Create Your Dream Research Team !
Open Call for Research Groups is currently ongoing

Academic Year 2019-2020
 

​(March 26-30, 2017)

The QuEBS conference, which took place at the end of March, was devoted to the identification and study of quantum mechanical phenomena in biological systems - a newly emerging, interdisciplinary field of research.  We were pleased to host about 120 participants, who hailed from the various fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, material sciences, and quantum information sciences. The diversity of the complex biological systems that were discussed ranged from photosynthetic systems, to bird navigation, and information processed by olfactory systems. Avant-garde questions regarding optimal energy transport, solar cells, and actual quantum devices were addressed in brainstorming sessions throughout the event, and the outcome of these discussions will certainly shape the future of this emerging field.

The conference began with two talks by Jonathan Drori (Bristol University); the first on ‘Communicating Science: 10 Golden Rules’, followed a lecture on ‘Plant Communication’ – how plants talk to one another, with the underlying concept being that science is important not only in isolation but that it also can and should be mobilized as a method of communicating to a larger community. As well as being part of a larger international consortium, QuEBS benefitted from having an Israeli steering committee that represented many Israeli universities, including the Technion, The Hebrew University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Bar Ilan. In addition to the fascinating talks and round-tables, participants enjoyed a variety of Jerusalem themed events.

​(April 3-5, 2017)

During the first few days of April, we were please to host the NaNaInt conference, organized by Ehud Gazit (Tel Aviv University), Raz Jelinek (Ben Gurion University), and Daniel Mandler (The Hebrew University). One of the most pioneering fields of science today, the field of nanotechnology has been revolutionized during the last decade, and its many faces have evolved rapidly due to the creation of innovative products and technological breakthroughs. This conference presented the frontier of new discoveries in the field, with specific consideration given to the topic of interfaces, as the chemical and physical properties of surfaces often deeply influence the applicative side of the science. Israel has a very distinct position in this quickly evolving field, and the conference created an opportunity for Israeli scientists to meet and share ideas with their peers from some of the world’s most cutting edge universities, among them being Nanjing University, University of Cambridge, University of Chicago, ETH Zurich, Northwestern University, and more. Topics under discussion included protein self-assembly, magneto-optical properties of brain machine technologies, live imaging by DNA nano-practical, and the use of a broad range of nano-molecular diagnostics. 

​(March 19-23, 2017)

The question of who we are as a society is deeply connected to our own evolution, and the question of how we organized as groups in the Palaeolithic has had an enormous impact on the construction of our modern society and still transcends the supremacy of the nuclear family unit. This fascinating workshop, organized by Naama Goren-Inbar (The Hebrew University), focused on the hypothesis of the group size of non-modern human populations, and on developing the methodology to address this extremely important - yet difficult to answer - question. The richness of recently discovered archeological sites has provided new inspiration for scholars to gather together (in specified group sizes) to revisit these questions. The discussion reflected a broad array of related components, from a mathematical model approach to the challenges of the cognitive cultures, to the question of nutritional demands, specifically, how many fish a single individual could consume? The workshop was also used to record a film on the use of non-modern humanoid tools, and to discuss ancient technologies that remained in use for at least 100,000 years (and are still in use today!).