Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture

The Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture is an international scientific institution based in Erice, Sicily, dedicated to advanced scientific education, interdisciplinary research, and the promotion of international cooperation. Founded during the Cold War, the Centre has hosted scientists from around the world through its system of international schools and conferences, and has played a role in linking scientific activity with broader ethical and social concerns. From its early years, the Centre hosted scientists from both Western and Eastern bloc countries during the Cold War, at a time when scientific cooperation across political blocs was often limited. The Centre continues to organise international schools, conferences and interdisciplinary programmes involving participants from multiple countries. History Origins and development The origins of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture date to 1962, during the Cold War, a period characterised by geopolitical division and heightened concern over nuclear conflict. That year, an initiative known as the "International School of Physics" was established in Geneva, with a branch planned in Erice, reflecting efforts within the scientific community to promote international cooperation beyond traditional academic institutions. The institution’s constitutive act was signed in Geneva on 8 May 1962 by leading physicists including John Stewart Bell, Patrick Blackett, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Victor Weisskopf, and Antonino Zichichi. These figures were prominent within the post-war European physics community, closely connected through institutions such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Erice was selected as the location for the Centre’s activities due to its suitability for residential scientific schools and extended seminars, with the first programmes held there in 1963 following the Geneva charter. Following the establishment of the Centre, Antonino Zichichi, an experimental physicist from the University of Bologna who specialised in high-energy and subnuclear physics, served as president of the Centre until his death in 2026. Zichichi also held leadership positions in major international scientific organisations, contributing to the Centre’s emphasis on interdisciplinary education and international scientific exchange. Fabrizio Zichichi became president of the foundation in 2026. He is an energy industry executive who has held senior roles at firms including Phibro, Castleton Commodities International, Morgan Stanley, and Noble Group, and has served on the boards of several corporate and non-profit organisations. The Centre was involved in the establishment of the World Federation of Scientists in 1973. The Federation grew to include scientists from more than 100 countries and focused on issues described as “planetary emergencies”, including nuclear conflict, terrorism, and information security. Beginning in 1981, the WFS organised a series of International Seminars on Nuclear War at the Centre, aimed at reducing the danger of large-scale nuclear catastrophe through dialogue among scientists and policymakers. Intellectual heritage The Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture is named after the Italian theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana (1906–1938). Born in Sicily, Majorana joined the research group of Enrico Fermi in Rome in the early 1930s, where he made important contributions to nuclear and theoretical physics. His unexplained disappearance in 1938 became one of the enduring mysteries in the history of science. Some later commentators interpreted Majorana’s withdrawal from public life in the context of ethical concerns about the destructive potential of nuclear physics, a symbolic association that later resonated with the Centre’s emphasis on scientific responsibility, international dialogue, and the promotion of science in the service of peace. Nobel Prize–winning physicists including Richard Feynman, who was involved in the early International School of Physics programmes in Erice in the 1960s, Samuel C. C. Ting, who delivered lectures at the International School of Physics in Erice in 1967, and Steven Weinberg, whose recollections reference his Erice lectures as part of the Centre’s programmes, were among those associated with its early teaching activities. Several participants and lecturers associated with the Centre later received Nobel Prizes. Ethical engagement In August 1982, the Centre hosted the drafting of the Erice Statement, a declaration on scientific responsibility in the nuclear age developed by physicists Paul Dirac, Pyotr Kapitsa, and Antonino Zichichi. The statement emphasised the ethical responsibilities of scientists in the development of powerful technologies and called for peaceful applications of science and greater international openness. It has been signed by over 90,000 scientists, as well as by political leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and Deng Xiaoping. In 2023, an addendum was published reflecting on changes in the international landscape since 1982. The Centre later expanded into public health and medicines safety. The “Erice Statement 2009” and the subsequent “Erice Call for Change” brought together pharmacologists, regulators, and healthcare experts from multiple countries, including participants linked to the World Health Organization’s global pharmacovigilance network. These initiatives aimed to improve the communication of medicine-related risks and incorporate patient experience into healthcare decision-making. The Centre has also been associated with discussions on long-term cancer survivorship. In oncology literature, the term “Erice Statement” has been used to refer to a separate consensus declaration developed by experts in paediatric oncology, which addressed the definition of “cure” after childhood cancer and emphasised the need for structured long-term follow-up and quality-of-life–focused care for survivors. In 1999, the Centre hosted a workshop that resulted in a statement calling on governments to support the development of an HIV vaccine. Prominent virologists such as Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier were among the signatories. A 2026 meeting of the Italian Obesity Society held at the Centre adopted the "Erice Manifesto", which recognised obesity as a chronic disease. Science for peace initiatives and recognition The Ettore Majorana–Erice–Science for Peace Prize was established by regional law of the Sicilian Regional Assembly in 1988, with its administration assigned to the Centre. The prize has recognised eminent figures including Luc Montagnier, Jan Szyszko, Paul Ching Wu Chu and Maw-Kuen Wu. In December 2004 Pope John Paul II received the prize during an audience with representatives of the Centre and members of the scientific community. In 2023, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics marked the Centre's 60th anniversary. In March 2019, the Comune di Erice formally joined the Coordinamento Nazionale degli Enti Locali per la Pace e i Diritti Umani (National Coordination of Local Authorities for Peace and Human Rights), signalling the municipality’s commitment to the promotion of peace and human rights within its civic identity, a stance strongly associated with the longstanding presence of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in the town. In 2022, the Pepoli Turret was repurposed as the Peace Observatory ("Lighthouse of the Mediterranean"). Local policy documents have further promoted Erice as a “city of science and peace”, framing its modern cultural development around education, research, and initiatives fostering dialogue across the Mediterranean region. Programmes The educational and scientific activities of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture are organised primarily through a system of international scientific schools and specialised courses, collectively known as the Centre’s International Schools. These programmes operate as intensive residential sessions, typically bringing together researchers, lecturers, and students from multiple countries for extended periods of lectures, seminars, and collaborative discussion. Over time, the scope of the Centre’s activities has expanded beyond its original focus on physics to include a wide range of disciplines across the natural and human sciences, including mathematics, chemistry, biology, medicine, earth sciences, engineering, computer science, law, and interdisciplinary fields linking science with ethics and public policy. Many of the Centre’s programmes have emphasised interdisciplinary approaches linking scientific research with practical and cultural applications. The International School of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, established in 1992 and co-directed by physicist Nicholas Kurti and chemist Hervé This, which brought together scientists and professional chefs to study the physical and chemical processes underlying cooking. These Erice meetings are widely regarded as foundational in the development of the field later known as molecular gastronomy, influencing modern cuisine and science-informed culinary techniques adopted by chefs such as Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal. Some of the Centre’s programmes are also associated with academic prizes recognising outstanding research. In mathematics, activities linked to the International School of Mathematics, named in honour of Guido Stampacchia, include the co-sponsorship of the Stampacchia Gold Medal, an international award presented every three years by the Italian Mathematical Union and the Centre for significant contributions in the calculus of variations and its applications. Some programmes provide financial support or scholarships. The Erice International School of Science Communication and Journalism, organised by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Springer Nature, offers scholarships to early-career researchers and communicators. Location and facilities The Centre is housed within a group of restored medieval monasteries and convent complexes in the historic centre of Erice. Originally established in the former Monastery of the Poor Clares, the Centre expanded during the 1970s into several nearby religious buildings, which were adapted to accommodate lecture halls, research spaces, and residential facilities for visiting scholars. The Centre is organised into a cluster of institutes, each named after a prominent scientist: Isidor I. Rabi Institute (former Monastery of the Poor Clares, linked to the Church of San Pietro by an overpass arch) — Administrative hub with the Directorate, main Secretariat and the "Richard P. Feynman" Lecture Hall; also hosts the Centre’s Polo Sismico (Alberto Gabriele Seismic Network, established in 1981). The institute complex also includes the Piersanti Mattarella Tower of Thought, named after Piersanti Mattarella and recognised as an EPS Historic Site by the European Physical Society in 2016. Eugene P. Wigner Institute (former San Francesco convent adjoining the Church of Spirito Santo) — Includes the "Enrico Fermi" Lecture Hall; the cloister is also used for concerts and exhibitions. Patrick M. S. Blackett Institute (former San Domenico convent) — Houses the Aula Magna "P. A. M. Dirac" auditorium and several lecture rooms, including those named after "Robert Hofstadter" and "John von Neumann"; the complex also includes small museums and exhibition spaces. Victor F. Weisskopf Institute (Il Ciclope) — Includes the "John S. Bell" and "Richard H. Dalitz" Lecture Halls and additional conference spaces. All four institutes include on-site accommodation for visiting participants, enabling extended residential scientific schools and conferences to be held within the historic complexes. Seismic monitoring system The Centre’s Polo Sismico, formally known as the Alberto Gabriele Seismic Network, is a permanent seismic monitoring system established in 1981 and housed within the Isidor I. Rabi Institute. This network connects seismological detectors across Italy, receiving signals from a broad array of stations to enable the detection and localisation of seismic events in real time. The network receives signals from seismic stations across Italy and is used to detect and locate earthquakes. Museums and cultural activities Some of the Centre’s historic institutes are open to visitors. The Eugene P. Wigner Institute, whose principal space is the Enrico Fermi Lecture Hall, regularly hosts public concerts, opera performances, and art exhibitions within its cloister and halls. Cultural programmes held there have included modern performances of works by Alessandro Scarlatti as well as contemporary art exhibitions organised as part of town-wide cultural festivals. The Patrick M. S. Blackett Institute also incorporates small on-site museums, including the Paul A. M. Dirac Museum and the Daniel Chalonge Museum. These spaces preserve scientific instruments, photographs, and archival materials connected to figures associated with the Centre’s international schools and research activities Gallery References External links Majorana Museums – official site Virtual Tour – Comune di Erice: Blackett Institute Virtual Tour – Comune di Erice: Wigner Institute