Prof. Chaim Sompolinsky is the first Israeli researcher to win the prestigious award. He himself was born in Leopardstown, where his father, Prof. David Sompolinsky, was among the members of the underground who smuggled Jews by boat to Sweden.
Prof. Haim Sompolinski won the most important international prize in the field of brain research for 2024, awarded by the Danish Lundbeck Foundation. Prof. Haim Sompolinski is the first Israeli researcher to win the prestigious award. A physicist, he is a pioneer of computational neuroscience and the study of the dynamics of circuits neurons in the brain, and is world-renowned in his field. Prof. Sompolinski also serves as a professor at the Harvard University Neuroscience Center.
Prof. Sompolinski won the award together with two other international researchers, Prof. Larry Abbott from Columbia University in the USA and Prof. Terence Sinovsky from the Salk Institute, USA, in recognition of their pioneering research in theoretical and computational neuroscience. The award, which was founded in 2011, is awarded Every year to researchers who have made original and significant contributions in brain research from basic research to research clinical-applied and stands at a total of 1.3 million euros for winners that year.
Prof. Sompolinski's groundbreaking research made a fundamental contribution to the in-depth understanding of the human brain and they focus on understanding the computational principles that underlie neural dynamics in the brain. Among other things, Prof. Sompolinski made a significant contribution to our understanding of how neural circuits process and encode information, produce representations of the outside world and are involved in learning and memory processes. The award was given to Prof. Sompolinski not only for the way his research advanced the understanding of brain functions, but also for the promise that his research holds for applications in brain-inspired artificial intelligence.
Prof. Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University: "Prof. Sompolinski's winning the prestigious Brain Prize emphasizes his pioneering contribution to the field of computational neuroscience. His groundbreaking work and unique approach, which combines theory with experimental findings, served as an inspiration for the development of the field of artificial intelligence and led to the illumination of basic computational principles in the brain. The recognition of his impressive achievements is not just a token An honor to the Hebrew University, but also a beacon which guides us towards further discoveries at the intersection where neuroscience and computational principles meet."
Prof. Haim Sompolinsky: "It is a great honor for me to win the Brain Prize 2024 which expresses the international recognition of the central contribution of theoretical and computational research to neuroscience. This is also an important opportunity to represent the Hebrew University's pioneering contribution to the development of the multidisciplinary research of the brain."
Prof. Chaim Sompolinsky, born in Leopard, is the son of the late Prof. David Sompolinsky. In October 1943, while in Copenhagen, Prof. Sompolinsky Sr., along with other members of the Danish underground, transported hundreds of Jews to safety in Sweden in fishing boats, thus saving them from the hands of the Nazi murderers.
THE BRAIN PRIZE for 2024 will be awarded to the three winners by His Majesty the King of Denmark, at a grand ceremony in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, in June of this year. Receiving the prestigious award from the Danish royal family is an exciting closing of a circle for Prof. Sompolinski.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
