Born in Jerusalem, Prof. Nirit Dudovich served as an officer in the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces from 1989 to 1993. She earned a BSc in physics and computer science from Tel Aviv University in 1996. She received an MSc and PhD in physics from the Weizmann Institute in 1999 and 2004. After conducting postgraduate research at the National Research Council of Canada for three years, she returned to Israel and joined the staff of the Weizmann Institute in 2007 where she is the incumbent of the Robin Chemers Neustein Professorial Chair.
Prof. Dudovich works at the forefront of laser physics and optics. Some of her most recent research addresses the challenges inherent in using laser light and photon energy to study static and dynamic properties of atoms and molecules, on ultrafast timescales. Prof. Dudovich and her group combined two-dimensional control of the electron trajectories and vibrational control of molecules to disentangle the two main steps in high-harmonic generation—ionization and recombination. They demonstrated a new measurement scheme, frequency-resolved optomolecular gating, which resolves the temporal amplitude and phase of the harmonic emission from excited molecules. Focusing on the study of vibrational motion in dinitrogen tetroxide gas, they showed new ways to provide a unique insight into the structural and dynamical properties of lasers.
Prof. Dudovich is a co-owner of two patents in nonlinear spectroscopy and a recipient of a number of prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation for 2017, the 2013 Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research, the IPS Prize for Young Physicist in 2012, the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in 2012, a Weizmann Institute Women in Science Fellowship and a Rothschild Fellowship in 2004, and the Chorafas Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Gad Resheff Memorial Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Research in 2003. She was elected to the Israel Young Academy in 2015 and to the American Physical Society in 2016.
Prof. Dudovich is married to Boaz, a computer engineer, and has three children.