Prof. Yuval Oreg
A verdant forest is one of the most iconic symbols of the power of nature, from the abundance of plant and animal life that shelters among its thick vegetation to the positive impact it has on Earth’s climate, thanks in part to photosynthesis, which removes carbon dioxide from the air, thereby m…
Moonshot Provides Blueprint for Future Pandemic Drugs
An international crowdsourced campaign to discover an anti-COVID-19 drug has created a blueprint for the accelerated, patent-free development of drugs to treat viral threats to humanity. The results of the campaign, COVID Moonshot – co-led by Prof. Nir London of the Weizmann Institute of Science…
Appealing to Academic Leadership Worldwide
Dear Colleagues,
We, the leaders of Israeli universities and research institutions, write to express deep concern over the discourse emanating from academia following the devastating Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the inadequate response, in many cases, by academic leadership.
On that d…
Emergency Support Fund for Students and Postdocs
The Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and the Feinberg Graduate School (FGS) stand with our Israeli and international students and postdoctoral fellows amid the state of emergency declared in Israel following the events of October 7. The Weizmann community is supporting those affected, r…
Everyone Knew It When Marcel Entered a Room
“Marceloosh, how are you?” Dr. Zahava Scherz texted her Weizmann Institute of Science colleague and friend, Dr. Marcel Frailich Kaplun, at 7:55 a.m. on October 7. An unusually intense barrage of missiles had been fired on Kibbutz Be’eri, where Marcel had lived for the past 40 years.
Marcel texte…
Dr. Efrat Resnick
Dr. Efrat Resnick was awarded the Israel Chemical Society (ICS)-Uri Golik Prize for an Excellent Graduate Student
Prof. Lucio Frydman
Prof. Lucio Frydman was awarded the ICS (Israel Chemical Society) Prize for Excellence
Prof. Michal Irani
Prof. Michal Irani was elected as a Member of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities
Prof. Ofer Zeitoun
Prof. Ofer Zeitouni was elected as a Member of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities
Prof. Eli Zeldov
Prof. Eli Zeldov was elected as a Member of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities
Dr. Roi Avraham
Dr. Roi Avraham was selected as the Outstanding Early Career Investigator of the American Society for Microbiology
Prof. Avraham Levy
Prof. Avraham Levy is the recipient of the American Society of Plant Biologists Enid MacRobbie Corresponding Membership Award
Prof. Yonina Eldar
Prof. Yonina Eldar is the recipient of the Landau Prize for Sciences and Arts awarded by Mifal HaPais
Prof. Tzachi Pilpel
Prof. Tzachi Pilpel is the recipient of the Landau Prize for Sciences and Arts awarded by Mifal HaPais
Prof. Eran Elinav
Prof. Eran Elinav is the recipient of the Ismar Boas Medal of the German Association DGVS
Prof. Avishay Gal-Yam
Prof. Avishay Gal-Yam is the recipient of the Weizmann Prize for Exact Sciences, awarded by the Tel-Aviv Municipality
Dr. Michal Schwartz
Dr. Michal Schwartz is the recipient of a Maxine Singer Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Dr. Tali Dadosh
Dr. Tali Dadosh is the recipient of a Maxine Singer Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Dr. Hagit Shapiro
Dr. Hagit Shapiro is the recipient of a Scientific Council Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Dr. Alon Rubin
Dr. Alon Rubin is the recipient of a Scientific Council Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Dr. Rinat Goren
Dr. Rinat Goren is the recipient of a Scientific Council Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Dr. Gil Amitai
Dr. Gil Amitai is the recipient of a Scientific Council Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists
Prof. Zvika Brakerski
Prof. Zvika Brakerski is the recipient of a Morris L. Levinson Prize in Mathematics awarded by the Scientific Council
Dr. Shira Raveh-Rubin
Dr. Shira Raveh-Rubin is the recipient of a Scientific Council Prize for Chemistry
Prof. Yifat Merbl
Prof. Yifat Merbl is the recipient of a Morris L. Levinson Prize in Biology awarded by the Scientific Council
Dr. David Mross
Dr. David Mross is the recipient of a Morris L. Levinson Prize in Physics awarded by the Scientific Council
Standing Together against Terror and Violence: A Call to the International Science Community
Dear colleagues and friends,
We write to you today not only as scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, but also as fellow researchers and advocates for truth, knowledge, and humanity.
As you all know, Israel suffered an unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists last week. More than a tho…
Dumpster Diving in Cancer Tissue Uncovers an Immune Evasion Mechanism
Smart users of social media protect themselves by deleting suspicious “friend requests” that might serve as a gateway to harmful content. Similarly, our immune system uses its own judgment to identify cellular “profiles” that seem dangerous. As immune cells patrol the body, they check out protei…
Human Embryo Models Grown from Stem Cells
A research team headed by Prof. Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab – and managed to grow them outside the womb up to day 14. As reported today in Nature, these synthetic embryo models had all the struc…
Unlocking a Secret Nerve Cell Regenerator
Just like a gecko that regrows a broken tail, our peripheral nervous system knows how to regenerate the branches of its cells after an injury. Unfortunately, the cells in our central nervous system – our brain and spinal cord – are far more limited when it comes to regeneration. Accordingly, dis…
Surviving on an Empty Battery
Every time we make a call, send a text message or watch a video, some of the energy stored in the cell phone battery is depleted. Living cells also store energy in “currencies” they can cash in when needed, in order to fuel life processes. The main energy currency of all living things on Earth –…
A “Jupiter” Hotter than the Sun
The search for exoplanets – planets that orbit stars located beyond the borders of our solar system – is a hot topic in astrophysics. Of the various types of exoplanets, one is hot in the literal sense: hot Jupiters, a class of exoplanets that are physically similar to the gas giant planet Jupit…
A Select Group: Study May Bring Improved Therapy to Preselected Lung Cancer Patients
Nonsmokers who develop lung cancer can be treated effectively with new drugs, but their tumors refuse to surrender without a fight. The drugs stop working in the long term because the tumors acquire secondary mutations that allow them to evade the medications’ therapeutic effect.
In research pub…
Vive la Différence: Brain Cells of Males and Females Respond Differently to Chronic Stress
Scientific excellence requires diversity – research conducted by men and women, by people from different backgrounds and with varied worldviews. The need for diversity extends to scientific experiments themselves, but even today the vast majority of studies in the life sciences are done on male …
Gaining Weight? You Have a Bone to Pick with Calcium
When diets fail, people often blame their genes. Now scientists lend weight to this notion, showing that genes may indeed play a role in weight gain in older people. In a new study, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers found that a gene that regulates calcium in cells might contribute to a …
Taking Refuge in Rehovot
Dr. Yasha Gindikin was wide awake when the war began. His fear that Russia was about to invade Ukraine – which it did at around 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022 – had been keeping him up at night. Gindikin, a theoretical physicist then working at a research institute near Moscow, took the aggression …
Underground Symbiosis Counters Drought
When the going gets tough, we all need a helping hand, and trees are no different. Researchers in the Plant Sciences Department at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered that in drought conditions, cypresses get help from soil-beneficial bacteria in a kind of cooperation that enables …
Prepared for War: How Cells Survive Viral Invasion
“Let him who desires peace, prepare for war,” wrote the Roman author Vegetius in the 4th century CE. Our bodies, it seems, live by this dictum: Even in times of peace, some cells express high levels of defensive, antiviral proteins. A new Weizmann Institute of Science study reveals that the high…
Dust in the Wind: Forecasting Storms with AI
Dust storms are not only a nuisance for anyone trying to keep their house spick and span, they also pose a very real health hazard and are a major ecological concern. Respiratory problems caused by breathing in dust and other airborne particles are one of the main causes of death worldwide. To m…
How B-Cell Eaters Clean Their Plates
Parents tell their children to eat all the food on their plate, down to the last crumb. Certain cells within our lymph nodes, like obedient children, diligently follow this instruction. Although these cells – a subtype of macrophages, or “big eaters” – were first described in 1884 by German biol…
If Music Be the Food of Science, Play On!
Albert Einstein rarely travelled without his violin, which inspired him to develop the most elegant theories the world of science has seen. When he was a child, he learned to play piano and violin, and he continued playing his whole life. He even gave his violin an affectionate nickname: Lina.
“…
319 Ambassadors of Groundbreaking Science
“Dear graduates, we now celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Feinberg Graduate School, an enchanting boutique university within a bubble called the Weizmann Institute. More than 2,500 MSc recipients and some 5,000 PhDs have graduated from this school, among them more than 400 founders and chief…
Tracking the Winds of Climate Change
In the tropics, above the equatorial rainforests and oceans, the strong solar radiation hitting Earth propels a stream of warm, moist air far upward. Once reaching the upper atmosphere, this stream moves in both hemispheres toward the poles; it then descends in the subtropical regions at around …
Weizmann Institute of Science and Max Planck Society Create a Joint Postdoctoral Program
During a ceremony held at the Weizmann Institute of Science on Monday, May 15, 2023, Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen and Max Planck Society (MPG) President Prof. Martin Stratmann signed a cooperation agreement with the aim of deepening scientific collaboration and exchange between t…
Mystery Protein Points to New Immune “Smoke Detector”
A new study done in Prof. Eran Elinav’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science got an unexpected boost from the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In the wake of this accord, Elinav was invited to a scientific conference in Dubai. On his way to the sessions, he shared…
Prof. Irit Sagi
Prof. Irit Sagi was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Patras, Greece
Discovering the Path to Discoveries
Jamela Abu Ayada’s pursuit of a scientific career was determined largely by two experiences.
The first was when Abu Ayada, a 22-year-old medical student who grew up in the Bedouin village of Makhul in the Negev Desert, learned about stem cells in high school. The subject fascinated her, putting…