Why give to Weizmann?

The Weizmann Institute was founded on the belief that talent should be given free rein. Yet the costs of cutting-edge research projects, often requiring investments in infrastructure from scratch for each new researcher, have always been high. Over the decades, the generosity of good friends and a winning “can-do” attitude on the part of Institute scientists have enabled the Institute to respond to countless scientific and technological challenges in a timely manner.  When promising new scientists are identified, the Institute goes to all lengths to recruit them, equip them with the best instrumentation available, and guarantee them the support that will allow their intellect and creativity to flourish, and their science to bear fruit. 

Thanks to philanthropic support, the predecessor of the Weizmann Institute of Science was established in 1934 when the Sieff family of London helped Dr. Chaim Weizmann found the Daniel Sieff Research Institute on a sandy hill in Rehovot in memory of their son. Dr. Weizmann’s dream was to build a small, tranquil campus where scientific research vital to advancing an agriculture-based nation would be conducted. In 1949, in honor of Dr. Weizmann’s 75th birthday, and with the blessing of the Sieff family, the Sieff Institute was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science. At the time, it consisted of departments of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and life sciences that were housed in a handful of buildings.

Today, the Weizmann Institute of Science is a center of world-class research and education geared to Israel’s knowledge-based, high-tech economy. Philanthropic support contributes almost one-quarter of the Institute’s budget, and links the Institute to a network of friends worldwide.

Scientists can dream about ideal facilities, sophisticated equipment, and innovative research ideas, but only generous donors can make them a reality. Major development projects, purchases of instruments and supplies, grants for visionary research, and graduate student scholarships are among the areas dependent on philanthropic support. Friends from around the globe who choose to link their names with the Weizmann Institute’s 280-acre campus and its 2,600-member scientific community are gratefully acknowledged on campus and in publications. Major donors of $50,000 or more are acknowledged at the International Plaza, located near the main entrance and adjacent to the David Lopatie Conference Centre, currently under construction. Details about naming opportunities can be obtained through supporting committees,  or from the Department of Resource Development.

It has been largely thanks to the help of visionary philanthropists that the Weizmann Institute of Science has been able to guarantee the future of basic science. This support is reflected in the establishment of the many research institutes and centers on campus.

In addition, there have been many other generous gifts, too numerous to list here, in a great variety of forms: professorial chairs, scholarships and fellowships, grants for equipment, ongoing projects, infrastructure, education, and much more.  There are many ways to give.

Gifts from members of the Weizmann Institute’s worldwide family of supporters (link to Become a friend of Science) represent their desire to make a difference and their confidence that Weizmann can make a difference in Israel and all over the world.

The Weizmann Institute is deeply grateful to them all.