Frequently Asked Questions by Staff Scientists

Staff Scientists should be knowledgeable about the following topics that affect them. Many of the answers to the questions below link to documents in the Academic Secretary web site. Access to these documents may be accessible only within the institute network (Your login account and password is required).
To ask more questions whose answers would be of interest here, or to notify errors, please send mail to: Lorne.Levinson@weizmann.ac.il.

Rank

What do I need to do in order to advance to my next Staff Scientist rank?

In order to obtain a promotion, the staff scientist is expected to demonstate excellence and a leading role in his/her research. This includes letters of recommendation from researchers in his/her field both from Israel and abroad, participation in conferences and publishing articles. For Staff Scientists in service units, the satisfaction of the research groups with whom he/she works, and the potential to add new groups and new technologies, is also a consideration.

For a more detailed description by rank, see the criteria for promotion subsection of the "Staff Scientists Track" section on the Academic Affairs Office site (login required).

What do I need to do in order to get tenure?

A Staff Scientist can only be employed by the Weizmann Institute on a temporary (i.e., non-tenured) basis for a period not exceeding seven years. During this time, he/she must be promoted to the Associate Staff Scientist rank in order to be considered for tenure.

  • Staff Scientists in service units shall be granted tenure based on their work and achievements and also on the Weizmann Institute's need for the service unit in the long term.
  • For Staff Scientists in research groups, in addition to the above, other factors considered include the retirement date of the group PI and the prospects of transfering the staff scientist to another group when the PI retires.

More details are available in Appendix 1 Section 5 in the Introductory Information subsection of the Staff Sceintist Track section on the Academic Affairs site (login required).

What is the difference between the Staff Scientist track and the Senior Intern positions?

Unlike Staff Scientists, the Senior Intern position is not eligible for tenure and is limited in time.

More details are available on the Academic Affairs website.