by a committee of experts in the
that is the sole factor in getting a
raise."
relevant field who first meticulously
examine the research proposal, its
Shaltiel admits he is concerned
about the so-called "brain-drain,"
importance and its feasibility, Shal-
tiel says.
but thus far, he observes, "it has not
"Finally, the quality of this re-
been a major problem with our stu-
search is evaluated by thesis re-
dents. Surveys we have conducted
ferees. The information which thus
show that only 8.3 per cent of the
accumulates crystallizes in the end
students who graduated during the
years 1970-1976 and went abroad,
into a distinct and vivid profile of the
stayed there for a period longer than
student concerned. This reflects the
four years (a period that might indi-
likelihood of this particular young
man or woman becoming a creative - cate an intention to emigrate) . .
and original scientist."
Though we would be happier if all
our students returned to Israel, we
Shaltiel believes it is "unfortun-
ate" that only a few of the Graduate
are pleased with this low percentage.
Interestingly, the best students al-
School students seek careers in the
ways find their way back."
teaching of science at the high school
level. "I think the failure is ours —
The main subjects studied at the
Feinberg Graduate School are:
and by ours I refer not only to the
Israeli institutions of higher learning
Mathematics (applied, computer sci-
ence and theoretical); Physics (elec-
but also to the Ministry of Education
tronics and nuclear physics); Che-
and Israeli society in general. We
mistry (chemical physics, organic
have not made the teaching profes-
and structural, isotope research,
sion attractive enough, intellectually
plastics research and geosciences);
gratifying and sufficiently presti-
gious socially."
Biophysics-Biochemistry (mem-
brane research, neurobiology and
He recalls that when a prolonged
polymer research); and Biology
teachers' strike paralysed Israeli
(ultrastructure, cell biology, im-
high schools a few years ago, he
munology, genetics, hormone re-
wrote to the Education Ministry pro-
search, plant genetics, genetic en-
testing that teaching is the only pro-
gineering and virology).
fession he knows of in which there is
no correlation between professional
Prof. Shaltiel holds the Hella and
ability, status and salary. Rather, "it
Derrick Kleeman Chair of
is seniority — age, to put it bluntly —
Biochemistry.
military service and university stu-
dies.
• An International Summer Science
Institute, a month-long programme
for science-interested youth from
about 15 countries. Besides partici-
pating in scientific research on cam-
pus, these talented teenagers travel
throughout the country to learn ab-
out Israel and its people.
• A Mathematics Olympiad, a
national contest conducted annually
at the Institute in the fall and spon-
sored in part by. Bank Hapoalim.
The top winner is awarded a uni-
versity scholarship, with runners-up
receiving other prizes. Top-score
participants in this contest frequent-
ly participate in the International
Mathematics Olympiad and score
very well.
• A National Junior Math Club, a
novel "mail order" organization in
which students must submit work in
response to questions mailed to
them. Their work is reviewed and
corrected by Institute mathemati-
cians, and returned to them for the
next stage in this correspondence
course. When the fourth stage is
completed, the outstanding students
are invited to a math competition on
their own grade level, at the Weiz-
mann Institute.
• An Israeli Science Fair, held in the
fall, in which inventive students from
the eighth through the 12th grades
display original research projects,
models or inventions. This annual
event, held in cooperation with
Bank Discount and Elscint, attracts
wide interest, and recent prize-
winning entries have included an
energy control device which facili-
tates the efficient and economic use
of electricity by large industries; a
sophisticated robot, an electronic
device for communicating with peo-
ple who are both deaf and blind; and
a detailed study of the double star U
Cephei.
• A Science Experiment Bank, a
programme which provides effective
training kits for teachers leading sci-
ence clubs throughout Israel. The
kits include equipment, materials
and instructional aids, and Youth
Activities Section personnel advise
teachers on their use.
• Popular science lectures, by Insti-
tute faculty members and research
fellows for high school students and
adults .in the Rehovot area. For
example, a Weizmann particle scien-
tist of international reputation, Prof.
Haim Harari, recently spoke about
"the weak force," a topic which has
been in the headlines.
• A Science Field School, in which
entire classes and their teachers
spend a day at the Institute after
receiving, by mail, background
material on the subjects they will
study on their visit. Besides viewing
the Institute's research laboratories,
they are given lectures and demon-
strations in 15 different areas includ-
ing lasers, holography, neurobiolo-
gy, embryology, infra-red spectros-
copy, etc. As soon as required fund-
ing is available, the Science Field
School programme will be expanded
from its present one-day structure to
longer periods, so that youths and
their teachers from more remote
parts of Israel can also take part in
the programme. Dormitories would
be built and additional staff hired if
the funding is received.
• "Pe Ha'atorn" (Voice of the
Atom) and the National Physics
Club — a combination journal and
nationwide physics club. This popu-
lar periodical, for which high school
physics enthusiasts pay a subscrip-
tion price, has generated so much
spontaneous interest that its read-
ership has developed into an associa-
tion of high school students in-
terested in physics. Besides articles
on such subjects as elementary parti-
cles and astrophysics, the journal
includes an "Open Correspond-
ence" section in which readers are
invited to give answers to problems
or discuss issues of common interest
to club members.
"Let's face it — there is a crisis in
science education in Israel," says
Dr. Rosenfeld. "With the country's
burgeoning science-based industries
offering better economic opportuni-
ties than schools, science teachers
are hard to find. That's why we
believe it's so important to involve
the scientists themselves in stimulat-
ing scientific literacy."
The Weizmann Institute, in coop-
eration with the Amos de-Shalit
Foundation, has established the
Amos de-Shalit Youth Centre,
where most of the above mentioned
programmes take place. The Youth
Activities Section is headed by Dr.
Moshe Rishpon.
Weizmann international
REHOVOT was never the most
likely spot for a thriving research in-
stitution, least of all at first glance.
Indeed, when the Daniel Sieff
Research Institute was founded in
1934, it was little more than a sand-
bound backwater of a far-flung
Middle Eastern province rules by
Britain (under the terms of a
League of Nations mandate).
So remote was its location and so
small its population that some saw
and proclaimed madness in Dr.
Weizmann's vision of Rehovot as the
site of a cultivated and manicured
centre for scientific work.
In time, however, the infant Weiz-
mann Institute of Science developed
effective remedies for geographic
isolation. First-rate science, its
founders recognized, is not a func-
tion of locality, but rather of the
minds employed in its pursuit. En-
sure continuing contact with others
engaged in these endeavours, par-
ticipate in the free flow of scientific
and personal views within the world
scientific community, and the Insti-
tute need not look on from a dis-
tance. It may freely enter the global
community.
Following a policy based on Dr.
Weizmann's own insight and under-
standing, and despite chronic
budgetary difficulties, the Institute
he established has always found the
means to send researchers to inter-
national conferences, to hold sym-
posia, to accommodate foreign sci-
entists eager to spend sabbatical
years in Rehovot and to enrol
foreign students in its Feinberg
Graduate School.
As Weizmann himself noted in
1934 when the Sieff Institute was
inaugurated: "Jews are guests in
every place, hosts nowhere. To be
wanted guests they must also be
congenial hosts!"
One result of such efforts has been
the repeated return to Rehovot of
conference participants from
abroad.
Is it the level of science that pro-
vides the major daraction? True, the
Institute enjoys the reputation of
being a top-ranking centre, but sure-
ly others can compete? Or is it the
country itself? But, again, there are
other countries more beautiful,
more prosperous and of greater di-
versity than Israel.
Weizmann Institute biochemist
Dr. Pnina Elson thinks. it may be a
combination of both which accounts
for this "repeat business." And she
should know. Dr. Elson was among
the organizers of the Institute's first
international scientific meeting
which, in 1956, had as its focus the
_then up-and-coming field of macro-
molecular chemistry. Twenty-seven
years later, Dr. Elson was to become
involved in the organization of the
1983 Edmond de Rothschild Ribo-
some School — in some ways a linear
descendant of that initial and gala
1956 event.
The first symposium was a
coming-of-age for the fledgling Insti-
tute, or perhaps even more so a
"coming out" party. "You must
realize," recalls Dr. Elson, "that the
Weizmann Institute, which had
grown out of the Daniel Sieff Insti-
tute, was only seven years old in
1956, and the country had just
turned eight. The very concept of
international scientific meetings pre-
dated both by only the slightest mar-
gin. And we suddenly found
ourselves faced with organizing one
here, from the ground up."
"Our bid to host the macro-
molecular chemistry congress suc-
ceeded due to the efforts and reputa-
tion of Prof. Aharon Katzir-
Katchalsky and his group," relates
Dr. Elson. "When the field achieved
a sudden vogue, many leading scien-
tists in related areas switched over,
but Prof. Katzir-Katchalsky and his
students had already entered it from
the ground floor."
As soon as the bid was accepted,
the organizers realized they had a
problem. The Institute's chief execu-
tive, 'Meyer W. Weisgal, was
approached with a grave complaint.
"There's nowhere to conduct the
symposium," he was told. "Let me
worry about that," Weisgal allegedly
replied. "You organize the sympo-
sium, and I'll find a place for it."
The result was the Institute's Wix
Auditorium, which was then de-
signed and built and, under Dr.
Elson's anxious prodding, was com-
pleted just in time for the congress.
The tourist industry in 1956 .was
also underdeveloped, and few of
today's amenities and facilities were
available. Dr. Elson recalls what this
meant in practical terms. "Egged
drivers, for instance, were simply
unused to tourists. So, before the
participants were shuttled to and
from their always distant hotels, or
before a touring session, I used to
board the bus myself and carry out a
personal inspection to see that it was
clean."
With similar diligence the organiz-
ers scoured the country itself, locat-
ing cafés that had acceptable toilets
and adequate.seating arrangements,
making sure at what time of day a
given site should be visited to ensure
the greatest measure of beauty and
comfort, and so forth.
The questions of whom to invite
also proved complicated. It wasn't
difficult for the Institute scientists to
decide which overseas colleagues to
invite, but the government made it
known that, this being Israel's first
international scientific event, non-
scientific notables must also be
asked to attend the opening cere-
mony.
This problem was beyond the
capabilities of the . scientist-
organizers; finally it was solved by
the chief of protocol of the Prime
Minister's Office, who duly provided
a list of diplomats, functionaries and
other VIPs.
Soine of the important guests,
among them Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion, were scheduled to par-
ticipate in the opening ceremony.
Between its end and the beginning of
the first scientific lecture they and
their chairs were to he moved off the
stage and down into the audience.
How was this to be accomplished
gracefully?
"How?! demanded Meyer Weis-
gal at the dress rehearsal. "Well,"
someone answered, "the mainte-
nance staff will come on the stage
and pick the chairs up and....
"What!" shouted. Weisgal, "I'll see
you dead first!" (His way of saying,
"sorry, but it really won't do.")
As a result, some of the Institute's
leading scientists and their most
promising students filed on stage,
helped the honoured guests out of
their chairs and, chairs in hand,
escorted them to their places below.
The elapsed years have not left
Dr. Elson complacent, whatever the
monumental achievements of Israeli
tourism. A conference, it has been
said, reflects its organizers. So, when
a trip to Jerusalem was planned for
the participants in the 1983 Ribo-
some School, Dr. Elson, in conjunc-
tion with the Institute's conference
specialists, consulted calendars to
learn at which_ precise moment the
sun would set over Jerusalem on that
particular day. "We arranged for the
bus to reach the Mount of Olives at
exactly that moment.- People were
stunned by what they saw," she
declares.
"For us," wrote one participant.
"it was the most exciting conference
we -ever attended." And someone
else wrote: "What will remain in my
memory is not-the good science. but
a country whose history is part of the
imagination of even Western barba-
S. T.
rians such as myself."