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Weizmann Institute of Science

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The Weizmann Institute of Science (Hebrew: מכון ויצמן למדע Machon Weizmann LeMada) is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other Israeli universities it exclusively offers postgraduate-only degrees in the natural and exact sciences.

Weizmann Institute of Science
מכון ויצמן למדע (Hebrew)
Former name
Daniel Sieff Research Institute (1934–1949)
TypePublic research
Established1934
FounderChaim Weizmann
Endowment$600.427 million (2019)[1]
PresidentAlon Chen
Academic staff
952
Administrative staff
400
Students1,082
Postgraduates356
700
Location
Rehovot
,
Israel
CampusUrban
Postdoctoral fellows380
AffiliationsFeinberg Graduate School[2]
Websitewww.weizmann.ac.il Edit this at Wikidata
Academic rankings
The front door of the administrative building with the former name
Koffler particle accelerator

The institute is a multidisciplinary research center, employing around 3,800 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, and scientific, technical, and administrative staff working at the institute.[3][4]

As of 2019, the Weizmann Institute of Science has been associated with six Nobel laureates and three Turing Award winners.[5]

History

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Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952), first president of the State of Israel and founder of the institute
 
Weizmann residence, designed by Erich Mendelsohn

The institute was founded in 1934 by Chaim Weizmann and his initial (1st) team, which included Benjamin M. Bloch, as the Daniel Sieff Research Institute. Weizmann had invited Nobel Prize laureate Fritz Haber to be the director, but following Haber's death en route to Palestine, Weizmann assumed the directorship himself. Before he became President of Israel in February 1949, Weizmann conducted his research in organic chemistry at its laboratories. On November 2, 1949, in agreement with the Sieff family, the institute was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science in his honor.

WEIZAC, one of the world's first electronic computers was locally built by the institute in 1954–1955 and was recognized by the IEEE in 2006 as a milestone achievement in the history of electrical and electronic engineering.[6]

In 1959, the institute set up a wholly owned subsidiary called Yeda Research and Development Company to commercialize inventions made at the institute.[7] Yeda has more marine genetic patents than any other research institute.[8] By 2013 the institute was earning between $50 and $100 million in royalties annually on marketed drugs including Copaxone, Rebif, and Erbitux.[9][10]

Graduate program

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As of 2015, the Weizmann Institute had approximately 2,500 students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty, and awards M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and biology, as well as several interdisciplinary programs.[3] The symbol of the Weizmann Institute of Science is the multibranched Ficus tree.[11] Undergraduates and recent graduates must apply to M.Sc. programs, while those earning an M.Sc. or an MD can apply directly to Ph.D. programs. Full fellowships are given to all students.[12]

Youth programs

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The campus

In addition to its academic programs, the Weizmann Institute runs programs for youth, including science clubs, camps, and competitions. The Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute accepts high-school graduates from all over the world for a four-week, science-based summer camp. The Clore Garden of Science, which opened in 1999, is the world's first completely interactive outdoor science museum.[3][13]

Rankings

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The Weizmann Institute of Science was ranked number 2, globally, for research quality by the Nature Index in 2019,[14] and in the top 25 research institutes/universities in the world in two main categories by U-Multirank, 2019: Top Cited Publications and Patents Awarded.[15] The institute was in 7th place in the European Research Council report in 2020 for its high rate of success in obtaining research grants.[16] In 2018 the institute was ranked 9th, globally, (1st in Israel) by the CWTS Leiden Ranking, which is based on the proportion of a university's scientific papers published between 2012 and 2015 that made the 10% most cited in their field.[17]

Presidents

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The nonscientists Abba Eban and Meyer Weisgal were assisted by scientific directors, as was Weizmann himself owing to his duties as the first president of Israel. The following persons held the position of scientific director:

Faculty

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Alumni

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FY 2019 Audited Financial Statements" (PDF). Weizmann Institute of Science. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  2. ^ "About the Feinberg Graduate School (FGS)".
  3. ^ a b c "Scientific Activities: The Yeda-Sela (YeS) Center for Basic Research". Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Facts and Figures - Weizmann Institute of Science". Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Viewpoint: Focus funding on individual scientists to get the best results". 16 July 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Milestones: WEIZAC Computer, 1955". IEEE. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  7. ^ Borchardt, John (September 26, 2000). "Israeli biotech - a child with great promise". The Scientist.
  8. ^ Blasiak, Robert; Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste; Wabnitz, Colette C. C.; Sundström, Emma; Österblom, Henrik (June 6, 2018). "Corporate control and global governance of marine genetic resources". Science Advances. 4 (6): eaar5237. Bibcode:2018SciA....4.5237B. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar5237. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 5990308. PMID 29881777.
  9. ^ OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy. OECD Publishing. 2006. p. 119. ISBN 9789264029750.
  10. ^ Weinreb, Gali (28 July 2013). "Yeda earns $50-100m annually". Globes (in Hebrew).
  11. ^ Institution resource development, Weizmann Institute of Science
  12. ^ "Fellowships & Aid". Weizmann Institute. Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  13. ^ "2BackToHomePage3". Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Nature index - Weizmann Institute of Science". Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  15. ^ "U-Multirank Weizmann Institute of Science". Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. ^ "European Research Council - Annual report on the ERC activities and achievements in 2019". 14 May 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  17. ^ "CWTS Leiden Ranking". Leiden University. Retrieved 23 Jan 2018.
  18. ^ "Meir Lahav Home Page". May 2, 2001. Archived from the original on 2 May 2001.
  19. ^ "Andrey Sivachenko at harvard.edu".
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