The World Academy of Sciences
The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the South (see North-South divide). Its headquarters are located on the premises of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. It was named "Third World Academy of Sciences" until 2004 and "TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world" before September 2012,