History of Theoretical Physics · ICTP Trieste
The Dirac Medal of ICTP
Theoretical physics through the lens of one of its most prestigious annual honours — awarded each 8 August in Trieste, on the birthday of Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac.
About This Course
The Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) was established in 1985 by ICTP’s founding director Abdus Salam, in honour of the centenary of quantum mechanics and the work of Paul Dirac. It is awarded each year on 8 August — Dirac’s birthday — to theoretical physicists for outstanding contributions, and is widely regarded, alongside the Wolf Prize and the Boltzmann Medal, as one of the great lifetime honours in theoretical physics.
The first medals (1985) went to Yakov Zeldovich and Edward Witten. Subsequent laureates form a who’s-who of late-20th and early-21st-century theoretical physics. ICTP records the medallists’ lectures: this course collects 14 of those lectures (28 video parts in total), organised into three thematic modules alongside a foundational module on Dirac himself and the ICTP institution.
Key Numbers
1985
First medal awarded (Zeldovich, Witten)
8 Aug
Dirac’s birthday — awarded annually
~120
Laureates to date
14
Laureate lectures embedded here
28
Video parts (most lectures span two)
$5,000
Cash prize (compared to ~$700k for the Abel)
Five Modules
M0
Dirac & the ICTP Medal
Paul Dirac (1902–1984), the Dirac equation, antimatter, the founding of ICTP by Abdus Salam, and the establishment of the Dirac Medal in 1985 — awarded annually on 8 August, Dirac’s birthday.
M1
Strings, Supergravity & Unification
Lectures by Michael Green & John Schwarz (anomaly cancellation, 1984), Joseph Polchinski (D-branes), Cumrun Vafa (geometry & strings), Sergio Ferrara (supergravity).
M2
QFT, Anomalies & Symmetries
Lectures by Stephen Adler (axial anomaly), Roman Jackiw (zero modes, fractional charge), John Iliopoulos (GIM mechanism), Helen Quinn (Peccei-Quinn, scale hierarchies).
M3
Statistical Physics & Quantum Mechanics
Lectures by Giorgio Parisi (spin glasses, 2021 Nobel), Vladimir Zakharov (weak turbulence), Roberto Car (Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics), E. C. G. Sudarshan (V−A theory, coherent states, 4-part series).
M4
Distinguished Conversations
ICTP’s long-form conversation series featuring Witten, David Gross, Haldane, Maiani, Sachdev, Son, Cirac, Zoller, Parrinello, Haroche & L’Huillier, Cornell & Ketterle, Casini & Huerta, and more.
Other Science-Prize Courses
Other prize-and-laureate courses on CoursesHub. Each one collects laureate lectures, interviews, and short biographical sketches for one of the world’s top science honours.
Nobel Physics →
The benchmark global physics prize since 1901 — 35 laureate lectures (2013–2025).
Nobel Chemistry →
The benchmark global chemistry prize since 1901 — 37 laureate lectures (2013–2025).
Fields Medal & Abel Prize →
The two top mathematics honours, with the complete Abel Prize laureate-interview archive (2003–2025).
Max Planck Medal →
DPG’s highest honour for theoretical physics, since 1929 — laureate lectures plus the Lise Meitner Lecture series.
Crafoord Astronomy →
Royal Swedish Academy honours in astronomy and astrophysics.
Crafoord Geosciences →
Royal Swedish Academy honours in geosciences and climate.
Crafoord Biosciences →
Royal Swedish Academy honours in evolutionary biology and ecology.
Related Subject Courses
Quantum Field Theory,Quantum Gravity,Unification,Particle Physics,Quantum Mechanics,Cosmology,Condensed Matter,Statistical Mechanics.