Brian Stewart, a scientific staff member of the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), who most recently worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Vienna, Austria, has been "seconded" to ICTP for a two-year assignment under the auspices of the USDOE's cost-free expert (CFE) programme. Stewart, who holds a Ph.D. in plasma physics, will be seeking to strengthen relationships between the Centre and the physics community in the United States, particularly through activities related to North-South cooperation in training and research.