Dr. Efraim Efrati

Born in Jerusalem, Dr. Efi Efrati received a BSc in physics and mathematics (2003), and an MSc (2005) and a PhD (2010) in physics, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago from 2010-2013, and joins the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2014.

Dr. Efrati, studies geometrical frustration—a physical state that may be the basis to understanding a host of puzzling phenomena that affect a variety of systems from molecular self-assembly to the ruffling of the edge of a growing daffodil, or plastic flow in ductile materials. A fundamental understanding of these mechanisms will enable scientists to discern quantitative rules that could lead to the design of new types of materials with applications ranging from cloaking meta-materials to soft machines. During his postdoctoral research, Dr. Efrati also applied the tools from the fields of differential geometry and mechanics of frustrated systems to improve surgical procedures. By applying methods from his research, Dr. Efrati helped establish new ways of understanding the underlying geometry of a bowel surgery devised to alleviate Crohn’s disease symptoms.
Dr. Efrati has been awarded a number of academic honors, including the Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago (2010-2013), and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Max Schlomiuk Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis (2011).
Dr. Efrati is married and has two children.