Rehovot, Israel

The Koffler Tower is not just the symbol of the Weizmann campus, but also contains particle accelerators, PHOTO: EDDIE GERALD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO an observatory and a seminar room with a breathtaking view. Max Planck researchers co- 78 operate with partners in more than 120 countries. Here they were due to close early before the start other particles their mass. I’m also in- write about their personal ex- of the Shabbat. My husband and I terested in any new particles we could were immediately made to feel wel- be searching for. As it happened, a periences and impressions. come. new model was presented just before I The physicist Elina Fuchs arrived, and my colleagues and I were spent four years conducting We are both physicists and had both able to use it to produce some very in- research at the Weizmann been given a job at the Weizmann In- teresting results. I also got to be in- Institute in Israel after recei- stitute in Rehovot. For researchers, volved in the development of a new Israel is a paradise for a number of dif- method at the interface between par- ving a scholarship from the ferent reasons. The laboratories and ticle and atomic physics. Minerva Stiftung, a subsidiary the infrastructure are phenomenal, from the Max Planck Society. and there are plenty of opportunities Israel is also a good place for pregnant She reports on generous hospi- for networking as well. Since we women and young parents. Children weren’t far away, we met with particle are given a very high priority in a na- tality, unusual public holidays physicists from Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jeru- tion with the highest birthrate of all and colleagues who were salem and Be’er Sheva nearly every industrial countries (3.1). Since nearly happy to help. week, and discussed new research. all Israelis serve in the army before Also, guest scientists were very often they study, with the women serving invited to the Institute, and it was for two years, and the men for three, On the first day, we were given a taste of great to be able to discuss ideas with it’s no exception for doctoral students the incredible hospitality in Israel. A them and make contacts. to have a child. In fact, it’s generally colleague collected us at the airport the rule. During my pregnancy and and gave us a short guided tour of the In my research, I focus on which parti- after the birth of our daughter, we campus site. When we entered our cles might exist beyond the Standard benefited from flexible working apartment that evening in October Model, and how existing models can hours, working from home and the 2015, we saw that someone had filled be tested and excluded. I am particu- Institute kindergarten. We were also the refrigerator with food. It turned larly interested in how the properties offered help by individual colleagues. out that the secretary had bought food of the Higgs boson change in new One Weizmann employee, whom we for us, so that we would have enough models. Discovered in 2012, it is an ele- always came across on the train in the to eat the next day, when the shops mentary particle which helps give morning, gave us huge quantities of Max Planck Research · 3 | 2020 POST FROM REHOVOT, ISRAEL 79 baby clothes. And when our daughter spent in Israel, I had a few surprises was born, two colleagues brought when it came to the way people be- home-made food to our door. haved. If you see someone approach- ing you on the sidewalk, it’s better to Of course, the greatest experience was get out of the way, otherwise they the birth of our daughter. We were might simply barge into you. In Israel, PHOTO: PRIVATE also very moved by the various festi- it appears to be socially accep- vities and family dinners to which we table to talk loudly on the phone in were invited. One colleague invited us buses and trains, or to watch films to celebrate Pesach (Passover) with without headphones. him and his family twice. This is the equivalent of a professor inviting a Overall, I really enjoyed the scientific postdoc from another country to and cultural and human experiences Elina Fuchs spend Christmas Eve at home with during my stay, and can thoroughly their family. recommend a visit to Israel, whether 32, studied physics in Goettingen and Helsinki. For as a tourist or a researcher. You’ll dis- her Masters thesis, she switched Overall, I found the Jewish holidays very cover delicious dishes, see breathta- to DESY in Hamburg, where interesting. The biggest “culture king landscapes and be astonished by she also gained her doctorate shock” was Passover. This comme- places of historical interest. You’ll be from 2012 to 2015. Since then, morates the departure from Egypt, smothered in hospitality – and on she has conducted research which is why most Jews do not eat Yom Kippur, the most important na- into theoretical particle physics beyond the Standard Model, leavened food, such as bread. A reli- tional holiday, when the country and worked for four years as a gious neighbor asked us to buy his en- comes to a standstill, you can cycle postdoc at the Weizmann tire stock of cornflakes, toast and spa- along the freeway. Institute of Science in Israel, with the support of the Institute ghetti for a token amount, since he For information was not allowed to own leavened food. on the Minerva Stiftung, see: and the Minerva Stiftung of the After Passover, he bought everything minerva.mpg.de/ Max Planck Society. She is currently researching at the back, insisting that he pay more than Fermilab and the University we had paid him. In the four years I of Chicago as a Feodor-Lynen fellow. Max Planck Research · 3 | 2020.

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