Prof. Hagai Bergman and Dr. Avner Teller from Tel Aviv University, Prof. Shlomo Magdessi and Prof. Nira Lieberman from Hebrew University won honors * Three appointments of heads of schools at Tel Aviv University
Award to researchers at Tel Aviv University for their research on Parkinson's
A new award for research, diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's was launched this year at Tel Aviv University, named after the Opzain family. Prof. Hagi Bergman from the Hebrew University, was chosen to be among the first two researchers in Israel to receive the award. The Young Researcher Award was awarded to Dr. Avner Teller from the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and the Tel Aviv-Ichilov Medical Center.
Prof. Bergman won the award in recognition of his research on "basal nuclei in Parkinson's disease". The goal of this study: to achieve a better understanding of the brain processes that cause the clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease and to better treat patients in the various stages of the disease.
Dr. Teller won the award in recognition of his research that examined the role of the LRRK2 and GBA genes in Parkinson's disease and the relationship between the Parkinson's phenotype and carriers of mutations in the LRRK2 and GBA genes as well as co-carriers of a mutation in each of the two genes. The study demonstrated that double carrier of the mutations does not cause more severe Parkinson's symptoms but it suggests a protective interaction of carriers of a mutation in the LRRK2 gene.
Prof. Nira Lieberman is the recipient of the 2021 Rothschild Prize for Social Sciences
Yad Handiv, which has been awarding the Rothschild Prizes for over 60 years, has announced the winners of the Rothschild Prize for 2021. The winner in the social sciences category for this year is Prof. Nira Lieberman from the School of Psychological Sciences at the Gershon Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences. The Rothschild Prize is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in Israel, and is awarded once every two years for original and unusual research.
Prof. Lieberman is a world-renowned researcher in the field of social psychology. Her research topics include decision making, motivation and self-regulation. Among her achievements is the development of the construction level theory, one of the most important theories in the study of psychology today. She has won many prestigious international awards, including an award from theAmerican Society of Experimental Social Psychology for 2014 as well as the Kader Prize for 2017. She was recently elected as a member of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences.
"It is a great pride to be among the winners of the Rothschild Prize. I thank my students and colleagues, with whom I did a lot of work for which I received the award," says Prof. Nira Lieberman and sums up excitedly, "I thank the award committee and my colleagues who submitted my nomination. Usually, we are so immersed in our day-to-day work that it is difficult for us to look up and appreciate how far we have come. I am happy to do it on this festive occasion of receiving the Rothschild Prize".
Prof. Shlomo Magdessi from the Hebrew University was appointed a member of the National Academy of Inventors of the USA
He is the fifth Israeli academic to be appointed to this prestigious organization, which also includes Nobel Prize winner Aharon Chechenover
Prof. Shlomo Magdessi, a researcher at the Institute of Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the university, was appointed a member of the National Academy of Inventors of the USA (NAI), which includes about 1400 members representing about 250 universities and government research institutions.
Prof. Magdessi, deals in the field of materials and especially in particles and droplets and their applications, among others, in the fields of energy and 300D printing. Over the years, Magdessi published about XNUMX patents, some of which became products, industrial processes and the establishment of start-up companies.
Upon receiving the appointment, Prof. Magdessi thanked the companies and members of the American Academy and stated: "It is a great honor for me to be a member of the academic community of inventors in the USA, which illustrates the wonderful combination between academic research and industrial applications, and the spirit of innovation at the Hebrew University. I thank the members of my research group and the support of the university over the years that made it possible to reach this recognition."
The National Academy of Inventors is an umbrella organization of universities and government research institutes founded in 2010, with the aim of encouraging inventors, promoting technology and academic innovation. NAI colleagues hold more than 48,000 registered patents in the US, founded more than 13,000 technologies and companies, and created more than one million jobs. The inventions of the members of the organization are estimated at over 3 trillion dollars.
Four Israeli academics are members of the NAI organization, headed by the Nobel Prize winner Prof. Aharon Tschanover and their sons also Prof. Noam Eliez, Prof. Yael Hanin and Prof. Ze'ev Zalesky. Another Israeli who was appointed as a senior member of the academy is the industrialist Kobi Richter.
Prof. Yaron Ostrober was appointed head of the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University
Prof. Yaron Ostrover was appointed head School of Mathematical Sciences at the Faculty of Exact Sciences by Raymond and Burley Sackler. He will replace Prof. Gadi Fibich in his position. Prof. Ostrober deals with theoretical mathematics, and researches the fields of symplectic geometry and Hamiltonian dynamics. Symplectic geometry is a field that was developed to aid in the mathematical study of movements in various dynamic systems, and is used today as a central tool in the development of mathematical models of physical systems such as the movements of planets and satellites, dynamics of charged particles in accelerators, and quantum measurements.
Prof. Ostrober completed all his degrees at Tel Aviv University. He did his post-doctorate period at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton (IAS), and in 2010 he returned to Tel Aviv University. Over the years, Prof. Ostrober has won a number of prestigious awards and research grants, including a grant from the European Union Research Council (ERC), as well as grants from the National Science Foundation in the United States (NSF), and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). In 2014, Prof. Ostrober was invited to lecture at the International Mathematics Congress about his research, and between 2020-2018 he was a "von Neumann" fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton.
Prof. Yaron Ostrober: "The School of Mathematical Sciences has been my second home for the past twenty-five years, and I see the position as an important opportunity to continue promoting the research excellence and international activity of the researchers at the school."
Prof. Segev Barak was appointed head of the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University
Prof. Segev Barak was appointed head School of Psychology at the Gershon Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences. Prof. Barak earned all of his degrees at Tel Aviv University, and he served until recently as the head of the psychobiological major at the School of Psychological Sciences, and as chairman of the senior academic faculty organization. He will replace Prof. Galit Yuval in his position.
Prof. Barak is a researcher at the School of Psychological Sciences andat the School of Neuroscience. His research deals with the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of drug and alcohol addiction, especially learning and memory processes that underlie addictions.
In his research, Prof. Barak discovered the involvement of brain systems in processes of flexibility and updating of memory that are damaged among addicts, and lead to loss of control and dependence on drugs and alcohol. His research combines advanced behavioral and molecular methods, and has yielded discoveries and publications in the leading journals in the field of neuroscience.
Prof. Segev Barak: "I 'grew up' at the School of Psychological Sciences from my bachelor's degree to my doctorate, and I sat there as a faculty member after a post-doctorate in the USA. The school is a home for me, and the appointment as the head of the school is a kind of closing a circle for me. I am happy and proud to head the school and continue to lead our momentum of excellence in research and teaching - the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University is the largest and the leader in Israel in its impressive ranking in international rankings, in the scope of the teaching and research faculty and in the number of students."
Shai Zucker - Head of the School of Environment and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University
Prof. Shai Zucker was appointed head Porter School of Environment and Earth Sciences at the Faculty of Exact Sciences by Raymond and Burley Sackler. He will replace Prof. Shmuel Marko in his position. Prof. Zucker is an astrophysicist by training and did all his studies at Tel Aviv University. He mainly studies double stars and planets outside the solar system, but sometimes "sins" also in examining other astronomical phenomena, from asteroids in the solar system, to stars in the center of the Milky Way galaxy to quasars.
Prof. Zucker's scientific achievements over the years include the development of an algorithm for measuring the radial velocities of spectroscopic double stars; The discovery of the first known planet that eclipses its parent star, and subsequently, the development of an algorithm used to discover additional planets of this type; Leading research on relativistic effects in the observed orbits of stars around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and more.
The common denominator for most of Prof. Zucker's research is the use of statistical methods and advanced data processing methods in astronomy, what is known as astrostatistics.
Prof. Shai Zucker: "My training as an astronomer gives me a unique approach to thinking about the global processes taking place on Earth. Astronomers today are looking for life on other planets and when we do this, our understanding increases how much life is a unique phenomenon, which requires special conditions for its existence. This understanding intensifies the sense of responsibility we have to preserve these conditions, and with this sense of responsibility, and with holy fear, I enter the position of head of the school."
