President Isaac Herzog on Sunday hosted the announcement of the recipients of the Israel Science Foundation’s Breakthrough Research Grants at the President’s Residence.
The grant program was created in order to finance a select number of outstanding scholars in all fields of scientific knowledge based on their past accomplishments and future research intentions.
Also attending the ceremony were Prof. David Harel, President of the Israel Academy of Science and Chair of the Israel Science Foundation Council; Prof. Yossi Mekori, Chairman of the Planning and Budgets Committee; Prof. Daniel Zajfman, Chair of the Israel Science Foundation Academic Board; and Prof. Helga Nowotny, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Breakthrough Research Grant Program.
President Herzog began his remarks: “We have gathered to congratulate the recipients of the Israel Science Foundation’s Mapatz Breakthrough Research Grants. But even more so, we are here to demonstrate our tangible support for their extended, almost inconceivable journey into our future.” The President continued: “What these women and men have accomplished—through years of grappling with data, decoding history, society and nature, facing pushback from colleagues and family, managing countless obstacles and self-doubt, so-called failures and miscalculations—what these scholars have done will change our lives.”
The President concluded by saying: “The recipients of today’s grants, along with other ISF grant holders, represent the best of scientific discovery. Thanks to the ISF, Israeli researchers continue to be at the forefront of breakthroughs which improve human health, help build inclusive and thriving societies, and deepen our understanding of our own existence. The ISF is also contributing to the study of perhaps the greatest challenge of all: the climate challenge. And as the historic Abraham Accords have shown, science has the power to bring people together across borders and faiths, exhibiting yet again the vitality of new regional cooperation.”
The list of the 2022 Breakthrough Research Grant recipients (in alphabetical order):
Prof. Karen B. Avraham (Tel Aviv University), for research in the field of therapeutics for deafness.
Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), for research into the history of the Jews of Ashkenaz between the late thirteenth century to the early fifteenth century.
Prof. Hagai Berman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), for research into the connection between sleep disorders and neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s.
Prof. Gilad Haran (Weizmann Institute of Science), for research to develop tools to study the energetic state of proteins.
Prof. Ariel Knafo-Noam (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), for research in the field of child behavioral development.
Prof. Ilan Marek (Technion), for research in the chemical field of chirality.
Prof. Tova Milo (Tel Aviv University), for research in the field of big data.
Prof. Meir Shahar (Tel Aviv University), in the field of religion and environment in China.
Prof. Rotem Sorek (Weizmann Institute of Science), for research into bacterial immune systems against viral infections.
Prof. Amos Tanay (Weizmann Institute of Science), for research into blood aging.
Prof. Dan Yakir (Weizmann Institute of Science), for research into the impact of ecological systems in Africa on the climate.