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Introducing New Scientists 2012 Introducing New Scientists 2012 Is Published by the Department of Resource Development at the Weizmann Institute of Science P.O

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Introducing New Scientists 2012 Introducing New Scientists 2012 Is Published by the Department of Resource Development at the Weizmann Institute of Science P.O Introducing New Scientists 2012 Introducing New Scientists 2012 is published by the Department of Resource Development at the Weizmann Institute of Science P.O. Box 26, Rehovot, Israel 76100 Tel: 972.8.934 4582 e-mail: [email protected] Table of Contents New scientists are vital for Israel’s future .........................................................................................1 Prof. Oded Aharonson, Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Solving planetary puzzles ................................................................................................................2 Dr. Erez Berg, Department of Condensed Matter Physics When matter breaks the rules .........................................................................................................4 Dr. Shahar Dobzinski, Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Handling selfishness in algorithms .................................................................................................6 Dr. Eran Elinav MD PhD, Department of Immunology Immunity and inflammation ...........................................................................................................8 Dr. Sarel Fleishman, Department of Biological Chemistry Designing new protein functions ....................................................................................................10 Dr. Itay Halevy, Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research The climate and geochemistry of planets ........................................................................................12 Dr. Yohai Kaspi, Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research The dynamics of storms ...................................................................................................................14 Dr. Rafal Klajn, Department of Organic Chemistry Robert Edward and Roselyn Rich Manson Career Development Chair Chemistry at the nanoscale .............................................................................................................16 Dr. Emmanuel Levy, Department of Structural Biology Understanding protein-to-protein interactions ..............................................................................18 Dr. Yaron Lipman, Department of Computer Sciences and Applied Mathematics The mathematics of shapes ..............................................................................................................20 Dr. Shmuel Rubinstein, Department of Physics of Complex Systems The dynamics of interfaces ..............................................................................................................22 New Scientist Funds and Gifts .......................................................................................................24 1 New scientists are vital for Israel’s future Prof. Daniel Zajfman, President The Weizmann Institute’s 250 principal researchers are leaders in the world of science, both in Israel and abroad. Over the next five years, nearly 60 of these eminent scientists will be retiring. Approximately 40 reached retirement age in the past five years and have been succeeded by 43 new hires, including the 11 young scientists profiled here. The Weizmann Institute of Science looks for promising researchers who are rising stars in their fields and who are pioneering new directions in science. One of the most notable developments this year is that we recruited three young scientists whose focus is earth and planetary sciences, whose research is helping inform understanding of life on Earth. To help a scientist come to Israel, the Institute offers a commitment of three or more years of research funding and new equipment to establish his or her new laboratory. The costs average from $1 to $2 million depending upon the field of research. Sometimes we are fortunate to recruit a veteran scientist who is an established leader in his or her field, such as Prof. Oded Aharonson, who returned to Israel after teaching at the California Institute of Technology. Private, philanthropic gifts are vital to helping the Institute meet this tremendous funding challenge each year. Friends of the Weizmann Institute from around the world are making it possible for the Institute to recruit some of the sharpest minds in mathematics and science and give them the tools to follow their restless curiosity wherever it may lead. The following pages profile the young principal investigators recruited in 2011-2012 who illustrate the range of research and startup needs of the Institute’s newest scientists. Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research 2 Solving planetary puzzles Prof. Oded Aharonson and humidity) to measure uses measurements from and model phenomena spacecraft dispatched such as deposition of ice throughout the solar and frost detected from system to study other orbit and photographed planets. In concert with by the Phoenix Lander. computer modeling and Prof. Aharonson used laboratory simulations, laser measurements from data from these space spacecraft orbiting Mars to missions help piece map the geologic evidence together planetary puzzles. of former lake beds and For instance, he combined fluvial features (see picture orbital measurements with at left). He designed and computer modeling to ran experiments using the propose a probable answer for why the crust of Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity to study the Mars is markedly thinner (up to 30 km.) in its surface of Mars up close. northern hemisphere than its southern half — it appears to have been hit by a Texas-sized asteroid Prof. Aharonson serves as a co-investigator on more than four billion years ago that forever a number of space missions and instrument changed the red planet. He has built laboratory teams, and his research is helping inform our simulations reproducing Mars-like surface understanding of Earth and the universe around conditions (temperature, pressure, composition, us. 3 Prof. Oded Aharonson Prof. Oded Aharonson earned a BSc in Applied and Engineering Physics in 1994 and an MSc in 1995 from Cornell University, New York. He completed a PhD in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2002. He worked as an Assistant, Associate, and full Professor at the California Institute of Technology, from 2002 until 2011. He joined the Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research at the Weizmann Instute in 2011. His professional and academic honors include the NASA Group Achievement Awards for the NEAR Shoemaker Mission Team (2002), the Mars Exploration Rover Science Team (2008), and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Laser Ranging Team (2009). He was also awarded an MIT Kerr Fellowship, an AGU Outstanding Student Paper Award, a Lewis Scholarship, and was elected to the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society. Department of Condensed Matter Physics 4 When matter breaks the rules Physicists like Dr. Erez Berg are fascinated space. He plans to study this phase further, whenever matter “breaks the rules” of everyday and in particular propose and interpret future physics and becomes superconducting (able to experiments that can establish its occurrence in conduct electricity with zero resistance). Even nature. though superconductivity was discovered a long time ago, new experiments keep suggesting At the Weizmann Institute, Dr. Berg plans that the class of phenomena that occurs in to tackle some of these intriguing questions superconductors is richer than scientists had in quantum and superconductor physics as a believed. In his PhD work, Dr. Berg began theorist looking to understand the quirkiness studying a new type of superconducting phase, of matter and to find new rules to explain the a “striped superconductor” in which the local apparent contradictions. superconducting amplitude is modulated in 5 Dr. Erez Berg Dr. Erez Berg spent six years of military service in the Theoretical Physics Division of Rafael - Israel’s Armament Development Authority. He earned his BSc in 1998 and his MSc in 2003, both degrees summa cum laude in Physics at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He completed his PhD in Physics at Stanford University in 2009, and studied as a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard University starting in 2009. He joins the Weizmann Institute in 2012. Dr. Berg has been awarded a number of academic and professional honors, including a Silver Medal in the 26th International Physics Olympiad, Canberra, Australia, in 1995, a Special Award from Israel’s Parliament (Knesset) in 1998 for outstanding undergraduate students, a departmental prize for outstanding performance from Rafael in 2000, and the Kirkpatrick Award for excellence in teaching at Stanford University in 2005. Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics 6 Handling selfishness in algorithms When you search for “pizza” on Google with the ads of pizzerias were indeed those in your area, intent of finding a local pizzeria that delivers, including the last pizzeria web site you were on, you get a list of options on your screen. On top and that Google’s revenue will be maximized. of the search results, you will find some ads. The algorithms controlling this ad-display function Dr. Dobzinski, who draws on expertise in behind the scenes are highly complicated, and economics, game theory, and computer science, take into account many parameters such as your aims to design auctions (algorithms) that location and your search history—which help have the following three properties. The first predict, for example,
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