Talented young science students in developing countries are sometimes limited in achieving their full potential by the absence of advanced training at a postgraduate level, and up to standard international criteria.  It was in 1991 that the late Professor Abdus Salam, Nobel Laureate and Director of the ICTP until January 1994, instituted an intense 12-month programme in the main research fields of the ICTP, with the aim of filling this gap. The Diploma Programme in the three separate fields of Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy Physics and Mathematics, differs from other Schools/Colleges and training-cum-research activities that take place at the ICTP.  The period is for one full year, the level is pre-PhD, participants are younger, and the number is limited.  Only 10 scholarships are offered annually in each of the three fields.  The focus is especially on those developing countries for which high-quality advanced scientific training is less accessible.

The academic programme itself is quite intense and consists of three terms: the first is dedicated to courses in basic subjects; the second comprises selected advanced topics in the field; and during the third, Diploma students carry out research under the guidance of a Faculty supervisor.  During the first 9 months of the programme, students attend on the average around 10 hours of lectures per week, and do obligatory homework assignments. Final examinations are administered for each of the 8-10 courses. Those who successfully pass this stage go on to work on dissertations during the last 3 months of the programme, ending in an oral defence of the written dissertation.

The ICTP Diploma is awarded only to those students who have successfully completed the examinations and dissertation work, and complied with other formalities as may be decided upon by the Scientific Committee of the Diploma Programme.

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