A few days before his retirement on 31 May 2002, Miguel A. Virasoro reflected on the underlying principles that have guided his efforts during his tenure as ICTP director.

Seven Years

Miguel Virasoro

As my seven-year tenure as director of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) has come to a close, I would like to briefly reflect on the Centre's unique role in the promotion of global science, a role that I believe is unmatched by other institutions.
ICTP's success is derived from a simple yet difficult truth, one that I firmly believe drove Abdus Salam's thinking when he initially proposed the creation of a research and training centre for scientists from the developing world some more than four decades ago.
For Salam, ICTP was a place 'built by and for scientists.' Other institutions may focus on the need to develop scientific institutions in the South. Or, they may concentrate on the importance of creating effective scientific policies that link research excellence to problems of development. These are worthy endeavours that should not be ignored or undervalued.
But Salam designed ICTP to serve the needs and hopes of individuals in ways that would allow scientists from the South to freely pursue their dreams of becoming full-fledged members of the international scientific community.
That is why he insisted on providing them with the services that they would need so that they could concentrate solely on their work. That is why he hoped ICTP's facilities would be more than just adequate; indeed that they would be equal to those found in any other research institution in the North. That is why he devoted so much energy to attracting the world's best scientists to Trieste as conference organisers and lecturers. And that is why he spoke so often of creating an environment that would instill not just knowledge but dignity and confidence among those individuals in the South who chose science as their career.
He believed, like all of us who share his vision, that scientific talent exists everywhere and that, if given the proper environment in which to grow, all nations could contribute to its advancement and share in its bounty. Science, as Salam often said, is "the heritage of all humankind."
Salam also believed that science, which after all is based on the notion of discovery, must evolve as we learn more and more about the natural world in which we live. It is not surprising that in addition to his focus on high energy physics, mathematics and condensed matter physics, Salam during his tenure as director also launched research and training activities in fields related to the physics of the environment, physics of the living state and laser physics.
Indeed it was Salam's expansive roadmap that has guided my journey over the past seven years. It helps to explain why we increased our funding levels for upgrading the facilities, library and the computer network; why we revamped such long-standing programmes as the associates and affiliates schemes to strengthen their emphasis on excellence and to ensure that younger scientists are well-represented. And that is why we moved into new but related fields--for example, the physics of weather and climate, statistical physics and complex systems and, most recently, ecological economics.
This ongoing journey has been made that much easier by the Italian government's additional contribution to the ICTP budget and, on behalf of scientists worldwide and especially those in the South, I would like to thank Italy for its generosity.
We have sought to use the money wisely and effectively and in a manner that is consistent with the principles that have guided the Centre since its inception. I hope that in the years ahead ICTP continues to serve as one of the world's most visible, effective and respected research and training institutions for individual scientists from the developing world. Their intelligence, skills and enthusiasm require only a nurturing environment to grow and prosper.

Miguel Virasoro
Former ICTP Director

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