ICTP at Trieste Next 2026

Trieste is getting ready for its annual science festival Trieste Next, taking place from 25 to 27 September in combination with the European Researchers’ Night that will be celebrated on Friday 25 September.

Public screening:  “Budinich, il pirata della scienza”

Thursday 24 September, 18:00 hrs
Teatro Miela, Piazza Duca degli Abruzzi 3, Trieste

An homage to the life and legacy of physicist and ICTP co-founder Paolo Budinich, produced by ReBel Film, with the support of ICTP, SISSA and the Trieste International Foundation (FIT), and under the patronage of the University of Trieste and Immaginario Scientifico.

Access is free, but reservation is required at the event’s web page.

Exhibit
Friday 25 September, 14:00 – 22:00 hrs; Saturday 10:00-22:00 hrs; Sunday 10:00-20:00 hrs
Piazza Unità d’Italia, Trieste

This year again, ICTP joined forces with other Trieste-based science organisations backed by the United Nations: The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS), the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) for an exhibit titled “Global South: Brains in Motion from Drain to Gain”. Over the whole weekend, activities at the shared booth will highlight the organisations’ shared missions, while ICTP scientists will engage with the public through hands-on activities and math games.

Panel discussion: Uniting minds: stories of global science, organised by ICTP
Friday 25 September, 21:00 hrs
Piazza Unità d’Italia, Area Talk 1

A century after Abdus Salam’s birth, his vision of science as a shared human endeavour remains crucial. Together with Paolo Budinich, Salam imagined a place where scientists from across the world could meet, learn and collaborate. Since its founding in 1964, ICTP has changed the lives of thousands of researchers in the Global South. Through the testimonies of ICTP scientists and stories from the documentary “Budinich, il pirata della scienza”, the panel will explore the enduring value of global scientific cooperation and the role of ICTP in ensuring that science remains a uniting force.

Speakers:
Atish Dabholkar, ICTP Director
Sara Švagelj, co-founder of ReBel Film; writer, producer and director of photography for feature-length documentaries
Erio Tosatti, Professor Emeritus at SISSA
Jawaher Al-Tuweity, Postdoctoral Researcher at São Paulo State University, Brazil, ICTP-Arab Fund Associate
Komal Rubab, PhD student at SISSA, ICTP Diploma graduate
Aditya Hebbar, ICTP postdoctoral fellow

Moderator: Sandro Scadolo, ICTP Senior Research Coordinator

Attendance is free but registration is mandatory at the events’ webpage.

Street Science
Friday 25 September, 17:00 hrs
Piazza Unità d’Italia, Town Hall Arcades

As part of Researchers’ Night, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Scientific and Innovation System coordinates Street Science, an event where researchers step out of their laboratories and share their passion for science with captivating mini-talks.

In his ‘Aperitivo with Entanglement,’ Emmanuele Cinnirella, an ICTP postdoctoral fellow in the Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics section, will introduce one of the most important and counterintuitive phenomena in quantum physics.

Activities for schools

Activities dedicated to schools will take place throughout the week of 21 September as part of Researchers’ Night and during the morning of Friday 25 September as part of Trieste Next.

On Monday 21 September, climate scientist Erika Coppola, Head of ICTP’s Earth System Physics section, will meet middle-school students and embark with them on a journey to understand what is happening to our planet using science to decode the many clues that the planet gives out.

On Friday 25 September, ICTP and TWAS will welcome high-school students to their booths to meet researchers from the global south and learn about their work and experience and to learn how to use math to become stronger at playing board games.

Other events with ICTP Scientists

On Friday 25 September at 15:00 hrs Erika Coppola will take part in a panel discussion entitled “Thinking without certainty,” organised by SISSA.