On the Shoulders of Giants

It would be nearly impossible to maintain a high level of science without the solid support that this sophisticated infrastructure provides. Raoul and Graziella de Picciotto of Monaco established a generous endowment for investment in the Institute's scientific infrastructure. As a token of appreciation, the Institute decided to name one of its more serviceable buildings the Raoul and Graziella de Picciotto Building

Isaac Newton once said, "If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants." Modern research does indeed stand with at least one foot on the findings of previous studies, but its other foot must rest firmly on solid infrastructure, without which modernscientific research cannot be conducted.

At the Weizmann Institute, there are three distinct kinds of infrastructure enable the smooth functioning of the entire complex. The first kind is common to any large organization: phone lines, airconditioning systems, roads, parking lots, water and drainage pipes,heating and cooling systems, storerooms, and gardens. The second type is directly related to the Institute's scientific activities: rapid and efficient information networks, a supply of liquid helium for low-temperature experiments (which have lately become increasingly common and important), workshops for the planning and development of scientific instrumentation, photography services, and backup systems that guarantee a reliable power supply while experiments are being conducted.

The third kind of infrastructure is one that sets the Weizmann Institute apart from other research facilities of its kind. It consists of systems that do not belong to any particular lab, but rather serve scientists from a wide variety of departments and faculties in the Institute. These include the electron microscope unit, MRI systems, the transgenic mice facility, DNA sequencing equipment, and particle accelerators, among others.