August will be part of the event.

ICTP's Postgraduate Diploma Programme is designed to assist students from developing countries who come from various educational backgrounds and are interested in further study in physics or mathematics. The programme offers five areas of instruction: high energy physics, condensed matter physics, mathematics, Earth system physics, and quantitative life sciences.

More than 1000 students have graduated from the Postgraduate Diploma Programme since it began in 1991. Of these students, more than a quarter are female. Hundreds of Diploma graduates have gone on to earn PhDs from international universities, mainly in Europe and in the United States, and then have returned to their home countries to put their acquired skills. to good use, by becoming teachers or researchers.

Related story:

Diploma Memories: Catching up with Concetta Mosca, the Diploma Programme's first secretary