Winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Prof. Aharon Chechanover: We are not far from the point of no return
"The calls of the two Nobel laureates to the decision makers in the country to bring education in general and higher education in particular to the top of the list of priorities have so far not received any real response beyond statements of support from the policy makers that were spoken from the language and to the press," said Technion President, Prof. Yitzhak Aplugi, on Thursday The last one (7/4/05) at an event organized by the friends of the Technion in Israel for the winners of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Prof. Avraham Hershko and Prof. Aharon Chachanover, at the Tel Aviv Museum.
According to him, the award is given to two based on their individual talent, but the talent should be given suitable conditions, an appropriate public atmosphere and also financial conditions. The Technion is determined to continue the policy of maintaining excellence. "There is no other university in the State of Israel whose influence on the advancement of the State of Israel is comparable to that of the Technion, which has trained nearly 70 engineers, doctors, scientists and architects."
The chairman of the Technion Aspirants Association in Israel, Reserve Major Amos Winter, who was formerly the president of the Technion, says that if there is one thing that unites all the factions of the Jews of the world, it is the higher education system."
The Swedish ambassador, Robert Rydberg, spoke in Hebrew, as he did at the event before the winners left for Sweden: You won not only the Nobel Prize, but also the hearts of the Swedes and of all those who were at the ceremony. I hope that the prize will influence the Technion and the new generation of scientists in Israel. I hope that the award will continue to strengthen the existing excellent research cooperation between the two countries. For years you have had many colleagues at universities in Sweden researching the same field, Rydberg told the two winners.
The two laureates also reiterated their commitment and their concern about the ongoing cuts in higher education budgets. "Discoveries in experimental research require laboratories, students are required, the students for advanced degrees also need scholarships and for that, thanks to my friends at the Technion. ” said Prof. Hershko. His colleague, Chechenover, also spoke about the Society of Friends: "The first Society of Friends of the Technion was established in Berlin 80 years ago and was headed by none other than Prof. Albert Einstein. The first Association of Friends was established in Israel 70 years ago. The Society of Friends in the USA operates from Zionist motives, but the Society of Friends in Israel consists mainly of Technion graduates who feel indebted to the institution and help it after they have achieved success in their businesses, thanks to their studies." But he devoted the bulk of his words to criticizing the state of higher education: "Today we are required to share disciplines, but the place of the lone scientist sitting in the laboratory is still far from redundant. The breakthroughs regarding the deposition of proteins in the cell, the causes of Alzheimer's disease will be brought by a single scientist, as well as the consequences of various actions in the cell that cause cancer will be brought by individual scientists in the specific field. The State of Israel was not founded on uranium deposits, coal, etc. It arose entirely on the education system and universities. It is not an off-the-shelf product that if we close a little today and open a little tomorrow it will be possible to manage. It takes years to train researchers. We hear different and different excuses as if the universities are not financially managed properly. In my opinion, this is not about corruption and diverting resources to the wrong directions, if it happened, it would have been on the margins, but when a third of the budgets were cut in recent years, they are not punishing the universities but the State of Israel, which is cutting like Baron Mannchausen's horse. Before it's too late and we're not far from the point of no return, we need to save this wonderful system."
