Preparations are under way at ICTP-EAIFR for its official opening, tentatively scheduled for September 2018. 

To that end, the institute recently hosted a planning meeting attended by key players in its creation and support. They included Fernando Quevedo, Director of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). ICTP initiated the idea of creating ICTP-EAIFR as a partner institute  that could address Africa's need for better physics education, training and advanced research.

Other participants included Nelson Ijumba, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research at the University of Rwanda, which is hosting ICTP-EAIFR on its campus; Mike Hughes, special advisor to the Rwandan Ministry of Education; ICTP-EAIFR Director Omololu Akin-Ojo; and ICTP-EAIFR faculty member Tony Apollaro. ICTP Postgraduate Diploma alumna Amna Khalid, who was in Rwanda for the 2018 Next Einstein Forum, also visited ICTP-EAIFR.

ICTP-EAIFR is a UNESCO Category 2 institute and is supported by the Rwandan government.