Creativity, together with the making of ideas into fruition, is essential for progress. Today the
evolution from an idea to its application can be facilitated by the implementation of Fabrication
Laboratories, or FabLabs, having affordable digital tools for prototyping. FabLabs aiming at
scientific research and invention are now starting to be established inside Universities, Research
Centers and Schools. We review the setting up of the ICTP Scientific FabLab in Trieste, Italy, give
concrete examples on the use in physics, and propose to replicate world-wide this class of
multi-purpose workplaces within academia as a support for physics and math education and for
community development.