Facts & Figures - Weizmann Institute of Science · Weizmann Institute of Science Facts and Figures 2 3 About the Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science is

Facts & FiguresWeizmann Institute of Science

Weizmann Institute of Science Facts and Figures 2 3

About the Weizmann Institute of Science

The Weizmann Institute of Science is one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions in the natural and exact sciences. The Institute’s five faculties – Biology, Biological Chemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science – are home to scientists and students who embark daily on fascinating journeys into the unknown, seeking to improve our understanding of nature and our place within it.

The Daniel Sieff Research Institute, which was the foundation of the Weizmann Institute, was established in 1934 with the support of Israel and Rebecca Sieff of London in memory of their son Daniel. The driving force behind its creation was the Institute’s first President, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a noted chemist who headed the Zionist move-ment for years and later became the first President of the State of Israel. In 1949, the Institute was renamed and formally dedicated as the Weizmann Institute of Science, in honor of Dr. Weizmann’s 75th birthday.

Over the years, the Weizmann Institute has grown with the country, and it has been the site of numerous milestones in Israel’s science. Institute scientists were pioneers in the field of cancer research in Israel. Others planned and built the country’s first electronic computer, one of the first in the world; yet others founded the first nuclear physics department and erected a par-ticle accelerator next door. They were the first to establish a company for transferring knowledge from academia to industry (YEDA Research and Development), and they initiated the founding of a science-based industrial park near the Institute.

Early on, Institute scientists developed a way to

separate isotopes that is still used around the world, they mapped and deciphered genes involved in numerous diseases, developed advanced methods for tissue transplantation and designed a nano-biological computer that may one day be able to operate in the body’s cells.

The Institute has also been the venue of pio-neering research in neuroscience, nanotechnology and alternative energy. In the meantime, mathe-maticians and computer scientists working togeth-er with biologists are uncovering unseen patterns in everything from our DNA to the ways our cells age to personal nutrition. From participating in the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN to joining in scientific missions to the planets in our solar system, Weizmann Institute researchers are helping lead international science.

To be able to shape a better future, the Weizmann Institute is continuously developing and constantly changing. Boundaries between different disciplines are being torn down and formerly impossible collaborations are being formed. This super-multidisciplinary approach is part of a worldwide trend, and the Weizmann Institute is at its leading edge.

To become successfully integrated into our new world and be able to choose wisely among an ever-expanding array of options, people from all walks of life must be able to understand the basic principles and concepts of science and technology. From leading the way in the field of personalized medicine to operating dozens of programs that grant basic scientific knowledge to all sectors of the population, the Institute contributes to human understanding, dignity and freedom.

Main entrance to the Weizmann Institute of Science

Geographical LocationDistance to Tel Aviv: 26.7 km (16 mi)

Distance to Jerusalem: 40.5 km (25.2 mi)

Distance from Mediterranean Sea: 10.5 km (6.5 mi)

Altitude: 56m (184 ft)

Lat: 31.89277 N

Lon: 34.81127 E

Average rainfall: 537 mm

Average temperatures: July/Aug: 22-32°C (71.6-90°F)

Jan/Feb: 8-18°C (46.5-64.5°F)

In the early 1930s, when the statesman and scientist Dr. Chaim Weizmann decided to found a research institute in the town of Rehovot, there was little there but sand dunes and orange groves. Some of those citrus groves remain – on campus and its environs – but Rehovot is known today for its scientific learning and research, and the high-tech industry that has grown up around the city.

Rehovot, Israel


The Koffler Accelerator

1954 WEIZAC, one of the world’s earliest electronic computers was designed and built at the Weizmann Institute.

Campus1.1sq km (280 acres) campus area; 207,600sq m built area

241 buildings, including research facilities, administration and housing

18 buildings are designated for historical preservation, including the Daniel Sieff Research Institute, Charles Clore International House, San Martin Faculty Clubhouse and Weizmann House

3,800 trees of 123 different species are planted around campus

5,300 cars drive onto campus on an average work day

4 artesian wells on campus feed into 2 systems of pipes: potable water for drinking and brackish for irrigation

2,400 faculty and staff

1,400 students and postdocs

344 scientists and students live on campus, including: 154 scientists, 46 visiting scientists

and 144 students


Tree of Life, Hedva Ser, 1999, and the Y. Leon Benoziyo Institute for Molecular Medicine

In 1933, Chaim Weizmann envisioned a European or American-style campus, with buildings open-ing onto gardens, lawns and groves of trees. Today’s campus, with its architectural jewels sitting on lushly landscaped grounds dotted with outdoor sculptures, is a place that encourages creative thinking and discourse. The proximity of faculty housing to the research centers and childcare facilities helps faculty members to enjoy a full family life and a full research career.

1956 Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Leo Sachs and his colleagues published a scientific paper that led to the development of amniocentesis.


Academic Structurefaculties: Biology, Biological Chemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science; and, in addition, the Feinberg Graduate School,

each headed by a Dean5

schools in the Feinberg Graduate School: The André Deloro Research School of Physical Science; the Solo Dwek and Maurizio Dwek Research School of Chemical Science; the

Lorry I. Lokey Research School of Biochemical Science; the Ekard Research School of Biological Science; and the Moross Research School of Mathematics and Computer Science

5The Scientific Council of the Institute consists of all of the full professors and the associate professors of the Institute as well as a number of representatives of other academic ranks and representatives of the student body.

The Council of Professors of the Institute, consisting of all the full professors, makes recommendations to the President and the Executive Board on all promotions to professorial grades and permanent appointments to the ranks of Senior Scientist and Senior Research Fellow.

departments: Biological Regulation, Immunology, Molecular Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Biological Chemistry, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Molecular Genetics, Organic

Chemistry, Structural Biology, Materials and Interfaces, Chemical Physics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Physics of Complex Systems, Physics of Condensed Matter, Particle Physics and Astro-physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, and Science Teaching

18

From the original department – organic chemistry – the Weizmann Institute has grown to encompass all the natural and exact sciences. The departments, and the research groups in them, are purposely kept to human dimensions, which encourages scientists to cross their boundaries – both to engage in cross-departmental research and to forge paths to new areas of scientific exploration.

The Daniel Sieff Research Institute

1983 One of the most important tumor suppressor genes, p53, was cloned by a Weizmann Institute scientist, Prof. Moshe Oren. Defective copies of this gene are found in more than half of all human cancers.

Research

$100m: total worth of grants for Weizmann Institute research projects (in the academic year 2013)

$45m from Europe, $40m from Israel, $10m from the US and $3m bi- and international

242 research groups

172 staff scientists in research groups and core facilities


Granting agency WIS success rate No. of grants Comparison (averages)

41% 27 EU: 9% Israel: 22%

ISF 53% 40 Israel: 33%

GIF 35% 8 Israel: 26%

BSF 38% 11 Israel: 23%

ERC Frontier Research Grants

Stem cells. Image: Dr. Jacob Hanna

The Weizmann Institute of Science is a basic research institute in the natural and exact sciences. The basic premise underlying all of its research is that its scientists are required, first and foremost, to follow their own curiosity. This has led to fascinating multidisciplinary research in every corner of the Institute and findings that often represent leaps in our understanding of the world.

Research Grants (2013)

1993 Profs. Joel Sussman and Israel Silman discovered the molecular 3-D structure of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which breaks down acetylcholine, a substance involved in Alzheimer’s disease.

Cont.


US – 415Germany – 341France – 315England – 269Italy – 226Canada – 213

Switzerland – 205Japan – 197Spain – 144Belgium – 116India – 113China – 94

Mexico – 59Brazil – 54Turkey – 49Argentina – 45Portugal – 42Singapore – 24

The David Lopatie International Conference Centre, which opened in Februray 2013, hosted

68 conferences, 39 of them international, between June 2013 and the end of May 2014

Number of projects involving international collaborations with Weizmann Institute scientists, by country:

Particle detectors built at the Weizmann Institute for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN

At any one time, there are around 1,000 active grants from internal and external resources

Weizmann Institute researchers obtain some 250-300 grants a year

The research infrastructure at the Institute is comparable to that of the top institutes in the world. Examples include the Lorry I. Lokey Pre-Clinical Research Facility and the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine.

1997 Copaxone, a drug for multiple sclerosis developed by the Institute’s Profs. Michael Sela and Ruth Arnon, and Dr. Dvora Teitelbaum, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Cont.


International Board

Executive Board

President

Vice President

Vice President for Administration and Finance

Vice President for Resource Development

Vice President for Technology Transfer

Administrative divisions: Finance, human resources, construction and engineering, information systems, operations, procurement, and resource development and public relations

Organizational Structure

The Weizmann Institute of Science is governed by an International Board and an Executive Board. The President of the Weizmann Institute is elected by the Executive Board, and he or she appoints the Vice Presidents.

2003 3TP, a non-invasive, MRI-based diagnostic method developed by the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Hadassa Degani received FDA clearance for use in the detection of breast and prostate cancer.

Stone Administration Building


Students and Postdocs289 MSc students

168 male, 121 female, 7 of them non-Israeli

734 PhD students


381 postdoctoral fellows


3,757 total MSc degrees conferred (1964-2014)

3,927 total PhD degrees conferred (1964-2014)

42 foreign countries represented in the Graduate School: Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Palestinian Authority, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Zimbabwe

for the year 2014-2015

Graduation ceremony of the Feinberg Graduate School

The Feinberg Graduate School, the higher-education arm of the Weizmann Institute, accepts only graduate students to its programs. As opposed to most universities, it has a sort of inverted pyramid, with more PhD students than MSc students. The students attend on scholarships that enable them to give their full attention to their studies, and they are full partners in scientific research at the Institute.

2006 Prof. Eran Segal revealed that the positioning of the nucleosomes – spheres of DNA strung like beads along the length of the chromosomes – is encoded in the genes themselves. This discovery may help in designing gene therapies.

Graduation ceremony for the Rothschild-Weizmann Program for Excellence in Science Teaching


Impact: Education in Israel

149 science and math teachers received advanced degrees through the Rothschild-Weizmann Program for Excellence in Science Teaching (2011-2014)

70% of the participants in the program are women; 25% teach in the Arab sector

Some 200,000 textbooks published by the Science Teaching Department are in use at any one time in Israeli grades 7-12

60 websites maintained by the Science Teaching Department

3,700 teachers participated in 173 different programs between 2009-2013

To create the scientists – and the science-savvy citizens – of the future, the Weizmann Institute has long been involved in all aspects of science education. The Science Teaching Department helps teachers and students keep up with current science through texts, curricula, websites and online communities, courses and research. The Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute, offers a wide variety of formal and informal educational activities, with something for everyone.

2008 A team of Weizmann physicists headed by Prof. Moty Heiblum demonstrated, for the first time, the existence of “quasiparticles” with one-quarter the charge of an electron. This finding could be a step toward creating exotic types of quantum computers.

Some 45,000 students participate in activities offered by the Davidson Institute of Science Education through their schools

70 different activities are offered to teens through the Davidson Institute

21,500 schoolchildren a year participate in courses, each 20-25 sessions, given by Clore Garden of Science guides and offered through their schools

The annual Science Festival brings thousands to the Weizmann Institute

Community Outreach Nearly 11,000 attend various scientific lectures given at the Institute for the general public, including lecture series, Café Scientifique evenings, the de Shalit and Katzir talks, culture and science evenings and meetings on bioethics

55 bars, restaurants and coffee shops in Tel Aviv open their doors for the annual “Science on Tap” talks given by Weizmann Institute scientists

Some 30,000 schoolchildren are tutored each year by tutors in the national PERACH program, founded at the Weizmann Institute in 1974 and currently administered by the Davidson Institute of Science Education

1,114 schools participate in PERACH

Some 20% of all college students are PERACH tutors


Cont.

The Weizmann Institute of Science plays a prominent role in the community and the country. That is why the opening event of the first Israel National Science Day took place at the Institute in 2014. Lectures and various events for the general public are hosted at the Institute, in addition to the regular stream of visitors to the campus. And for those who don’t make it to Rehovot, events and activities from “Science on Tap” to PERACH tutoring sessions take place around the country.

2009 Weizmann Institute researcher Prof. Ada Yonath was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on deciphering the structure of the ribosome, the cell’s protein factory. The achievement helps, among other things, to clarify the exact mode of action of antibiotic drugs and may facilitate the development of improved antibiotics.

3 main visitors’ sites on the campus:

The Levinson Visitors CenterWeizmann HouseThe Clore Garden of Science

Some 25,000 visitors a year to the Levinson Visitors Center

3,640 distinguished visitors to the Institute in 2014 included foreign national leaders, ambassadors and heads of top universities

Some 33,000 visitors a year to Weizmann house

Each year:

Some 53,000 children participate in activities offered by the Clore Garden of Science

Some 4,200 participate in special activities including hands-on sessions and a visit to the Garden

Some 1,500 people take part each year in free guided tours of the Institute offered on Fridays to the general public on one of 4 subjects: Sculptures, Architecture, Trees, or History and Art

6 art exhibits, open to the public, were on display on the Weizmann Institute campus in August 2014, 4 of them solo exhibits of Israeli artists (2 veteran and 2 young graduates of art colleges), a group exhibit (Israel Modernism) of 9 Israeli artists, and an international exhibit of 36 scientists and top artists from 8 countries


Cont.

Science on Tap, talking about science over a cup of coffee or glass of beer

2009 A technique invented by Prof. David Milstein and his group splits water into oxygen and hydrogen using light. In 2012, Milstein was awarded the Israel Prize for chemistry and physics for his work on catalysts for efficient, low-waste, green chemical reactions.


The Raoul and Graziella de Picciotto Building for Scientific and Technical Support

The operating budget of the Weizmann Institute of Science is around 1.4b NIS. Around 1/3 of its funding comes from the government of Israel via the PBC. The annual growth rate is about 5.2%, from some 840m NIS in 2004.

The average yearly operating budget of the Institute in the 1950s was $4m; in the 1960s it rose to $10m; in the 1980s, it was $90m; the 1990s it was around $180m.

Operating BudgetTotal Operating Expenditures MNIS1,402All figures are given in millions of New Israeli Shekels (MNIS) as of September 30, 2013. The exchange rate at that time stood at NIS 3.537 to 1 US dollar.

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Total (MNIS)

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

Salaries and related expenses

552

Infrastructure and maintenance

202

Scientific departments, scholarships and research

648

14%

40%

46%

2013 Prof. Shafi Goldwasser was awarded a Turing Award by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). She is the third member of the Weizmann Institute to receive the prestigious award; the others are the late Prof. Amir Pnueli (1996) and Prof. Adi Shamir (2002).


Impact: Industry Israel and the World1,930 families of patents registered by YEDA Research and Development Co., Ltd. since its inception in 1959

73 companies were established on the basis of these patents

28 billion dollars’ worth of sales of Weizmann Institute-based products (in 2013)

1941 First pharmaceutical company in Israel: Palestine Pharmaceutical Products, Ltd. was founded by Dr. Chaim Weizmann

1954 First computer in Israel (WEIZAC), would provide the basis for Israel’s high-tech industry

1997 Israel’s first ethical drug, Copaxone, received FDA approval

Copaxone

Although the focus of the Weizmann Institute is on basic research, it is no mistake that the first technology transfer company in the country was founded at the Weizmann Institute, nor that one of the first industrial science parks in the country was established on its borders. The Institute’s impact ranges from the numbers of its graduates who have taken leadership and research positions in developing today’s high-tech industries, to the findings arising from Institute labs that have made the transition to commercial and industrial application.

2014 A facility for personalized medicine to advance research in biomedicine, from basic research to drug design – the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine – opens on the Weizmann Institute campus.

International CommitteesCommittees of the Weizmann Institute around the world:

American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science

European Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science including the committees for Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungray, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

France-Europe Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science

Israeli Friends of the Weizmann Institute of Science

Latin American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science including the Amigos do Instituto Weizmann do Brasil and the Asociacion Mexicana de Amigos del Instituto Weizmann de Ciencias

Weizmann Australia

Weizmann Canada

Weizmann UK

It is thought that the original drawing of the tree of life, which became the basis of the logo for the Daniel Sieff Research Institute (1934) and, after it, the Weizmann Institute, was the work of the German-Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn, who planned, among other things, Weizmann House. He may have been assisted in the design of the lettering by the typographer Francesca Baruch. After undergoing a number of changes over the years, the logo assumed in 2001 the design it bears today.

The Weizmann Institute Logo: the Tree of Life

Facts & Figures - Weizmann Institute of Science · Weizmann Institute of Science Facts and Figures 2 3 About the Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science is

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