| Contents: | Feinberg Graduate School, The Human Factor, Budget, Technology Transfer, The Campus, The Gardens, Science Education, Advnacing Israel, New Horizons |
The Institute includes five faculties - Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology, divided into 17 scientific departments, that include altogether some 250 research groups headed by senior scientists and professors.In addition, the Institute includes a graduate school and over 50 multidisciplinary centers.
To encourage this creative activity, the Institute has created over 50 multidisciplinary research institutes and centers, most of which provide an intellectual rather than physical framework for joint projects. These institutes and centers stimulate activity in a multiplicity of fields, including brain research, cancer research, nanotechnology, renewable energy sources, experimental physics, biological physics, environmental studies, the study of autoimmune diseases, plant sciences, photosynthesis, genetics and others.
The Weizmann Institute serves as a meeting place for scientists from different disciplines, setting the stage for multidisciplinary collaborations and the emergence of new research fields.
Each year, around 500 scientists from dozens of countries around the globe visit the Weizmann Institute or come to work on its campus. And each year, approximately 25 international scientific conferences take place at the Institute.
The Feinberg Graduate School, the Institute's university arm, was established in 1958 with the support of a $25-million loan (eventually turned into a grant) from the U.S. government. The School, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is registered as an accredited higher education institution both in Israel and in the U.S.. It awards M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics and computer science, physics, chemistry, life sciences and science teaching.
Outstanding students from around the globe pursue their studies at the Feinberg Graduate School. The language of instruction is English, and the average advisor-student ratio is 1:3. About 1,000 research students are enrolled: some 300 are pursuing M.Sc. degrees, and 700 Ph.D. degrees. About 45% are female. In addition, the School lists some 250 postdoctoral fellows, about a third of them from the United States, Canada, Latin America, the European Union and Africa, as well as Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand. The Feinberg Graduate School trains research students for senior posts in academia, scientific and medical research, industry and governmental bodies.
Its curriculum mandates the students' direct involvement in research conducted at the Institute. This intensive program poses a real challenge to the students; all receive scholarships to cover their tuition and living expenses so that they can devote their full attention to research and study.
In its early days, the Daniel Sieff Research Institute had a scientific staff of no more than a dozen, working under the guidance of Dr. Weizmann.
In 1949, the Institute was comprised of 7 departments and 182 employees.
Today the campus community numbers over 2,600: some 1,000 scientists and scientific staff, 1,000 research students, 220 postdoctoral fellows and 400 administrative employees.
The Weizmann Institute's annual budget stands at over 1 billion shekels. An allocation from the government of Israel covers about one-third of the budget; the rest is provided by research grants, donations and royalties.
Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., which promotes the industrial applications stemming from Weizmann Institute inventions, was founded in 1959. Since then, it has been involved in registering some 1,400 families of patents. Since 1973, Yeda has signed 169 agreements with Israeli companies on the use of various Institute patents and established 42 companies (21 of them since 2000).
The Weizmann Institute is located in the town of Rehovot, 22 kilometers south of Tel Aviv and 42 kilometers west of Jerusalem. The Institute campus, covering an area of some 1.1 sq km (280 acres), includes more than 100 buildings with a total area of 155,000 sq m (38 acres), as well as some 100 housing units for scientists. Approximately 120 research students live in dormitories on campus.
A beautiful environment inspires and stimulates creativity. That's why the Weizmann Institute of Science invests great efforts in nurturing the work environment of the Institute scientists. Gardens take up 380,000 sq m (94 acres) of the Institute grounds. They include 150,000 sq m (37 acres) of lawns with five types of grass, 180,000 sq m (44 acres) of some 750 kinds of shrubs and 30,000 sq m (7 acres) of orchards. Approximately 1,300 trees of 70 kinds grow on campus. The Institute's gardens, enjoyed by staff and visitors alike, instill calm and peace of mind. Scattered within them are environmental sculptures - some the work of top Israeli artists, others by foreign sculptors - while several Institute buildings are, in themselves, architectural gems.
General scientific knowledge has become a vital tool, essential for becoming successfully integrated into modern society.
The Davidson Institute of Science Education, established in 2002, provides a continuation and expansion of Weizmann Institute activities in the area of science teaching. Since its establishment, the Davidson Institute has been examining innovative methods for promoting science education through the use of advanced technologies. It implements programs for all sectors of the society and offers special frameworks for the ongoing professional development of science teachers.
The "Perach" all-Israel tutoring program, currently headquartered at the Davidson Institute of Science Education, was launched at the Weizmann Institute in 1973. It enlists students from all Israeli universities to serve as tutors to underprivileged youth who need intensive guidance and encouragement in their studies.
Each year, some 33,000 youngsters take part in activities organized by the Weizmann Institute's Young@Science program. These include a wide variety of activities for children, youth and the young-at-heart.
The Science Mobile, a teaching lab-in-a-van developed at the Weizmann Institute, visits schools and community centers in remote parts of Israel, introducing local youth to the entertaining and enjoyable aspects of learning scientific principles.
The Clore Garden of Science, an outdoor facility established at the Weizmann Institute of Science, is the first science museum of its kind in the world. Its 100 hands-on exhibits allow visitors to learn about science and nature through play and firsthand experience. The Clore Garden of Science is at the center of the Institute's annual Science Festival, a bustling and colorful celebration of science and technology featuring presentations, competitions, shows, workshops, observations, tours, lectures and demonstrations - all aimed at children and youth as well as at people of all ages curious about the world around us. Thousands of visitors attend the festival each year.
The Weizmann Institute's Science Teaching Department works to raise the level of science education in junior and senior high schools within Israel's education system. Department members design new curricula, experiment with future teaching methods, write textbooks (in Hebrew and Arabic), create games and interactive computer programs and implement special teacher training courses. Mathematics curricula developed in the Science Teaching Department have been translated into English and adapted to the needs of the educational system in the United Kingdom, where they are being used at the cutting edge.
The Institute has recently launched an innovative program called the Rothschild-Weizmann Program for Excellence in Science Teaching, funded by the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation. This program will offer Masters' degrees in science education to outstanding high school and middle school science and math teachers. The curriculum, prepared by Weizmann Institute faculty, will include studies designed to broaden and deepen scientific knowledge, meetings with scientists working at the cutting edge of scientific research and practice in applying innovative approaches to teaching. Participants will also conduct research in the field of science teaching and gain first-hand experience in leading original educational initiatives.
The Institute's contribution can be found in every corner of Israel and in every area of activity - from security, to education, to the economy. WEIZAC, one of the world's earliest electronic computers and Israel's first, was designed and built at the Institute, its construction completed in 1954. This computer has recently been recognized as a milestone in the world history of computer development. Following WEIZAC, two Golem computers were built at the Institute in the 1960s, laying the foundation for the software industry in Israel, today one of the country's leading economic sectors.
The Institute's Feinberg Graduate School was the first academic institution in Israel to teach computer science. The Weizmann Institute of Science was the first to introduce cancer research in Israel, the first to build particle accelerators, and the first to establish, in 1959, a technology transfer company - Yeda - that has enriched Israel's economy and driven the country's advanced industries forward.
The first hi-tech park in Israel, Kiryat Weizmann, was established in Nes Ziona on the initiative of the Weizmann Institute. Today it is home to dozens of companies developing and manufacturing pharmaceuticals and other products based on Institute scientists' inventions. New innovations on the horizon include advanced vaccinations, nanomaterials that might greatly improve the efficiency of various machines, unique molecules and antibodies for advanced medicine, innovative electro-optic components and sophisticated research tools. Drugs developed at the Institute and already approved for use in different countries include Israel's first ethical (original) drug, Copaxone®, for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, produced and marketed by Teva; another multiple sclerosis drug, Rebif®, produced and marketed by Serono; and a new vaccination for viral liver infection (hepatitis B), to be produced and marketed by Biotechnology General.
An original method for bone marrow transplants from mismatched donors is implemented at a number of hospitals in Israel and abroad, as is a non-invasive method for distinguishing between malignant and benign tumors using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Numerous additional drugs, including a treatment for type 1 diabetes and a vaccination for spinal cord injuries, are today in advanced stages of clinical trials. Institute scientists have developed improved varieties of agricultural crops: protein-rich, high-yield wheat; early-ripening melons; disease-resistant Delilah cucumbers and others.
Electronic encryption systems developed by Institute scientists are being manufactured in Israel and serve, among other applications, for encoding and decoding satellite-TV broadcasts. These products, manufactured mainly in Israel and sold around the world for billions of dollars a year, bring a great deal of foreign currency into Israel.
Institute scientists have initiated the establishment of technological "incubators" that assist inventors and entrepreneurs in their first steps. The tradition of Institute scientists holding public service posts goes back a long way: Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the Institute's founder and first President, served as the first President of the State of Israel. Prof. Ephraim Katzir, who was one of the pioneers of Institute research and headed its Biophysics Department from 1949 to 1973, was Israel's fourth President and a recipient of the Israel Prize in natural sciences. Institute scientists have served as Chief Scientists in various government ministries and have held such positions as President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Chairman of the Planning and Budget Committee of the Council for Higher Education, Director-General of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, and Chairman of the National Council for Research and Development.
The Weizmann Institute of Science follows two interconnected avenues of activity. The first, the basic scientific research avenue, helps to shape the future. The second is aimed at enabling people to understand the scientific discoveries exerting a revolutionary impact on our lives and successfully take part in the new world being formed.
To be able to shape a better future, the Institute is continuously developing and constantly changing. On the research front, boundaries between the different disciplines are being torn down and formerly impossible collaborations and combinations are being formed.
As in the new global economy, scientific research has reached the stage where all parts of the picture taken together create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Weizmann Institute of Science is one of the leading institutions in this worldwide trend. Its unique structure encourages mathematicians, physicists, chemists and biologists to collaborate, create new research fields, lift science to new heights - and determine the face of the future.
One of many examples is an ambitious multidisciplinary research program the Institute is establishing to advance solutions and alternative strategies for handling the world's energy crisis. Institute scientists seek to make an important contribution to the world effort in this research field. The participation of friends of the Institute in this endeavor could create a synergy that will make this dream a reality.
Another example is the creation of a new scientific field, biomatics - a surprising, exciting and stimulating combination of the life sciences and mathematics. The Weizmann Institute is playing a key role on this scientific frontier, which promises to usher the life sciences and medicine into a new era of deep insights and powerful, innovative medical solutions.
To become successfully integrated into the new world and be able to choose wisely among an ever-expanding array of options, people from different strata of society need to understand the basic principles and concepts of science and technology. What's the difference between an atom and a molecule, a gene and a chromosome, software and hardware? What tasks can be entrusted to a computer? What "cells" lie at the basis of cellular phones? How do drugs work? People who know the answers to these questions will be able to navigate and manage their lives according to their own priorities and desires. The knowledge will grant them a greater freedom and independence, as well as a better chance to lead an accomplished life.
The Weizmann Institute of Science operates dozens of programs intended to grant basic scientific knowledge to all sectors of the population. That's the Institute's contribution to human dignity and freedom.
