On 1 March, a delegation from the National Mathematical Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, visited ICTP to tour its facilities and discuss poossible avenues of collaboration. The delegation was composed of NMC Director Sam O. Ale, Director of Library Services James O. Daniel, and Secretary Clement O. Adeyemo.

On 7 March, Rai-Radio3Scienza conducted an interview with Mohamed H.A. Hassan, Executive Director of TWAS, focusing on science, technology and innovation. The conversation, in part, was based on Hassan’s recent plenary lecture given at the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco. To hear the interview, click here.

The Nineteenth Session of the IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE-XIX) is being held at ICTP between 12 and 16 March. The event is co-hosted by ICTP and OGS (Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics).

The US National Science Foundation Board will meet with scientists and staff at the ICTP and TWAS on 13 March. Board representatives include Michael Crosby, Executive Director of the National Science Foundation; Steven Beering, Chairman of the Board, President Emeritus of Purdue University; Arthur Reilly, Senior Director, Strategic Technology Policy at Cisco Systems; and Jon Strauss, President Emeritus of Harvey Mudd College.

The Science Dissemination Unit of ICTP has developed a new technology for scientists at the Centre to archive and share lectures and to expand their audiences at no cost for the activity. The system is automated, non-intrusive and low-cost. You can learn more about it at a seminar to be held on Thursday, 15 March, in Room D, ICTP Main Building, at 10:30 hrs. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Filippo Giorgi, head of the Earth System Physics section, is featured in an article in this week’s Panorama focusing on the global challenges posed by climate changes. Panorama is one of Italy’s most popular weekly news magazines. Giorgi serves as one of the vice-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I, which has assessed the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. Its report was issued last month. To view the Panorama article, click here.

The Meteorological Union of Friuli Venezia Giulia is organizing a round table discussion on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report for policymakers, issued in February. The discussion will be held on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day, Friday 23 March, in the Kastler Lecture Hall beginning at 10 a.m. Speakers will include Sergio Castellari, Mauro Messerotti and Fulvio Crisciani. Fabio Pagan, ICTP’s Public Information Office, will moderate the event. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, is the winner of the Abel Prize 2007 “for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviations.” In 1990, Varadhan was guest lecturer at the ICTP Workshop on Composite Media and Homogenization Theory. He has also served on the Selection Committee for the Ramanujan Prize. The Abel Prize, awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for outstanding work in the field of mathematics, carries a cash award of NOK 6 million (about US$ 1 million).

On Thursday 29 March, Raiedu1 will broadcast an interview with Lennart Carleson, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and 2006 Abel Laureate, conducted at ICTP at the time of the Ramanujan Prize ceremony. The interview will be part of the programme “Explorascuola", aired on Sky channel 805 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon and again from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The programme will be repeated on Friday 30 March from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m.

The Publishing Editor of the Journal of Physics A will present the special issue of the journal edition, The Quantum Universe, to GianCarlo Ghirardi, professor of Physics at the University of Trieste and a long-time consultant to ICTP. The special edition, based on two conferences that were organized on the occasion of Ghirardi’s 70th birthday in Trieste and Losinj, is dedicated to the enormous contributions that Ghirardi has made to the field. The presentation will take place in the Kastler Lecture Hall, Adriatico Guesthouse, on Friday 27 April 2007 at 3:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.