During the visit of the Minister of Innovation, Orit Farkash HaCohen to the USA, she meets with senior officials and businessmen in order to strengthen the technological cooperation between the countries - after the Jerusalem Declaration. And collaborations in the field of quantum between countries are not common, given the far-reaching strategic implications of this field
The joint research will yield breakthrough technological discoveries and developments in the coming years in the fields of quantum, which is a research field of strategic importance; The signing of the agreement in this sensitive area testifies to the close ties between the countries.
During the visit of the Minister of Innovation, Orit Farkash HaCohen to the USA, she meets with senior officials and businessmen in order to strengthen the technological cooperation between the countries - after the Jerusalem Declaration, this is a unique agreement, since cooperation in the field of quantum between countries is not common, in light of the far-reaching strategic implications of this field. The signing of the agreement testifies to the close ties between the countries.
An agreement promoting quantum research cooperation between Israel and the US was signed last night (Wednesday, 14.9.22) in Washington, D.C., during an event to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the BSF, the joint bilateral science fund of the governments of Israel and the US .
The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the BSF, and its implementation will be in partnership with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) - the US government's largest fund for research grants in all fields of science, which has a total budget of approximately 9 billion dollars per year .
The event, which took place at the Academy of Sciences in Washington DC, also marked 10 years of partnership with the NSF, which is the US government's agency for supporting research in all fields of science. The event was held in the presence of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Orit Farkash HaCohen, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Monica Medina. Among the senior officials who participated in the event: Director General of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology Hila Hadad Hamelnik; Chairman of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Prof. Yosef Makori; Director of the Office of Science and Technology in the White House, Dr. Alondra Nelson; Director of the NSF (US National Science Foundation), Sturman Panchanathan; and the CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dr. Sudip Frich.
This program will be a force multiplier in the promotion of scientific-civilian cooperation between Israel and the US and an engine for the countries' mutual investment in science and technology, and this against the background of the Jerusalem Declaration that was recently published during the visit of US President Biden to promote a strategic dialogue between the countries on science and technology.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Orit Parkash HaCohen: "Strengthening research between the countries is in the common interest of Israel and the US, which share common values and a strong alliance." My goal is to increase joint research between Israelis and Americans in the coming years, and therefore, among other things, my ministry and the MLA are doing work on strengthening technological cooperation between the countries within the framework of the Jerusalem Declaration.'
Director General of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Hila Hadad-Khamelnik: "The partnership with the US in science and technology is a national interest, and is necessary for strengthening the civil resilience of the State of Israel. There is huge potential for increasing cooperation between the countries, and this is what the Ministry of Innovation and Science strives for. The BSF Foundation has proven itself to be a leading habitat for ground-breaking research, and its activities are as important as anything else. I congratulate the foundation for its activities to promote Israeli science, for the benefit of all citizens of Israel, the United States and the entire world."
Prof. Anton Post, director of the BSF Foundation: "The BSF Foundation is proud of fifty years of scientific achievements, and looks forward to promoting the most innovative research with the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. "Quantum technologies are a national priority and the new agreement will ensure Israel's competitiveness in the field."
About the BSF Foundation
The BSF Foundation was founded in 1972 by the governments of Israel and the United States with the aim of strengthening scientific cooperation between the two countries. The late Yitzhak Rabin, who served at the time as Israel's ambassador to the US, recognized the need for academic cooperation between the two countries, and personally promoted the establishment of the foundation.
Over the years, the foundation has invested over a billion dollars in approximately 5,500 studies which led to scientific breakthroughs and contributed to the advancement of the technological progress of the countries and the cultivation of ties between them. The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology is a significant partner of the fund on behalf of the Israeli government.
The foundation awards research grants in life sciences and exact sciences, and its budget is approximately 18 million dollars per year. Since its establishment, the foundation has awarded over 13 grants, with approximately 65-70% of its annual budget being transferred to Israeli researchers.
A research grant from the BSF Foundation is considered a stamp of prestige and quality among the scientific community. Its graduates lead scientific breakthroughs that stand at the forefront of the most advanced research. Among the grantees of the fund over the years are 48 Nobel Prize-winning researchers and prize-winners, among them Professors Dan Shechtman, Ada Yonet, Robert J. Uman, Aharon Chachanover and Abraham Hershko. Dozens of other researchers who graduated from the fund received other prestigious awards over the years, such as: the Turing Award, the Fields Medal, the Wolff Award, the Abel Award (in mathematics) and others.
Among the prominent examples of the significant impact of BSF research: following research funded by the foundation of Prof. Shulamit Levenberg from the Technion, the world's first full-size cultured steak was subsequently created by the Israeli company "Alf Farms". The foundation also played a major role in the use of PET-CT technology for cancer detection, following groundbreaking research by Prof. Shlomo Rosen from Tel Aviv University and Prof. Michael Walsh from the University of Washington. The results of their research, which was carried out with the support of the BSF, were adopted by the National Institutes of Health and by the industry in order to develop the method.
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"The joint researches are going to yield breakthrough technological discoveries and developments in the coming years" with a little more humility, Tsel "The joint researches *might* yield breakthrough technological discoveries and developments in the coming years". To predict future breakthroughs is a bit excessive, even during an election period.