National Centre for Physics to be named after Professor Abdus Salam

Islamabad

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday approved the renaming of the Quaid-i-Azam University’s National Centre for Physics to the ‘Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics,’ honouring the Nobel Prize winning physicist 20 years after his death.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said Nawaz Sharif had directed the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to submit a formal summary to rename the centre for President Mamnoon Hussain’s approval.

Also in the day, the prime minister approved the Professor Abdus Salam Fellowship, which will grant five fellowships annually through the Higher Education Commission to Pakistani Ph.D students in the field of Physics at reputed international universities.

According to a statement issued to media, Nawaz Sharif approved the fellowships and renaming of the National Centre for Physics in recognition of Professor Abdus Salam’s contributions to Pakistan and the world of theoretical physics.

Salam -- along with Sheldon Lee Glasgow and Steven Weinberg -- was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics in 1979 for “their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current.”

Salam was the first Pakistani to ever receive a Nobel Prize. “His remarkable achievement earned fame and prestige for the country, which rightly deserves to be valued,” added the statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Salam served as a top-level adviser to the Government of Pakistan from 1960 to 1974, during which he was instrumental in developing the country’s nuclear programme. “Renaming the National Centre for Physics as Professor Adbus Salam’s Centre for Physics would be another step toward honoring the Pakistani scientist who served the country and brought a good name for Pakistan,” added the statement of the Prime Minister’s Office.