Page 5 - Establishing the Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences

ABOUT THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary scienti c research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of basic research in the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home
to 3,800 scientists, students, and
sta . Grounded in a philosophy
of curiosity-driven science in a compact-but-serious environment
of 250 principal investigators, the Weizmann Institute recruits the very best scientists in a range of elds who collaborate freely across faculties and departments, and gives them the tools to soar.
Weizmann Institute research has led to breakthroughs in ghting cancer, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and other diseases, and advances in environmental science, computer encryption, new ways to probe the universe and the physics
of matter, and in the creation of new materials for aerospace, medicine, and protecting the world we live in.
Originally founded as the Daniel Sie Research Institute in 1934, it was renamed the Weizmann Institute
of Science in 1949 in honour of its founder and the rst President of the State of Israel, Dr. Chaim Weizmann.
Over the comparatively short course of its history, the Institute has become a world leader in scienti c research.
It is considered among the top institutions for research impact and quality, and recently ranked number two in the world in a “normalised” ranking by the Nature Index. This means that, when adjusted for
size, the quality and impact of the Weizmann Institute’s research output is recognised as among the very best in the world. Its work in the eld of neuroscience is no exception.
Prof. Alon Chen took o ce as President of the Weizmann Institute in December 2019. An acclaimed neuroscientist with a focus on
the neurobiology of stress, he has elucidated many mechanisms by which the brain regulates the body’s response to stressful challenges,
and how this response is linked to psychiatric disorders. Prof. Chen has put the expansion of the Institute’s capabilities in neuroscience at the top of his agenda.
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