New Centers of Excellence: How International Physics is Reshaping Globally

The ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR, ictp-saifr.org) in São Paulo was created in 2011 as the first partner institute of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste through a collaboration with the São Paulo Research Funding Agency (FAPESP) and the Theoretical Physics Institute of São Paulo State University (IFT-UNESP). Over the past 15 years, ICTP-SAIFR has followed the ICTP model and organized over 350 international schools, minicourses and workshops for graduate students and researchers, has developed an extensive outreach program for the general public and high-school students and teachers, and has attracted top postdocs and faculty to São Paulo through both privately and publicly funded positions. In this talk, the challenges and future prospects of ICTP-SAIFR will be presented as an example of an International Physics Center of Excellence.