Institutes and Centres in the Natural Sciences

UNESCO’s Category 1 Institutes, which are an integral part of UNESCO, build scientific capacity in Member States, essentially in developing countries.

• Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
  Trieste, Italy

  ICTP is a driving force behind global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world. Although operating with significant autonomy, the programmes of this institute are an integral part of the UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector programme.  ICTP hosts The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS), a UNESCO programme that works to support sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy and diplomacy. GenderInSITE, an international initiative to promote the role of women in science, innovation, technology and engineering, and a programme unit of UNESCO, is hosted by TWAS.

• UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS)
  Montreal, Canada

  As part of its mandate, UIS collects and disseminates science statistics across the United Nations system gathering data from more than 200 countries and territories through its biennial survey and partnerships with key organizations. Science statistics are used in particular to compile the UNESCO Science Report. 

Category 2 centres and institutes contribute to the execution of UNESCO’s programme through capacity building; the exchange of information in a particular discipline; theoretical and experimental research; and advanced training. They are under the auspices of UNESCO but are not legally part of the Organization; they are associated with it through formal arrangements approved by the General Conference. These centres and institutes form a vast network of associated centres in the fields of water, renewable energy, science policy, biotechnology, geosciences, the basic sciences and remote sensing.

• International Research and Training Centre for Science and Technology Strategy (CISTRAT)
  Beijing, China
• Regional Centre for Science Park and Technology Incubator Development 
  Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran
• International Centre for South-South Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (ISTIC)
  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• South American Institute for Fundamental Research (SAIFR)
  Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Centre d’Excellence en Microscience (CEM)
  Yaounde, Cameroon
• International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP)
  Beijing, China
• International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics (ICPAM/CIMPA)
  Nice, France
• African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS-Ghana)
  Accra, Ghana
• Mesoamerican Centre for Theoretical Physics (MCTP)
  Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
• International Centre for Advanced Training of Scientists from Portuguese-Speaking Countries in Areas of Basic Sciences 
  Lisbon, Portugal
• International Centre for Advanced Training and Research in Physics
  Mǎgurele-Bucarest, Romania
• East Africa Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR)
  Kigali, Rwanda
• International Training Centre in Astronomy (ITCA)
  Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Junior Academy of Sciences
  Kiev, Ukraine
• International Centres of Physics
  Hanoi, Viet Nam
• International Centres of Research and Postgraduate Training in Mathematics
  Hanoi, Viet Nam

Engineering

• International Centre for Engineering Education
  Beijing, China
• International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology (IKCEST)(link is external)
  Beijing, China
• Aalborg Centre for Problem-Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability(link is external)
  Aalborg, Denmark
• International Competence Centre for Mining-Engineering Education(link is external)
  St Peterburg, Russian Federation

Biotechnology

• Regional Centre for Biotechnology
  Faridabad, India
• International Training and Education Centre in Proteomics, Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics (BIOmics)
  Rehovot, Israel
• Health-related Basic Sciences Centre and Human Nutrition
  Mashad, Iran
• International Centre for Biotechnology
  Nsukka, Nigeria
• International Centre for Chemical and Biological Science
  Karachi, Pakistan

Renewable energy

• Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
  Marrakech, Morocco
• International Sustainable Energy Development Centre
  Moscow, Russian Federation

• International Research Centre on Karst (IRCK)
  Guilin, China
  2020 Annual Report
• International Centre on Global-scale Geochemistry
  Langfang, China
• International Centre on Space Technologies for Cultural and Natural Heritage (HIST)
  Beijing, China
• GRÓ - International Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Societal Change
  Reykjavik, Iceland

Disaster Risk Reduction

• International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (IZIIS)
  Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• Regional Education and Research Center on Earthquake Risk Management and Resilience for West and Central Asia at the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES)
  Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

• Ecole régionale post-universitaire d’aménagement et de gestion intégrés des forêts et territoires tropicaux (ERAIFT)
  Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• International Centre on Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves
  Castellet I la Gornal, Spain 
• Global Research and Training Centre for Internationally Designated Areas (GCIDA)
  Jeju Island, Republic of Korea
• GRÓ - International Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Societal Change
  Reykjavik, Iceland

• International Centre on Hydroinformatics for Integrated Water Resources Management (CIH)
  Parque Tecnologico Itaipú Binacional, Brazil and Paraguay
• Regional Water Centre for Arid and Semi-arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC)
  La Serena, Chile
• International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES)
  Beijing, China
• Centre for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources in the Caribbean Island Sates (CEHICA)
  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Regional Centre for Training and Water Studies of Arid and Semi-arid Zones (RCTWS)
  6th of October City, Egypt
• Central Laboratory for Environmental Quality Monitoring (CLEQM)
  El-Qanater, Egypt
• African Regional Centre for Ecohydrology (ARCE)
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• International Centre on Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC)
  Koblenz, Germany
• Centre on Integrated and Multi-disciplinary Water Resources Management (AUTH)
  Thessaloniki, Greece
• International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM)
  Tsukuba, Japan
• Asia-Pacific Centre for Ecohydrology (APCE)
  Cibinong, Indonesia
• International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHS)
  Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM)
  Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
• International Centre for the Integrated Management of Watershed and Bio-Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions (ICIMWB)
  Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Central Asian Regional Glaciological Centre (CARGC)
  Almaty, Kazakhstan
• Water Research Centre at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (WRC-KISR)
  Kuwait City, Kuwait
• International Centre for Water Security and Sustainable Management (i-WSSM)
  at the K-Water Institute, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
• Regional Centre for Shared Aquifer Resources Management (RCSARM)
  Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
• Regional Humid Tropics Hydrology and Water Resources Centre for South-East Asia and the Pacific (HTC)
  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Regional Centre on Water Security (CERSHI)
  Mexico City, Mexico
• IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (IHE-Delft)
  Delft, the Netherlands
• International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC)
  Delft, The Netherlands
• Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM)
  Kaduna, Nigeria
• Regional Centre for Water Management Research in Arid Zones (RCWMRIAZ)
  Pakistan
• Regional Water Research Centre on Hydrology of Headwater Catchments (RWRC-COMSATS)
  Abbottabad, Pakistan
• European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology (ERCE)
  Poland
• International Research and Training Centre on Urban Drainage (IRTCUD)
• Belgrade, Serbia
• Centre for Water for Sustainable Development and Adaptation to Climate Change (WSDAC)
  Belgrade, Serbia
• Regional Centre on Capacity Development and Research in Water Harvesting (RCWH)
• Khartoum, Sudan
• International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC)
  Stockholm, Sweden 
• Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science (CWLPS)
  University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Regional Centre for Groundwater Management for Latin America and the Caribbean (CeReGAS)
  Montevideo, Uruguay
• International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics, (ICIReWaRD)
  Montpellier, France
• Regional Experimental Centre for Sanitation Technologies (CERTS)
  Uruguay