New Horizons

The Weizmann Institute of Science follows two interconnected avenues of activity. The first, the basic scientific research avenue, helps to shape the future. The second is aimed at enabling people to understand the scientific discoveries exerting a revolutionary impact on our lives and successfully take part in the new world being formed.

To be able to shape a better future, the Institute is continuously developing and constantly changing. On the research front, boundaries between the different disciplines are being torn down and formerly impossible collaborations and combinations are being formed. As in the new global economy, scientific research has reached the stage where all parts of the picture taken together create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Weizmann Institute of Science is one of the leading institutions in this worldwide trend. Its unique structure encourages mathematicians, physicists, chemists and biologists to collaborate, create new research fields, lift science to new heights – and determine the face of the future.

One of many examples is an ambitious multidisciplinary research program the Institute is establishing to advance solutions and alternative strategies for handling the world’s energy crisis.

Institute scientists seek to make an important contribution to the world effort in this research field. The participation of friends of the Institute in this endeavor could create a synergy that will make this dream a reality.

Another example is the creation of a new scientific field, biomatics – a surprising, exciting and stimulating combination of the life sciences and mathematics. The Weizmann Institute is playing a key role on this scientific frontier, which promises to usher the life sciences and medicine into a new era of deep insights and powerful, innovative medical solutions.

To become successfully integrated into the new world and be able to choose wisely among an ever-expanding array of options, people from different strata of society need to understand the basic principles and concepts of science and technology. What’s the difference between an atom and a molecule, a gene and a chromosome, software and hardware? What tasks can be entrusted to a computer? What “cells” lie at the basis of cellular phones? How do drugs work?

People who know the answers to these questions will be able to navigate and manage their lives according to their own priorities and desires. The knowledge will grant them a greater freedom and independence, as well as a better chance to lead an accomplished life. The Weizmann Institute of Science operates dozens of programs intended to grant basic scientific knowledge to all sectors of the population. That’s the Institute’s contribution to human dignity and freedom.