Annual Report 2000 » From the President

Prof. Haim Harari President, The Weizmann Institute of Science Incumbent of the Annenberg Chair of High Energy Physics

The transition from one millenium to the next is marked by a multitude of scientific and technological revolutions. The Weizmann Institute is an active player in each one of them, while itself undergoing a quiet revolution.

The world of computers, information systems, electronics and optics is now dominating every aspect of our lives. At the Institute, research is burgeoning in a wide range of fields from semiconductors to optical fibers and from cryptography to robotics.

A second revolution is in the world of genetics; it will influence our health, our food, and eventually, our behavior. The Institute participated in the international Human Genome Project and continues research on the related protein functions. It has inaugurated new programs ranging from bioinformatics to research on transgenic mice, genetic diseases, transgenic plants, and numerous aspects of molecular genetics.

A third revolution touches on our understanding of the human brain and its relation to artificial intelligence and to diseases of the central nervous system. A new brain imaging center is under construction and additional activities in this field are flourishing.

A fourth revolution involves the world of material science in which totally new materials are being developed, properties of surfaces are being studied, the exciting submicroscopic field of nanochemistry is being tackled, and methods from the physical sciences are being applied to biological materials.

In all of these areas we are moving into the new era with a careful mix of basic and applied science, a good balance between science and technology, and an effort to utilize our great strength in the art of multidisciplinary research. We are gradually replacing old scientific fields with new ones, enhancing our facilities, and making optimal use of the generosity of our supporters to significantly improve our infrastructure and launch new scientific adventures while recruiting brilliant new young scientists.

If the next century continues the trends of its first year, indeed "the best is yet to come."