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News from ICTP 99 - Monitor
Paolo Budinich who, with Abdus Salam, was instrumental in the founding and early development of many of Trieste's scientific institutions--from the launching of ICTP in the mid 1960s to the creation of Laboratorio dell'Immaginario Scientifico in the 1990s--was honoured on 11 October on the occasion of his 85th birthday. Ambassador Francesco Aloisi de Larderel, director general for Cultural Promotion and Cooperation in the Italian Foreign Ministry, presented Budinich with a sculpture created by Trieste-born artist Valter F.G. Terzago. The ceremony took place in ICTP's Main Lecture Hall. Aloisi de Larderel also toured many of the city's scientific facilities in his first visit to Trieste since his recent appointment to this government post.
A Symposium on Future Challenges in Science, "dedicated to
Daniele Amati for his next 70 years," took place in
ICTP's Main Lecture Hall on 22 September. Amati, who succeeded
Budinich as director of SISSA in 1986, has served in that capacity
for the past 15 years.
Edoardo Boncinelli, one of Italy's most renowned scientists, is the new director of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), ICTP's next door neighbour and close collaborating institution for research and training. Boncinelli replaces Daniele Amati, who headed SISSA for 15 years. Boncinelli was trained as a physicist at the University of Florence but soon after turned to research questions related to molecular biology and genetics. Since 1991 he has headed the Molecular Biology Laboratory at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. Boncinelli's most recent interests have focussed on neuroscience. Besides his scientific interests, he has written several books for general readers on biology and evolution and is a frequent commentator for Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's leading newspapers.
The sixth edition of ERA, the Exhibition of Advanced Research, was held at the Trieste Conference Centre, Stazione Marittima, from 1 to 16 December. This biennial exhibition is organised by Globo Divulgazione Scientifica and Area Science Park in cooperation with several national and local scientific institutions. As in the past, ICTP participated in the exhibition with its own display area.
Franco Molteni of the ICTP Physics of Weather and Climate group gave a public lecture on El Niño. This edition of ERA focussed on the intricate scientific web formed by global research and policy initiatives related to water. Such efforts cross a broad range of fields, including meteorology, climatology, geology, forestry and agriculture, and involve all of the basic sciences--physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.
Gianfranco Guerriero, who served as ICTP's Senior Administrative Officer from 1990 to 1997, died on 26 September in Rome. He was 59. In 1997, Guerriero played a prominent role in securing additional permanent funding for ICTP, marking a high point in his years of service to ICTP. Centre staff and colleagues recall his kindness and remember him fondly as a valued colleague and sincere, warm-hearted person.
Louis Leprince-Ringuet, an expert in cosmic rays and a member of the first ICTP ad-hoc committee that helped design the broad framework for the Centre's research and training activities in the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 99. After completing engineering studies in telecommunications at Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité in Paris in the early 1920s, he switched to physics in 1929 and subsequently obtained a doctorate from the University of Paris. Leprince-Ringuet's most noteworthy research, conducted in collaboration with Pierre Auger, confirmed that cosmic rays are comprised of charged particles. In 1936 Leprince-Ringuet became professor of physics at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, where he played a leading role in the revival of physics in postwar France. After strongly supporting the creation of CERN, he chaired CERN's scientific policy committee.
Lung Chi Wei, one of the first Chinese scientists to be associated with ICTP, died on 5 December 2001. He was 73. In 1982, Lung was appointed an ICTP Associate and, in 1985, he became a member of the ICTP Solid State Advisory Committee. Lung visited the Centre each year between 1985 and 2001 to help organise ICTP training activities.
