nobel laureate abdus salam of pakistan led a group of scientists in starting twas in 1983. this group of important and respected scientists knew that scientific research in developing countries was not good enough and wanted to improve it. twas meant third world academy of sciences. the name was changed to twas, the academy of sciences for the developing world in 2004. twas is a science academy uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. its main goals are promoting the ability to do science and excellence for sustainable development in the south (see north-south divide). its headquarters are at the abdus salam international centre for theoretical physics (ictp) in trieste, italy.