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Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences

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Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences
TypeResearch Institute
Established1925
Parent institution
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ChairpersonProf. Guy Bloch
Academic staff
75
Students900
Undergraduates600
Location
Jerusalem
,
Israel
LanguageHebrew & English
Websitehttps://www.bio.huji.ac.il/en

The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the oldest life sciences research institute in Israel. It is part of the Faculty of Sciences[1] , and is located in the Edmond J. Safra Campus (Givat Ram) in Jerusalem.

History

The origins of the institute date back to 1925, the year that the Hebrew University was founded,[2] when the Department of Botany was formed as part of a research unit called "The Institute for Studying the Natural History of the Land of Israel". Among the founding researchers were Profs. Otto Warburg[3], Alexander Eig,[4] Michael Zohary[5] and Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan.[6] During the first years of the department, several large-scale projects that continue to this day have been started off, including the establishment of the Herbarium Collection,[7] today part of Israel's Natural History Collections,[8] and the establishment of the National Botanic Garden of Israel at Mount Scopus, which was the first of its kind in the Middle East.

In 1928, Prof. Simon Bodenheimer joined the nascent institute and established the Department of Zoology, leading the institute to probe into new scientific fields.[9]

Research activities at both departments (and at the Hebrew University in general) were diminished in 1948 during the War of Independence, and were brought to a complete stop following the Hadassah medical convoy massacre. Several members of the department of Botany were supposed to join this convoy, but were saved because they postponed their journey due to a wedding of their colleague Avraham Fahn, which took place on exactly the same day. Activity in both departments was renewed after the war, in April 1949.[10]

The following decades saw the establishment of additional departments, including the Department of Genetics, the Department of Neurobiology, and the Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology (today the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior).

After years that the different departments were scattered throughout the city of Jerusalem, the 1960s saw a structural reorganization, with the different departments grouped together to form the Institute of Life Sciences, which in itself was grouped with other (non-Life Sciences) departments to form the Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences.[1] In 1968, construction of a dedicated building for the Institute had begun in the Edmond J. Safra (Givat Ram) Campus in Jerusalem. In 1976, the Institute was named after Alexander Silberman, founder of the Penn Corporation in Philadelphia. Two years later, in 1978, the building was populated by the various research groups.

The first chairperson of the Institute was Prof. Alexander Keynan, who started his office at 1967. He was followed by Profs. Avraham Mayer, Gideon Orshan, Dan Cohen, Daniel Zohary, Heftziba Eyal Giladi,[11] Abraham Loyter,[12] Alexander Levitzki, Etana Padan,[13] Hermona Soreq, Shimon Schuldiner, Yosef Yarom,[14] Joseph Hirschberg,[15] Ioav Cabantchik,[16] Shy Arkin, Ran Nathan, Yosef Gruenbaum, Oded Livnah, and as of 2022 the 19th chairperson is Prof. Guy Bloch.

Research

Institute members conduct basic research as well as applied science in the fields of biomedicine, biotechnology and agriculture at multiple levels of organization, from molecular mechanism in cells, through processes within the whole organism, and to studies at the population level.[17]

Departments

  • Department of Bioengineering
    • Research in this department focuses on studying biological systems, ranging from the molecular scale to entire organisms, by applying engineering-based analytical and experimental approaches.
  • Department of Biological Chemistry
    • Research in this department focuses on studying the mechanisms involved in cellular information processing during normal conditions and stress, while examining function and structure of proteins.
  • Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
  • Department of Genetics
    • Research in this department focuses on DNA, and the ways by which modifications and variations affect cellular environments, biological functions, and organismal traits.
  • Department of Neurobiology
    • Research in this department focuses on studying functions of the nervous system under different conditions, from the single cell to the entire brain.
  • Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
    • Research in this department focuses on studying the interactions between plants and microbes and their environment, from the molecular level to the organism level.

Awards And Recognition

Researchers in the institute have won numerous accolades:

Nobel Prize [18]
Israel Prize [21][22]
  • Prof. Michael Zohary won the 1954 Israel prize in Life Sciences.
  • Prof. Simon Bodenheimer won the 1954 Israel prize in agriculture. Prof. Bodenheimer founded the department of zoology during the early days of the institute, and then moved to the Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Profs. Gad Avigad and Shlomo Hestrin won the 1957 Israel prize in Sciences.
  • Prof. Avraham Fahn won the 1963 Israel prize in Life Sciences.
  • Prof. Michael Evenari won the 1986 Israel prize for life achievements in desert studies.
  • Prof. Alexander Levitzki won the 1990 Israel prize in Life Sciences.
  • Prof. Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan won the 1991 Israel prize for Eretz Israel studies.
  • Prof. Zvi Selinger won the 2007 Israel prize in Biology.
EMET Prize for Arts, Science & Culture[23]
  • Prof. Zvi Selinger – 2005.[24]
  • Prof. Batsheva Kerem – 2008.[25]
  • Prof. Marshall Devor – 2012.[26]
  • Prof. Giora Simchen – 2013.[27]
  • Prof. Moshe Soller – 2015.[28]
  • Prof. Alexander Levitzki – 2017.[29]
  • Prof. Hermona Soreq – 2022.[30]
Rothschild Prize[31]
  • Georg Haas - 1963.
  • Michael Zohary - 1973.
  • Alexander Levitzki - 1990.
  • Zvi Selinger - 2002.
Kaye Innovation award[32]
  • Daphne Atlas - 1997, 2009
  • Joseph Hirschberg - 1998
  • Sergei Brown - 1998
  • Hermona soreq - 1999, 2008
  • Eduardo Mitrani - 2001
  • William Breuer - 2002
  • Abraham Hochberg - 2009
  • Nissim Benvenisty - 2010
  • Yaakov Nahmias - 2018

Notable members

Current members

A partial list includes Prof. Shy Arkin, Daphne Atlas,[33] Shimshon Belkin,[34] Nissim Benvenisty, Guy Bloch, Liran Carmel, Marshall Devor,[35] Ronen Kadmon,[36] Batsheva Kerem, Roger Kornberg, Michael Levitt, Alexander Levitzki, Michal Linial, Eran Meshorer, Ran Nathan, Yaakov Nahmias, Etana Padan,[13] Shimon Schuldiner, Idan Segev,[37] Sagiv Shifman, Hermona Soreq and Ehud Zohary[38].

Former members

Renowned researchers have been part of the institute since its foundation. A partial list includes Shimon Bodenheimer, Ioav Cabantchick,[39] Ariel Darvasi, Alexander Eig, Michael Evenari, Avraham Fahn, Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan, Amatzia Genin,[40] Hagai Ginsburg,[41] Elisabeth Elisheva Goldschmidt, Georg Haas, Clara Heyn, Shaul Hochstein,[42] Aaaron Kaplan,[43] Alexander Keynan, Yehuda Lapidot, Itzhak Ohad,[44] Karl Reich,[45] Tsvi Sachs,[46] Zvi Selinger,[47], Avishai Shmida,[48] Aharon Shulov, Moshe Soller, Wilfred Stein, Heinz Steinitz, Eitan Tchernov, Yehudah L. Werner, Daniel Zohary and Michael Zohary.

Study Programs

Undergraduate programs

The undergraduate programs equip the students with the tools required to investigate biological questions at any level of organization. The studies cover many disciplines, including structural and molecular biochemistry, genetics, genomics, cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology, plant biology, evolution, ecology, animal behavior, neurobiology and more.

The institute offers a number of programs, including a single major program, joint dual major programs, supplementary units, and a number of excellence programs.[49][50]

Graduate programs

Graduate studies are performed in a research track,[51][52][53][54][55] which requires – in addition to taking courses – finding a supervisor among the Institute's researchers and submitting a thesis. The institute hosts hundreds of graduate students that are spread among the different research groups.

References

  1. ^ a b "Faculty of Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  2. ^ "Higher Education in Israel: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jewish Virtual Library".
  3. ^ "Otto Warburg (botanist)". JSTOR Global Plants.
  4. ^ "Alexander Eig". JSTOR Global Plants.
  5. ^ "Michael Zohary". JSTOR Global Plants.
  6. ^ "Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan, Jewish Women Archive".
  7. ^ "The Israel national herbarium".
  8. ^ "The Israeli National Natural History Collections".
  9. ^ Harpaz, I. (1984). "Frederick Simon Bodenheimer (1897-1959): Idealist, Scholar, Scientist". Annual Review of Entomology. 29: 1–24. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.29.010184.000245. S2CID 86230193.
  10. ^ "The history of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jewish Virtual Library".
  11. ^ Khaner, Oded (2017). "Hefzibah Eyal-Giladi (1925-2017): over fifty years of embryological research in Israel". The International Journal of Developmental Biology. 61 (3–4–5): 121–126. doi:10.1387/ijdb.160179ok. PMID 28621409.
  12. ^ "Prof. Abraham Loyter, ResearchGate".
  13. ^ a b "Prof. Etana Padan - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  14. ^ "Prof. Yosef Yarom - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  15. ^ "Prof. Joseph Hirschberg - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  16. ^ "Prof. Ioav Cabantchik - short biography, eMedEvents".
  17. ^ "Research in the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences".
  18. ^ "The Nobel Prize, official website".
  19. ^ "The Nobel Prize, Roger D. Kornberg".
  20. ^ "The Nobel Prize, Michael Levitt".
  21. ^ "The Israel Prize, Jewish Virtual Library".
  22. ^ "List of Israel Prize Winners, Jewish Virtual Library".
  23. ^ "EMET Prize, official website".
  24. ^ "Prof. Zvi Selinger, EMET Prize".
  25. ^ "Prof. Batsheva Kerem, EMET Prize".
  26. ^ "Prof. Marshal Devor, EMET Prize".
  27. ^ "Prof. Giora Simchen, EMET Prize".
  28. ^ "Prof. Moshe Soller, EMET Prize".
  29. ^ "Prof. Alexander Levitzki, EMET Prize".
  30. ^ "Prof. Hermona Soreq, EMET Prize".
  31. ^ "The Rothschild Prize, official website".
  32. ^ "The Kaye Innovation Awards" (PDF).
  33. ^ "Prof. Daphne Atlas - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  34. ^ "Prof. Shimshon Belkin - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  35. ^ "Prof. Marshall Devor - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  36. ^ "Prof. Ronen Kadmon - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  37. ^ "Prof. Idan Segev - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  38. ^ "Prof. Ehud Zohary - research overview & metrics, Research.com".
  39. ^ "Prof. Ioav Cabantchick".
  40. ^ "Prof. Amatzia Genin".
  41. ^ "Prof. Hagai Ginsburg".
  42. ^ "Prof. Shaul Hochstein".
  43. ^ "Prof. Aaron Kaplan".
  44. ^ "Prof. Itzhak Ohad".
  45. ^ YASHOUV, A (2013). "PROFESSOR K. REICH PIONEER OF HYDROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ISRAEL". Israel Journal of Zoology. 12 (1–4): 3–6. doi:10.1080/00212210.1963.10688164 (inactive 2023-06-12).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2023 (link)
  46. ^ Novoplansky, Ariel (2008). "Tsvi Sachs (1936–2007)". Evolutionary Ecology. 22 (3): 267–268. doi:10.1007/s10682-008-9249-1. S2CID 41351523.
  47. ^ "Prof. Zvi Selinger, Biography".
  48. ^ "Prof. Avishai Shmida".
  49. ^ "Life Sciences, B.Sc studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  50. ^ "Chemistry & Life Sciences, B.Sc. studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  51. ^ "Brain & Behavioral Sciences graduate studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  52. ^ "Ecology, Evolution & Behavior graduate studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  53. ^ "Genetics graduate studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  54. ^ "Plant Sciences graduate studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
  55. ^ "Structural & Molecular Biochemistry graduate studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem".
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