The first two-week intensive workshop of the APhRICA program, titled “Methodological School on Density Functional Theory”, marked a key milestone in the 2025 training plan of the Physics Without Frontiers (PWF) initiative by ICTP. Density Functional Theory (DFT) is a fundamental computational method used to explore structural and electronic properties of materials.

Hosted by the Department of Physics, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K), the workshop followed the official launch of the APhRICA program in Nairobi on December 6, 2024. Its primary objective is to equip students and faculty in East Africa with strong theoretical and methodological foundations in DFT, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to the global research landscape in condensed matter physics.

Seventeen graduate students participated—ten from Kenyan universities, and seven from ICTP-EAIFR in Kigali. The group included international students from Peru, Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt, Syria, and Rwanda, emphasizing the program’s inclusive and global reach.

We are also pleased to announce that, as part of the APhRICA program, a YAMBO School will be held annually in Kenya. This school will offer specialized training in many-body perturbation theory and electronic excitations using the YAMBO code, further expanding research capabilities in the region.

Led by Andrea Marini (CNR-ISM), with coordination by Carmen Gargiulo and support from the CNR-ISM administration, the APhRICA project is built through collaboration between CNR-ISM and ICTP-EAIFR. It engages a broad network of experts from institutions including CECAM, EPFL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris-Saclay, and others, alongside African universities such as TU-K, Masinde Muliro University, Moi University, and Egerton University.