ICTP has inaugurated a new colloquium series that aims to increase interaction between its research groups as well as expose doctoral students to the Centre's rich array of physics and mathematics activities.

"The idea for the colloquia came out of a brainstorming session amongst ICTP scientists," explained Director Fernando Quevedo in opening remarks during the premier lecture, which was held on 11 March. ICTP scientists from each of the Centre's research areas will participate as speakers. "We hope the talks will inspire cross-discipline research. The colloquia also are meant to be an educational tool for ICTP's Diploma students," said Quevedo.

Quevedo, a theoretical particle physicist with wide-ranging research interests in string theory, phenomenology and cosmology, presented the first colloquium, titled "String Theory and the Real World?".

Future colloquia will be held once a month. ICTP's Antonello Scardicchio of the Condensed Matter section and Bobby Acharya of the High Energy section are the series' organizers.