The International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP)
The International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP)
Introduction
The International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP) is China’s first UNESCO category 2 centre in the area of basic science. ICTP-AP is under the auspices of UNESCO in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Science Foundation China (NSFC) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste). ICTP-AP is affiliated with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). It is a non-profit organization that carries out high-level scientific research, education and training in basic science and the relevant interdisciplinary areas.
(ICTP-AP Official Website: https://ictp-ap.org/ )
Unveiling Ceremony of ICTP-AP
Taiji Programme in Space
Taiji Programme is a space mission to detect gravitational wave (GW) in the frequency band between 0.1mHz and 10Hz. The main purpose of Taiji is to study the most challenging issue concerning massive black holes, such as how intermediate mass seed black holes were formed in early universe, could dark matter collapse directly into seed black holds, how seed black holes grow up into extremely large black holes, is the relativity still valid in violent gravitational interaction and what is the nature of gravity.
Taiji is a gravitational-wave space facility propose by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are involved in building it. The Taiji project consists of the following three steps. The first step is to launch a satellite to demonstrate the feasibility of the Taiji technology roadmap. The Taiji pathfinder, officially called Taiji-1, successfully launched on 20 September 2019 and is currently operational.
Taiji-1 Satellite
As China’s first first gravitational wave detection satellite, the first batch of scientific achievements was released in July 2021 https://ictp-ap.org/post/125
Outreach and International Cooperation
ICTP-AP aims to develop outreach activities in cooperation with national and international institutions, providing an international forum and enhancing collaborative networks among scientists from different countries.
Opening Ceremony of Frontiers of Fundamental Physics Conference, Chen-Ning Yang
Since 2019, ICTP-AP have been hold various forms of scientific activities, such as the Frontiers of Fundamental Physics Conference(https://ictp-ap.org/post/1) , Quantum Century (2025)( https://ictp-ap.org/post/114 ), 2022 International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, ICTP-AP Seminars, etc. (Find more events at: https://ictp-ap.org/events )
Talents Cultivation
It is our obligation to provide opportunities for advanced education, training and research in basic science such as frontiers of theoretical physics and the relevant interdisciplinary areas for scientists from Asia-Pacific region and other countries.
ICTP-AP is jointly cultivating international students with the International College of UCAS（https://ic-en.ucas.ac.cn/）to provide frontier education for students from all over the world.
Students here are welcomed to all the scientific activities and short-term schools with various themes in ICTP-AP. They not only can get access to the top scientists and research results but also enrich their knowledge and cultivate their interest in physics learning.
Academic Activity
To improve the scientific research and training level, ICTP-AP started global recruitment from 2019 to attract talents who could compete to cultivate students with strong comprehensive ability and international vision. （Start Application: https://ictp-ap.org/app/8）
ICTP-AP Platform
To achieve the goal of becoming a world-class research centre, training base for talents with global eye sights and international academic exchange centre, ICTP-AP has built professional academic environment and upgrade research facilities.
ICTP-AP has participated in the construction of Taiji laboratory（https://ictp-ap.org/page/taiji-laboratory）and Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS (HIAS).
Unveiling Ceremony of Taiji Laboratory for Gravitational Universe