AAAPT

Asian African Association for Plasma Training (AAAPT)

(Established 1988)

The Asian African Association for Plasma Training (AAAPT) is an organization/network founded on 7 June 1988 to provide facilities for plasma research by small research groups in developing countries. Originally, it consisted of nineteen institutions from 12 countries, but by Oct 2012 it has grown to 52 institutions from 23 countries.

As defined in the Constitution of AAAPT –

1.     The Objectives of the Association shall be:

a)     to promote the initiation and strengthening of plasma research, especially experimental, in developing countries in Asia and Africa, and

b)     to promote cooperation and technology sharing among plasma physicists in the developing countries in the region.

2.     In furtherance of the objectives the Association shall:

a)     hold a series of coordinated training programmes and colleges specially designed for effective training on selected aspects of plasma physics (experimental, technological and theoretical),

b)     publish newsletters and bulletins,

c)      develop and maintain relations among Institutions carrying out research or having an interest to start research in plasma physics, especially experimental plasma physics,

d)     develop a coordinated scientist/fellow exchange scheme with the aim of technology sharing and acquisition and also consultancy in theory and experiments, and

e)     develop relationship with agencies such as IAEA, ICTP, UNESCO, UNDP, TWAS, COSTED, ICSU, IUPAP, Foundations and World Laboratory to obtain financial and fellowship support.

With time, the AAAPT became an affiliated network of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), receiving funding for its collaborative activities, workshops, exchange programme etc. Assistance in the form of travel and other fellowships had also been received from the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), UNESCO and several other organizations. The bulk of the contributions for its activities had come from the scientists from the member institutions in terms of expertise, time and effort and from the member institutions, and also in terms of infrastructural support. Hel