Applications are now open for the 2024/2025 ICTP Postgraduate Diploma Scholarship Programme. The Postgraduate Diploma Programme started in 1991, and since then, many of its graduates have gone on to do PhDs at various prestigious universities. in Europe and North America inclusive. Many of them, after a few postdoctoral stints abroad, have returned to their home countries, where they are actively involved in teaching and in developing advanced research groups there. Others have pursued scientific careers in leading scientific institutions worldwide. Many former students continue to maintain an active collaboration with ICTP throughout their careers.
Application Deadline:Â 15 March 2024 d
Requirements
- The Programme is open to young qualified graduates in physics, mathematics or related fields. A limited number of scholarships (around 10 per field) are awarded to successful candidates from developing countries. (with particular emphasis on students from the least developed regions of the world) to cover travel and living expenses during their stay at ICTP.
- The selection of the candidates is based on their university performance as well as on academic recommendations.
- The selection committee aims to select the best academically qualified candidates while striving for gender balance and geographical distribution.Â
- After the completion of the courses (including examinations), participants are required to work on a dissertation, to be submitted and defended.
Eligibility
Young, qualified graduates from any nation that is a member of the UN, UNESCO, or IAEA are eligible to apply for the Postgraduate Diploma Program. Typically, these individuals are under 28 years old. A degree comparable to an MSc (or particularly good BSc) in mathematics, physics, or a related discipline is the minimum requirement for applicants.
Academic recommendations and the candidates’ academic records will be taken into consideration while choosing the candidates. Being able to speak and write English well is a prerequisite for the Postgraduate Diploma Program.
The applicant is expected to have adequate knowledge of the following topics in the specific field for which he/she is applying:
- For Condensed Matter Physics:Â solid state physics; quantum mechanics; statistical mechanics; classical mechanics; electrodynamics; mathematical physics.
- For High Energy, Cosmology and Astropartical Physics:Â classical mechanics; electrodynamics; special theory of relativity; quantum mechanics; statistical mechanics.
- For Earth System Physics:Â a theoretical background in physics, mathematics or engineering; mathematical methods applied in geophysics and geosciences.
- For Mathematics:Â basic abstract algebra; elements of real and complex analysis; topology.
- For Quantitative Life Sciences:Â classical mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, mathematical methods for physics, basic programming skills
Benefits
- Tuition-free; 10 yearly scholarships plus travel grant for applicants from developing countries.
- In each Postgraduate Diploma Programme, scholarships and travel grants will be awarded to those 10 students selected from developing countries.
- There are no course fees. Students will receive a scholarship for the entire year of study.
- A limited number of qualified candidates who meet the same selection criteria as others may attend the courses at their own cost.
- The funds must be equal to or more than those granted by the Center. Additionally, they must provide written confirmation from a banking institution or financing agency for the duration of their year-long stay.
How to Apply
In addition to completing an online application form, candidates should upload the following as part of their application:
- Copies of transcripts of university academic records and university degrees in English (The selected candidates will be required to provide originals or certified copies of these documents as well as of their official English translation before he/she can be admitted to the Programme);
- Any certificates or documents that give proof of the student’s ability to follow advanced-level courses, study and write scientific literature in the English language;
- Two letters of recommendation, from senior scientists familiar with the applicant’s studies and work.
