Weizmann Institute of Science
Encyclopedia
Rehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences.
It is one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary research centers, with around 2,500 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, and scientific, technical, and administrative staff working at the Institute. In 2011, the magazine The Scientist
The Scientist
The Scientist: Magazine of Life Sciences is a professional magazine intended for life scientists. Coverage includes reviews of widely noticed research papers, informing its audience of current research, updates to technology, updates to career information, profiles of scientists achieving...
rated the Weizmann Institute as the best place in the world to work in academia among non-US institutions.
History
Founded in 1934 by Chaim WeizmannChaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
and Benjamin M. Bloch as the Daniel Sieff
Israel Sieff
Israel Moses Sieff, Baron Sieff was a British businessman.He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. One of the theatres at the Manchester Grammar School is named in his honour....
Research Institute, it was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science in his honor on November 2, 1949. Before he became President of the State of Israel, Weizmann pursued his research in organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
at its laboratories. The Weizmann Institute presently has about 2,500 students, staff, and faculty, and awards M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, biological chemistry and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, as well as several interdisciplinary programs.
Youth programs
In addition to its academic programs, the Weizmann Institute runs programs for youth, including science clubs, camps and competitions. The Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute accepts high school graduates from all over the world for a four-week science-based summer campSummer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
. The Clore Garden of Science, which opened in 1999, is the world’s first completely interactive outdoor science museum
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
.
Awards
In 1996 and 2002 respectively, two Weizmann Institute researchers – Amir Pnueli and Adi ShamirAdi Shamir
Adi Shamir is an Israeli cryptographer. He is a co-inventor of the RSA algorithm , a co-inventor of the Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme , one of the inventors of differential cryptanalysis and has made numerous contributions to the fields of cryptography and computer...
– won the Turing Award
Turing Award
The Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
.
Ada Yonath
Ada Yonath
Ada E. Yonath is an Israeli crystallographer best known for her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome. She is the current director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 2009, she received the Nobel...
won the Wolf Prize for Chemistry in 2006 and the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for Chemistry in 2009. Several faculty have been awarded Wolf Prizes in Medicine, including Leo Sachs
Leo Sachs
Leo Sachs is a German-born Israeli molecular biologist and cancer researcher. Born in Leipzig, he Emigrated to England in 1933, and to Israel in 1952...
(1980), Meir Wilchek
Meir Wilchek
Meir Wilchek is an Israeli biochemist.He is a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science.-Early life and education:Meir Wilchek was born in Warsaw, Poland, scion of a rabbinical family...
(1987), and Michael Sela
Michael Sela
Michael Sela is an Israeli immunologist of Polish Jewish origin. He is W. Garfield Weston Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.- Birth and academic career :...
and Ruth Arnon
Ruth Arnon
Ruth Arnon is an Israeli biochemist and codeveloper of the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. She is currently the Paul Ehrlich Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science.-Early life:...
(shared, 1998).
Distinguished faculty
- Oded GoldreichOded GoldreichOded Goldreich is a professor of Computer Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. His research interests lie within the theory of computation...
, computer scientistComputer scientistA computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems.... - Shafrira Goldwasser, two time winner of the Godel PrizeGödel PrizeThe Gödel Prize is a prize for outstanding papers in theoretical computer science, named after Kurt Gödel and awarded jointly by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science and the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory .The...
(1993 and 2001) - Haim HarariHaim HarariHaim Harari is an Israeli theoretical physicist who has made contributions in particle physics, science education, and other fields.- Birth and education :...
, theoretical physicist - David HarelDavid HarelDavid Harel is a professor of computer science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Born in London, England, he was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the institute for seven years.-Biography:...
(born 1950), computer scientist - Ephraim KatzirEphraim KatzirEphraim Katzir was an Israeli biophysicist and former Israeli Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978.-Biography:...
, biophysicist, fourth President of the State of Israel - Harry J. LipkinHarry J. LipkinHarry Jeannot Lipkin , also known as Zvi Lipkin, is an Israeli theoretical physicist specializing in nuclear physics and elementary particle physics. He is a recipient of prestigious Wigner Medal.-Biography:...
, physicist - Mordehai MilgromMordehai MilgromMordehai Milgrom is an Israeli physicist and professor in the department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. He is most famous for his proposal of Modified Newtonian dynamics as an alternative to the dark matter and galaxy rotation curve problems, in 1981...
, physicist - Chaim L. PekerisChaim L. PekerisChaim Leib Pekeris was an Israeli-American physicist and mathematician. He made notable contributions to geophysics and the spectral theory of many-electron atoms, in particular the Helium atom. He was also one of the designers of the first computer in Israel, WEIZAC.-Biography:Pekeris was bon in...
, geophysicist - Amir Pnueli, computer scientist, Turing Award (1996)
- Adi ShamirAdi ShamirAdi Shamir is an Israeli cryptographer. He is a co-inventor of the RSA algorithm , a co-inventor of the Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme , one of the inventors of differential cryptanalysis and has made numerous contributions to the fields of cryptography and computer...
, cryptographer, Turing Award (2002) - Igal TalmiIgal TalmiIgal Talmi is a distinguished Israeli nuclear physicist.-Biography:Igal Talmi was born in 1925 in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. His family immigrated to Mandate Palestine later that year and settled in Kfar Yehezkel...
, physicist - Benjamin Elazari VolcaniBenjamin Elazari VolcaniBenjamin Elazari Volcani discovered life in the Dead Sea and pioneered biological silicon research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.-Biography:...
, discovered life in the Dead Sea and pioneered biological silicon research. - Chaim WeizmannChaim WeizmannChaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, chemist, first President of the State of Israel - Ada YonathAda YonathAda E. Yonath is an Israeli crystallographer best known for her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome. She is the current director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 2009, she received the Nobel...
, crystallographer, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2009)
Presidents
- Chaim WeizmannChaim WeizmannChaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
(1949–1952; 1934–1952 if predecessor Daniel Sieff Institute included) - Abba EbanAbba EbanAbba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician.In his career he was Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations...
(1959–1966) - Meyer Weisgal (1966–1970)
- Albert SabinAlbert SabinAlbert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...
(1970–1972) - Israel Dostrovsky (1972–1975)
- Michael SelaMichael SelaMichael Sela is an Israeli immunologist of Polish Jewish origin. He is W. Garfield Weston Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.- Birth and academic career :...
(1975–1985) - Aryeh DvoretzkyAryeh DvoretzkyAryeh Dvoretzky was a Russian-born Israeli mathematician, the winner of the 1973 Israel Prize in Mathematics. He is best known for his work in functional analysis, statistics and probability.-Biography:...
(1985–1988) - Haim HarariHaim HarariHaim Harari is an Israeli theoretical physicist who has made contributions in particle physics, science education, and other fields.- Birth and education :...
(1988–2001) - Ilan ChetIlan ChetIlan Chet is an Israeli microbiologist and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.- Early life :...
(2001–2006) - Daniel ZajfmanDaniel ZajfmanDaniel Zajfman is an Israeli physicist whose main research interests are centered around the Physics of simple molecular ions. On December 1, 2006 he was elected as the tenth president of the Weizmann Institute....
(2006–present)
Past officers of the Weizmann Institute
Notable alumni
- Amikam Aharoni (1929–2002), physicist
- Dorit AharonovDorit AharonovDorit Aharonov is an Israeli computer scientist specializing in quantum computing.Aharonov graduated from Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a BSc in Mathematics and Physics in 1994. She then graduated from Weizmann Institute of Science with an MSc in Physics...
( born 1970), computer scientist specializing in quantum computing - Christian B. AnfinsenChristian B. AnfinsenChristian Boehmer Anfinsen, Jr. was an American biochemist. He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Stanford Moore and William Howard Stein for work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation...
(1916–95) was an American biochemist. - Ofer BihamOfer BihamOfer Biham is a faculty member at the Racah Institute of Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Biham received his Ph.D. for research on quasiperiodic systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science, under the supervision of Prof...
, faculty member at the Racah Institute of Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Achi BrandtAchi BrandtAchi Brandt is an Israeli mathematician, noted for his pioneering contributions to multigrid methods.Achi Brandt earned his Ph.D. degree at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1965, with a thesis on numerical methods in hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics...
(born 1938), mathematician, noted for pioneering contributions to multigrid methods - Ehud GazitEhud GazitEhud Gazit , is an Israeli biochemist and nanotechnologist and Professor at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University...
, biochemist and nanotechnologist, and Professor at the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University - Alexander Goldfarb, (born 1947), microbiologist, activist, and author
- Anders LevermannAnders LevermannAnders Levermann is a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Potsdam University, Germany. He was contributing author to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which...
, climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Potsdam University - Mario LivioMario LivioMario Livio is an astrophysicist and an author of works that popularize science and mathematics. He is currently an astronomer and head of public outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the Hubble Space Telescope...
(born 1945), astrophysicist - Alexander LevitzkiAlexander LevitzkiAlexander Levitzki is an Israeli biochemist who is a Professor of Biochemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.- Birth and education :...
(born 1940), biochemist - Miron LivnyMiron LivnyMiron Livny is a senior researcher and professor specializing in distributed computing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Livny has been a professor of computer science at Wisconsin since 1983, where he leads the Condor high-throughput computing system project...
, senior researcher and professor specializing in distributed computing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison - Henry MarkramHenry MarkramHenry Markram is Director of the Blue Brain Project at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne .He obtained his B.Sc. from Cape Town University, South Africa under the supervision of Rodney Douglas and his Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, under the supervision of Menahem...
(born 1962), Director of the Blue Brain Project at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Amir Pnueli (1941–2009), computer scientist
- Giora RamGiora RamGiora Ram is an interdisciplinary scientist in physics, mathematics, computer science and medicine.He is graduate of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot and The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England.His Ph.D...
(born 1947), interdisciplinary scientist in physics, mathematics, computer science, and medicine - Shmuel SafraShmuel SafraShmuel Safra is a Professor of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Born in Jerusalem.Safra's research areas include Complexity Theory and Automata Theory...
, Professor of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University - Josip Schlessinger (born 1945), biochemist and biophysician
- Adi ShamirAdi ShamirAdi Shamir is an Israeli cryptographer. He is a co-inventor of the RSA algorithm , a co-inventor of the Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme , one of the inventors of differential cryptanalysis and has made numerous contributions to the fields of cryptography and computer...
(born 1952), cryptographer