Abdus Salam Memorial Lectures
Abdus Salam is one of the creators of the Standard Model of Elementary particles. He won the Nobel Prize in 1979 with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg. Besides his extensive contributions to physics, he created the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, with the mission of promoting science in the developing world. The Abdus Salam Memorial Lectures are delivered by eminent personalities on their area of specialization and are aimed at a general audience.
Upcoming Lectures
Joining Forces: to unify nature and to unite the world
Atish Dabholkar (The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste & Assistant Director General at UNESCO)
23 February 2026, 16:00 to 17:30
Chandrasekhar Auditorium, ICTS, Bengaluru
Abstract: The lecture will crisscross between two themes of unification of fundamental interactions and global collaboration for science with the following focus: Unification of Forces : The remarkably simple and precise current understanding of all fundamental forces of nature from gravity to...more
Past Lectures
The Future of the Indian Space Programme
A. S. Kiran Kumar (Vikram Sarabhai Professor at ISRO and Member of the Space Commission, Govt of India)
18 April 2023, 16:00 to 17:00
Chandrasekhar Auditorium, ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru
About the Speaker: A. S. Kiran Kumar is a space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He steered the implementation of the applications-oriented Indian Space Programme, which facilitated rapid development in many important areas such as earth observation,...more
Networks and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Shekhar C. Mande (Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) & Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Govt of India)
30 April 2019, 16:00 to 17:30
Chandrasekhar Auditorium, ICTS-TIFR, Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru
Tuberculosis has been and remains to be one of deadliest diseases of the mankind. Caused by the bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, currently faces the challenge of prevention, early detection and effective control. Our laboratory has been working in understanding the biology of this organism...more
The Early Indian Space Endeavour- An Anecdotal Account
K. Kasturirangan (Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, an Honorary Distinguished Advisor, Indian Space Research Organisation, an Emeritus Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies)
17 March 2017, 16:00 to 17:00
Chandrasekhar Auditorium, ICTS, Bangalore
This talk will outline the planning and strategy adopted by India's Space architects and visionaries, Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Prof Satish Dhawan. The sustainability of the Indian space endeavours, owes much to these pioneers who visualised the need for development of self-reliant capability in Space...more
Photochemical and thermochemical generation of hydrogen by water splitting
C.N.R. Rao (Honorary President and Linus Pauling Research Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru)
30 December 2016, 15:00 to 16:00
ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru
Artificial photosynthesis is a promising method for producing renewable energy by use of sun light. Artificial photosynthesis employing the modified Z-scheme of natural photosynthesis can be exploited both for the oxidation and reduction of water. Oxidation of water is successively achieved by the...more
Brain Brawn and Behaviour
K. VijayRaghavan (National Centre for Biological Sciences -Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology)
28 December 2015, 16:00 to 17:00
Chandrasekhar Auditorium, ICTS, Bangalore
Several groups the world over are trying to understand how the capabilities of the nervous system have been put in place both through evolution and through development from a fertilised egg to a mature animal. Movement, it has been famously said, is the output of the nervous system and is therefore...more
Complexity and Simplicity in Biological Systems
Ramakrishna Ramaswamy (Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad)
21 November 2014, 17:30 to 18:30
Faculty Hall, IISc, Bangalore
It is generally recognised that biological systems are complex- indeed they need to be complex, given the multiplicity of functions that they need to perform. The opposite of this profound truth (which as Niels Bohr alerted us to, may well be another profound truth) is that there can indeed be...more
Overview of Particle Physics after the Higgs Discovery
Fernando Quevedo (University of Cambridge, UK and Director, ICTP)
10 December 2013, 17:30 to 18:30
Faculty Hall, IISc, Bangalore
The discovery of the Higgs boson has been one of the greatest scientific achievements of fundamental science in decades, establishing the validity of the Standard Model of particle physics beyond reasonable doubt. It has also led to very strong constraints on what new physics may exist beyond the...more