Ranked among the top five institutions in Europe, along with Oxford and Cambridge from England and EPFL and ETH from Switzerland
The seventh European R&D program launched in 2007 places emphasis on funding excellence in scientific research. For this purpose, the European Union established, as part of the program, a special organization, the European Research Council (ERC), which grants very large research grants: 3.5-4.5 million Euros, awarded on the basis of outstanding scientific excellence. In recent years, this program has become one of the main factors in funding research in Israel, and researchers from all higher education institutions turn to it with research proposals. The rate of winning the ERC grants is, therefore, a measure of the excellence of the scientific institutions in Israel.
In the summary of the first three cycles of the seventh European R&D program, the Weizmann Institute of Science stands at the top of the list of Israeli research institutions. During this period, the institute's scientists won research grants totaling 79 million euros. In second place is the Hebrew University with 70 million euros, and the Technion with 47 million euros.
The first position of the Weizmann Institute of Science stands out in the analysis of the various frameworks included in the seventh European R&D program, and especially in its prestigious excellence grants, awarded by the ERC. The institute has won 33 ERC grants, amounting to approximately 53 million euros, and is placed among the top five institutions in Europe, along with Oxford and Cambridge from England and EPFL and ETH from Switzerland.
The fact that the Weizmann Institute of Science has far fewer research groups compared to the other research institutions on the list highlights even more the quality of the institute's scientists' research. In fact, the research of 13% of Weizmann Institute of Science scientists - 33 research groups - is currently funded through excellence grants from the ERC. This is an unprecedented rate compared to all European institutions.
Another factor that teaches about excellence is the success rate of the scientists who apply for the grants. Also in this index, the Weizmann Institute of Science is the first in Israel with a 31% success rate, a rate four times higher than the European average and twice the average for Israeli scientists.
