New York – The New York Academy of Sciences, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities announced today that the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, which support scientists and engineers early in their independent research careers, will be given to three young and promising faculty members from research universities in Israel. The Awards honor exceptional young scientists and engineers in three disciplines — Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry — by highlighting their extraordinary achievements, recognizing exceptional promise for future discoveries, and accelerating innovation through one of the largest unrestricted prizes ever created for early-career researchers. Awarded annually, three of the country’s most outstanding young scientists, aged 42 years or younger, will receive US$100,000 each.
All Israeli research universities, including the Technion and the Weizmann Institute, are eligible to nominate candidates for the awards. Administered jointly by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (IASH), the Blavatnik Awards program in Israel will be overseen by a Scientific Advisory Council, co-chaired by IASH member and Nobel Prize Laureate professor Aaron Ciechanover, and Ellis Rubinstein, president and CEO of the NYAS. The winners will be chosen by disciplinary juries composed of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists and engineers, and will be recognized as Blavatnik Awards Laureates.
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists were established in 2007 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation to honor and celebrate exceptional young scientists (faculty and post-doctoral) in the United States.
Len Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and Head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “Encouraging and supporting young scientists is essential if we are to successfully address society’s challenges. By honoring these young investigators and their achievements, we are helping to promote the breakthroughs in science and technology that will define how our world will look over the next century. I have no doubt that the young scientists and engineers of Israel, a country that exemplifies innovation and excellence, will make a significant impact on our future.”
Professor Nili Cohen, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, noted that the Blavatnik Awards fill the need for recognition and support of young scientists in Israel who demonstrate outstanding merit. “The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences identified this need in the United States and provided a solution. We are proud to join these two organizations in providing a similar response in Israel.”
The inaugural Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel will be conferred in Israel in February 2018. The Laureates will join a network of their peers as members of the Blavatnik Science Scholars community, currently comprising 185 Blavatnik Award winners and finalists from the decade-old U.S. program. Laureates will also be invited to attend the annual Blavatnik Science Symposium in New York City each summer, where the Scholars come together to exchange new ideas and build cross-disciplinary research collaborations.
“Israel’s universities are world-class and are long-standing collaborative partners with U.S. and other global research leaders,” said Ellis Rubinstein, President and CEO of the NYAS, who before taking the helm of the New York Academy, was Editor of Science for a decade. “The Blavatnik Awards have been a game-changer for many of the U.S.-based young researchers. We’re thrilled that the Blavatnik Awards will now recognize the quality of work Israel’s rising research stars are engaged in.”
Research universities can nominate candidates beginning May 3, 2017, via http://blavatnikawards.org/awards/israel-awards/
For media requests, please contact Allison Wilson (awilson@nyas.org; 212-298-8629).
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About The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, established in 2007 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by the New York Academy of Sciences, honor exceptional young scientists and engineers by celebrating their extraordinary achievements, recognizing outstanding promise, and accelerating innovation through unrestricted funding.
The Awards were established in New York and began as regional awards for young scientists and engineers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists were established in 2014 and are awarded annually across the United States. To date, there have been over 2,000 scientists nominated from over 200 institutions, with more than 185 winners and finalists from the both Blavatnik Regional and Blavatnik National Awards.
About the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that since 1817 has been driving innovative solutions to society’s challenges by advancing scientific research, education, and policy since 1817. With more than 20,000 Members in 100 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. Please visit us online at www.nyas.org and follow us on Twitter at @NYASciences.
About the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities is the preeminent scientific institution in Israel. It was established by law in 1961, and acts as a national focal point for Israeli scholarship in all branches of the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The Academy comprises 120 of Israel’s most distinguished scientists and scholars who operate in two sections – the sciences section and the humanities section.
It is tasked with promoting Israeli scientific excellence; advising the government on scientific matters of national interest; publishing scholarly research of lasting merit; and maintaining active contact with the broader international scientific and scholarly community.