The Sesame Training Committee, which recently met at ICTP, is calling for applications from scientists and engineers from the Middle East for: (1) a cooperative research programme in which young researchers from the Middle East will join research groups in European synchrotron laboratories for intensive training (laboratories include Elettra in Trieste, Italy; Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) in Daresbury, UK; EMBL-DESY in Hamburg, Germany; and LURE in Paris, France); and (2) a cooperative training programme in which young engineers from the Middle East will join engineers in European synchrotron laboratories to learn how to maintain, operate and repair synchrotron facilities (laboratories include Elettra and SRS Daresbury). The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna will help ICTP raise funds for the fellowship scheme. The scheme is part of a larger effort spearheaded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to relocate the Berlin-based BESSY 1 synchrotron facility, decommissioned in 1999, to a site in the Middle East. For additional information, contact the Sesame Training Committee, c/o ICTP, Strada Costiera 11, 34014 Trieste, Italy; fax 39 040 2240410; or visit ICTP's web site at www.ictp.trieste.it/www_users/sesame/index.html.