Lauds and Laurels

Having completed a year of rigorous course-work and projects, 39 young scholars from developing countries around the world, gathered at ICTP's Main Lecture Hall to receive their Postgraduate Diplomas and celebrate their success.

"This is one of my favorite events of the year," said ICTP Director Fernando Quevedo addressing the students at the ceremony, many of whom were dressed for the occasion in their national costumes. Quevedo asked the graduating class to remember the importance of teamwork in science and take personal responsibility to share the knowledge with those in their home countries.

ICTP's Postgraduate Diploma Programme is designed is to train students from developing countries so they can compete favourably for graduate studies in any centre of learning in the world. Graduates of this year's class came from 28 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and 20 (half) of the students were women. Speaking at the ceremony, Mazuza Ghneimat, a Palestinian graduate from the High Energy section, said that although the students were from different countries and different cultures, the Programme brought them all together as one.

Students entering the Programme must complete an intensive, one-year, pre-doctoral course of study and an independent project under the supervision of a course instructor. Areas of instruction include high-energy physics, condensed matter physics, mathematics, and earth system physics. After completing the Postgraduate Diploma Programme, most students go on to PhD work in Europe or North America, with many returning to their native countries on completion of their studies. Others return to jobs as college teachers, or register for PhD programmes in their home countries.

This year, 11 Diploma graduates have enrolled for higher studies at universities around the world, 6 graduates have been accepted to ICTP's joint PhD programme with the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, and 22 are returning to their home countries to follow various opportunities there.