ICTP Director Fernando Quevedo has been elected as an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), during its general meeting in Hyderabad, India.

Quevedo, a Guatemalan national, began his tenure as ICTP Director a year ago, coming to the Centre from Cambridge University, UK, where he is a professor of theoretical physics. He is a well-known theoretical particle physicist with wide-ranging research interests in string theory, phenomenology and cosmology.  He has worked at such prestigious research institutes as CERN and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA.

According to the TWAS web site, the main criterion for election as a TWAS Member is scientific excellence. Only those scientists who have attained the highest international standards and have made significant contributions to the advancement of science can be nominated as Fellows or Associate Fellows.

Fellows are scientists who live and work in developing countries and who have made contributions to their fields of science that meet internationally accepted standards of excellence.

Associate Fellows are scientists who live and work in developed countries, have made contributions to their fields of science that meet internationally accepted standards of excellence, and, additionally, have distinguished themselves in efforts to promote science in developing countries.