The IAEA-ICTP 'STEP' programme hopes to stem the chronic brain drain problem that plagues so many nations in the developing world.

STEP by STEP

They grew up in divergent cultures and live and study in distant countries. Yet they speak a common language: the language of lasers.
Now, thanks to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)-ICTP Sandwich Training Educational Programme (STEP), they have an opportunity to advance their skills and ultimately earn doctorate degrees without joining their nation's professional Diaspora and becoming yet another 'lost' statistic in the developing world's chronic brain drain problem.
Rosen Kanchev Ivanov hails from Bulgaria, Tetchou Nganso Hugues Merlain from Cameroon and Gamal Elsayed Mahmoud Afifi from Egypt. Their paths have briefly crossed in Trieste but at the conclusion of their three-year educational journeys, each--if all goes according to plan--will be firmly rooted in their home countries poised to pursue long and fruitful careers as teachers and researchers.
"That's the goal of the IAEA-ICTP STEP initiative," says Ana Maria Cetto, head of the IAEA's Department of Technical Cooperation (TC), which is the Agency's lead department for seeking ways to put nuclear research to work in solving some of the developing world's most pressing health and environmental problems. TC provides the funds for STEP while ICTP shoulders lead responsibility for its day-to-day operations.
"We all know that a scientific divide separates the North from the South and that a major force driving this divide is the lack of skilled scientific and technical personnel in many developing countries," says Gallieno Denardo, a long-time scientist at ICTP, who was instrumental in the development and implementation of STEP. "Compounding this problem is the fact that so many of the developing world's most talented scientists are educated in the North and, once they have an opportunity to live and study here, they often decide to remain here."
"The programme," notes Paulo Baretto, a recently retired staff member of IAEA's TC department, who worked closely with Denardo during the 1990s to put STEP in place, "is based on the notion that a student who stays at home to earn a degree will remain at home to live and work. Yet, while we want to encourage students to stay at home, we do not want to handicap either their education or career prospects for doing so."
That's where STEP comes into play. Under the programme, students from developing countries that are member states of IAEA will be offered fellowships to pursue doctorates in fields of interest to the Agency that also coincide with ICTP's major fields of study. These fields include, for example, atomic, laser, nuclear and plasma physics; mathematical modelling; medical radiation physics; and nuclear, isotope and synchrotron radiation techniques.
"Each student," says Baretto, "has two advisors who work closely together to help guide the course of study. The primary advisory is a professor at the university where the student is enrolled and where he or she will receive a degree. The second advisor-an 'external' advisor, if you will-resides at the facility that the student plans to visit abroad."
"The thesis topic that the student and professors decide on," continues Baretto, "is based on three interrelated criteria: it must pose a research challenge for the student, be of potential value to the student's home country, and explore questions that are within the scope of ICTP's research and training activities."
"This strategy" notes Denardo, "not only provides valuable guidance for the student but also helps to promote collaboration among the mentoring professors who exchange information about the student's research and progress and, in the process, learn more about each other's facilities. We're hoping that the programme helps build both individual and institutional capacity."
All told, the student spends three to six months a year over three years at his 'away' institution. The rest of the time is spent at his or her 'home' institution pursuing traditional studies in a traditional setting.
The work of Ivanov, Tetchou and Afifi focusses on synchrotron radiation theory and applications. More specifically, their work both analyses the theory of harmonic generation and explores experimental techniques that foster the creation of stable beams from unique crystals.
"The goal," says Afifi, "is to contain the beam's oscillation by stabilising the pulse amplitude and timing. In short, we try to analyse and ultimately reduce the level of 'jitter' in the light source, a problem that makes it an unreliable tool for the tasks we will ask it to do." Stable beams, for example, can be used both to uncover the molecular makeup of materials and to advance fibre-based digital communication.

Rosen Kanchev Ivanov and Gamal Elsayed Mahmoud Afifi

Ivanov and Afifi's work has brought them to Elettra synchrotron radiation facility located near Area Science Park some 15 kilometres from ICTP's Miramare campus. Tetchou's research has taken him both to ICTP and Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.

Tetchou Nganso Hugues Merlain

"These are not the only facilities that have been made available to STEP students," says Denardo. "In addition, there are the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and Laser Laboratory, located in Area Science Park in Trieste, as well as an increasing number of laboratories and research centres within the region."
Denardo adds that "ICTP will not only oversee the daily operation of STEP--in cooperation with IAEA--but will offer its own set of STEP fellowships in fields that do not fall under the Agency-sponsored portion of the programme--for example, in mathematics and condensed matter and elementary particle physics." This will allow an even broader range of students to benefit from the initiative.
In total, about 25 to 30 fellowships will be offered each year. "The number," Denardo says, "is not only related to budget considerations but also due to the fact that we want students to be in direct contact with their advisors both at home and abroad. We have discovered that such personal interaction is one of the most important keys to success." In the programme's first year, some 100 applications from students in 25 countries were received.
"From IAEA's perspective, the overall goal of STEP," says Cetto, "is to strengthen the scientific capability of young researchers from developing member states so that they can contribute to the scientific, technical and economic development of their home countries. Many of the programmes sponsored by IAEA's TC department are project-oriented and have specific, clearly defined objectives. STEP adds an important new dimension to the Agency's efforts because it seeks to nurture the life-long knowledge and skills that young researchers will need to address critical science-based problems throughout their careers."
In a sense, STEP is designed to help address science-related development problems among member states by creating a pool of well-trained scientists and technologists who can address a wide range of challenges and ultimately help to educate and train subsequent generations of researchers at home. "It is based," Denardo notes, "on the enduring concept that you can never take knowledge away from someone."
IAEA would like to extend STEP through cooperative arrangements with institutions other than ICTP, but Cetto acknowledges that it will take some time and careful planning before moving ahead.
"ICTP," she says, "is a unique institution that has enjoyed decades of experience in the training of young scientists from the developing world. There are few institutions that can match the Centre's track record of success."
"Our long-standing relationship with ICTP is what drew us to this partnership in the first place and the early indications are that our confidence in the Centre has been well placed. STEP is off to a good start and we expect its impact to grow in the years ahead."Æ

For additional information about the IAEA/ICTP Sandwich Training Educational Programme (STEP), contact ICTP, Office of External Activities, Enrico Fermi Building, Via Beirut 6, 34014 Trieste, Italy; phone: +39 040 2240 322; fax: +39 040 2240 443; email: calligar@ictp.trieste.it; web: http://www.ictp.it/www_users/STEP/STEP.html. The deadline for the next round of applications is 15 September 2004.

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