UNESCO has launched the Mori Fellowships scheme to enable 20 PhD candidates per year from Sub-Saharan Africa to finalize their doctoral research at UNESCO's Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. The first 20 Fellows travelled to Trieste in September to begin one of two six-month stints over a period of two years at the ICTP.

The scheme was announced by the Director-General during the visit by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to UNESCO Paris as part of celebrations to mark Africa Day on 25 May. President Obasanjo is currently Chair of the 53-member African Union. 'We recognize that scientific research is an area of priority need', the Director-General told the President. 'While there is enormous talent in Africa in this area, the lack of scientific networks both on the continent and with other continents is a major handicap.' The fellowship scheme has been launched to help overcome this handicap.

The ICTP will provide Mori Fellows with research support and training in mathematics and physics, broadly defined to include, for example, climate, fluid dynamics, oceanography and seismology. The scheme is expected to have a multiplier effect by enabling African physics and mathematics students at home to receive expert university instruction from the returning Fellows.

During the 1970s, Sub-Saharan Africa had some of the finest institutions of higher education in the developing world: Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania, Ibadan in Nigeria, Khartoum in Sudan and Makerere in Uganda. Decades of neglect, political uncertainty and violence have taken their toll on these institutions and forced a large number of the region's 'best and brightest' to pursue their careers elsewhere. The result has been a chronic crisis in higher education and academic research.

Named after a former Japanese Prime Minister, the Mori Fellowship scheme draws upon a fund established by the Japanese government and has been allocated close to half a million dollars to cover the first two years of operation.

Qualified doctoral or post-doctoral students from Sub-Saharan Africa wishing to apply for the scheme need to fill out an application form detailing their educational background and research interests and accomplishments.

A review panel appointed by the ICTP, consisting of scientists from both within and beyond the Centre, will select the successful applicants.

For details: schaffer@ictp.trieste.it; www.ictp.trieste.it