The academia all over the developed world is experiencing a striking fall of vocation for science in the youngest generations. We fear that we are approaching a time when the progress of science will be limited by the available human resources more than it is now by the scarcity of financial resources. Besides endangering the research system which we are committed to promote, this fact clashes with the increasing demand of scientific qualification from the industry and the society at large, both strongly dependent from evolving technology. A qualified information on the intellectual appeal and social utility of science would help increase the social consideration of research and attract vital financial and human resources.

• INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR YOUNG STUDENTS
  (progetto "FARE SCIENZA CON IL COMPUTER")
  

  In collaboration with the ICTP and with the high schools of Trieste, we will organize a series of stages where students learn how computers help unveil some of the most fascinating secrets of nature. In autumn a couple of colloquia will be held in the high schools of the city for students of the last year. In collaboration with the teachers, courses in programming techniques will be held in the schools, to be attended on a volunteer basis. Students will then be selected to attend a stage in spring, consisting of 5 to 10 hands-on sessions held in the ICTP state-of-the-art informatics laboratory. The focus will be on actual problem solving. Participants will be provided with numerical instruments that allow to study real-world problems using only the basic knowledges normally available to them. Such problems could include e.g. the motion of planets, the statistical foundation of thermodynamics, the kinetics of chemical reactions, the dynamics of populations, etc.

  
  
• PUBLICATION OF A BULLETIN
  

  In collaboration with the `School in Science Communication' of SISSA, we will establish a program with the aim of disseminating the scientific strategies of the center and the most relevant results of computational science, achieved both within and outside the Center. We will publish a quarterly bulletin both on paper and on the web, targeted to scientists, science teachers, science writers, science administrators, industry managers, and any other individual with a scientific background and an interest in science. Each issue will focus on a theme, dealing not only with achievements, but also the with open issues of current interest to the Center. Articles will be written both by science writers and by scientists. The bulletin will also provide information on major scientific events occurring both within and outside the Center, and include sections for book review and topical panel discussions,

  
  
• TRAINING FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
  

  In collaboration with SISSA and the University of Trieste we will organize hands-on stages similar in spirit to those foreseen for high-school students, but targeted to students of the first two grades of the science and engineering curricula of the Italian universities.

  
  
• TRAINING FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS AND YOUNG RESEARCHERS
  

  This program will be focused on the solution of specific problems (as opposed to the broad area covered by the training of high-school and university students) and/or on the use of specific scientific software (as opposed to the more methodological approach followed for younger students, aimed at teaching `how computer codes really work'). A special attention will be paid to the training of experimentalists. A common request from the experimental community to their theoretical colleagues is to get assistance in the interpretation of experimental data. This task frequently requires calculations of a kind which used to be challenging in the past, but which may look no longer so to a young and ambitious theorist. The computational technology, however, is often ripe enough to make such calculations accessible to qualified, though not necessarily highly specialized, scientists. In these cases we believe that the most fruitful form of collaboration and support from the side of computational theorists is to produce high-quality and user-friendly software, train the experimentalists on how to use it, and assist them to do so. This can be done either through the organization of topical courses, or on individual basis. The latter modality can only work if the CRS is located at or has a branch in a large experimental laboratory.

  
  
• PHD ON DEMAND
  

  The CRS will encourage companies with a high technological content to sponsor PhD fellowships at SISSA or the University of Trieste, finalized to `training through research' on specific topics within the companies' interest. When the competences in the CRS are not sufficient to ensure top-class supervision, we will establish contacts with world leaders in the relevant field, and will promote with them a joint tutoring to obtain a PhD in one of the instutions supporting the CRS.

  
  
• SPRING COLLEGES ON SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING
  

  In collaboration with the ICTP, we will organize an yearly spring college on various aspects of scientific computing. The spectrum of topics to be covered will be broad and not restricted to the competences already present in the CRS. This will allow to establish new links with neighboring areas of expertise or to strengthen existing ones.

  
  
• DISTINGUISHED VISITORS PROGRAM
  

  We will allocate a specific budget to allow distinguished scholars to visit DEMOCRITUS and encourage them to give colloquia and seminars in the Italian research groups active in their field.

  
  
• FORMATION OF YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
  

  Some of our activities will require human resources not directly related with the research carried on at the Center. For instance, we will need technical support for web publishing and for computer administration. We plan to hire young people in these areas (possibly through an `assegno di ricerca') and to provide them with the formation necessary to enter the job market in a later time.