Appointed as a Senior Associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy
Dr. T. Pathmathas holds the prestigious position of Senior Associate at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, for the six-year period 2023–2028. This international appointment recognizes his strong academic and research background in physics, including his ICTP Diploma in Theoretical High Energy Physics, his distinguished PhD research in granular modelling, and the Joseph Arenow Prize (2014) for the best PhD thesis in the Faculty of Science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
As an ICTP Senior Associate, Dr. Pathmathas is eligible to undertake research visits to ICTP for up to two months every year throughout the six-year appointment. ICTP supports his eligible travel and related expenses, with an allocation of €12,000 for his visits. During these visits, he collaborates with ICTP scientists and participates in research activities, international scientific conferences, workshops, scientific meetings, and interactions with members of the ICTP Scientific Council.
Dr. Pathmathas has maintained a strong academic association with ICTP since 2003. Before his PhD, he completed the ICTP Diploma in Theoretical High Energy Physics at the pre-doctoral level, supported by scholarships from ICTP and UNESCO. He was the first Sri Lankan student to receive this scholarship to pursue the ICTP Diploma programme. He subsequently continued his engagement with ICTP and, in 2005, participated with an ICTP fellowship in advanced summer schools and scientific programmes in particle physics, cosmology, and the Standard Model of particle physics.
Importantly, his current ICTP Senior Associate position provides a valuable opportunity to develop and strengthen collaborative research in theoretical medical physics, particularly in radiotherapy physics and medical imaging physics. Through collaboration with ICTP scientists and the wider international research community, the Senior Associate programme provides an important platform for advancing theoretical and computational approaches to medical physics and for developing sustained international research collaborations in these areas.