ICTP and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have signed an agreement that will take advantage of ICTP's strong ties with Italian research laboratories to expand and enrich the Agency's fellowship programme.

ICTP has two well-established fellowship programmes of its own that are well-regarded by hundreds of Italian laboratories: the Centre's Training and Research in Italian Laboratories programme, which places scientists from developing countries in laboratories located at Italian universities and governmental and private institutions; and the ICTP Sandwich Training Educational Programme (STEP), which offers mostly Trieste-based fellowship opportunities to Ph.D. candidates from developing countries in scientific fields covered by both the IAEA (as one of ICTP's main supporters) Technical Cooperation Programmes and ICTP.

ICTP Assistant Director Claudio Tuniz, ICTP's main liaison with the IAEA, describes the new agreement as a unique opportunity for both parties and for the scientists who will benefit from the fellowships. "The agreement expands IAEA's possibilities to place scientists from developing countries in Italy, using ICTP's long history of cooperation with Italian laboratories as a resource for determining placements," he said. ICTP will benefit from having an expanded source of fellows to participate in its own research activities in situ and at other Trieste laboratories, Tuniz said.

More information about the IAEA fellowship programme is available here.