Molecular biologist Martin Hetzer will take over the position of President of ISTA in 2023. The Austrian native has spent almost 20 years conducting research in the USA and currently holds the position of Senior Vice President at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He will succeed Tom Henzinger, who acted as the Institute’s first President since 2009. Martin Hetzer’s research focuses on fundamental aspects of organismal aging with special emphasis on the central nervous system. His laboratory has made important contributions to the field of cancer research and cell differentiation.

“Science and Technology are essential in helping society meet the challenges and opportunities of our time. I will work with the Institute’s scientists, management and all its stakeholders on securing ISTA’s bright future and further developing its global impact,” so Hetzer.

Martin Hetzer will take over the presidency of ISTA at a time when the Institute is on a steady  growth path. In Fall 2021, it secured 3.3 billion Euro for further expansion until 2036. This funding agreement was approved by the Austrian Ministries for Science and for Finance and the State of Lower Austria, who emphasized the outstanding international research achievements of the Institute. The previous plan until 2026 foresaw 90 research groups. However, the comparisons with other top international institutions showed that a critical size of about 150 groups is necessary for global visibility and sustainable excellence in the most important, interrelated, and constantly evolving scientific fields.

Almost in coincidence with these good news, a new logo gives a more fresh and modern look to the Institute, which will now be referred to by the new abbreviation “ISTA” instead of IST Austria.

Links:

Press release “Martin Hetzer appointed new president”

Press release “Long-term funding until 2036”

IST Austria announced three new executives for its management. Professor Gaia Novarino and Professor Bernd Bickel were appointed Vice Presidents for Science Education and for Technology Transfer, respectively. Professor Eva Benková was appointed new Dean of the Graduate School. They will start their positions on September 1, 2021, with the new term of President Thomas Henzinger. The current Executive Vice President, Professor Michael Sixt, will continue to oversee the Scientific Services of IST Austria and serve as the President’s deputy, while Georg Schneider continues to serve as Managing Director.

“I am very proud to present Gaia Novarino and Bernd Bickel for these two newly created positions, in addition to Eva Benková, who will follow Nick Barton as new Dean of the Graduate School. Science Education and Technology Transfer are two of the most important ways in which IST Austria can contribute directly to society and industry,” states Thomas Henzinger.

Since its foundation in 2009, IST Austria has focused on performing world-class research and educating the next generation of scientists in its Graduate School. Led by the new Vice Presidents, the Institute will further strengthen its science education and technology transfer programs.

IST Austria has already launched several successful initiatives in both science education and technology transfer. The TWIST fellowship program for translational research, the ISTcube venture fund, and the technology park IST Park are just a few examples. The Institute has also brought about several successful formats for science outreach to schools and the general public, such as Open Campus and Sommercampus. Furthermore, plans for the new VISTA Science Experience Center are currently underway, and an increasing number of programs for children of all ages and backgrounds, families, school teachers and the public will be offered on campus.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Charles M. Rice, Professor in Virology and Head of the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease at the Rockefeller University. It is the second year in a row that this Prize was awarded to a scientist of the BRIDGE network.

Charles M. Rice studies disease-causing viruses and how the immune system defends against them. He won the prize jointly with Harvey J. Alter of the National Institutes of Health and Michael Houghton of the University of Alberta for their “discovery of Hepatitis C virus.”

Rice’s research directly contributed to a cure for hepatitis C, an aggressive disease that affects 170 million people worldwide. His lab worked on the virus for three decades and became the first to produce a version of it that could be cultured and studied in the laboratory. This milestone—which involved developing an edited version of the viral genome that replicates and produces viral proteins—led directly to the creation of three new classes of drugs to treat hepatitis C infection. Studies have shown that a combination of these drugs is able to reduce hepatitis C viral load to undetectable levels, effectively curing the disease.

“A chronic infection that has taken many lives, hepatitis C is now curable. Over time, this medical advance will save millions of lives and improve many more, and it is a direct result of Charlie’s research,” says Richard P. Lifton, The Rockefeller University’s president. “His work on viruses, including the signature achievement of growing hepatitis C in the lab, perfectly embodies this university’s mission: science for the benefit of humanity. I am thrilled that he has been selected for the Nobel Prize, the highest honor in science.”

(Source: The Rockefeller University, October 2020)

Scientists and staff across the Crick have set aside their normal work to volunteer expertise and facilities for testing and research to help tackle COVID-19.

Early in the pandemic, a team at the Crick identified that one of the most urgent issues was a lack of healthcare worker testing. Without tests, key health workers with symptoms had to isolate at home without a confirmed diagnosis, and potentially asymptomatic staff were still working in hospitals and treating patients. In less than two weeks, a testing service was set up at the Crick in collaboration with University College London Hospital and their partner Health Services Laboratory.

The testing service is now able to carry out thousands of tests each day and Crick researchers and staff are involved in every stage of the process. All the procedures and processes have been openly shared on the Crick’s website and the team has advised other research institutes and labs on how to set up their own testing services. New and improved testing methods are still being developed, and a group from the Immunobiology Lab has validated a method for a 25-minute coronavirus test that doesn’t require the specialist equipment needed for the conventional method.

Alongside the testing facility, research groups at the Crick are using their expertise to study the virus and its effects. Coronavirus and COVID-19 research at the Crick focuses on five main questions:

• How can we compare and improve testing methods?
• Why are some cases so much worse than others?
• How does the virus interact with our cells?
• How does the virus move through the population?
• How is the virus affecting people who are already ill?

Crick researchers are working with hospitals and clinicians across London to answer these questions by combining clinical trials with fundamental lab research. One study with Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital is examining how our immune system reacts to a coronavirus infection, and has already found two immune signatures of the disease, which could be clues to how the virus operates and why it causes such a severe response in some patients.

It’s not only scientists and researchers who have adapted their work – every team in the Crick is operating very differently during the pandemic. As well as supporting national testing and research efforts, teams at the Crick have been working closely with families and organisations in our local area. The Making Lab normally works with scientists to design new equipment and tools to help them answer research questions. During the pandemic, they have repurposed their laser cutters and begun producing visors for care homes, schools and hospitals near the Crick. They have sent out nearly 2,000 visors so far.

Various teams around the Crick have also been producing new science activity packs for local families, helping with home schooling, and advising on national testing policies. Being able to respond so quickly in so many different areas has been the result of hard work, creativity and flexibility from hundreds of researchers and Crick staff.

(Source: The Francis Crick Institute, July 2020)

The recent, third evaluation of IST Austria covered the period 2016-2019. The review of the Institute was carried out by an international team of scientists headed by Serge Haroche, 2012 Nobel laureate in physics. Their report was delivered to the Institute’s Board of Trustees as well as to the Austrian government and parliament in June 2020.

The review focused on the Institute’s scientific achievements, general development, hiring strategy, research portfolio, graduate school, scientific and administrative support structures, efforts in technology transfer and science education, internal organization, and plans for the future. The overall conclusion was that IST Austria is following a positive trajectory. It states: “The initial vision was the right one and IST Austria is an example to follow for other countries wishing to develop ‘blue sky’ science based on excellence.”

The main findings and recommendations of the report are:

• The panel recognized that the Institute is on track to reach the goals set by the Austrian Government and the state of Lower Austria. The report applauded the Institute’s achievements in such a short time, having been established only ten years ago.
• The panel recommended that the Institute keep growing at its current pace to reach a faculty of 90 PIs by 2026 and 150 PIs by 2036. In order for the Institute to achieve these milestones as well as the goal of becoming an international leader in basic research, the Austrian Government and the state of Lower Austria must remain committed to supporting IST Austria.
• The panel commended Tom Henzinger, President of IST Austria, as well as the management and administration members for leading the Institute through a period of rapid dynamic growth with vision, energy, and conviction.
• The panel recommended intensifying efforts to build a research hotspot in chemistry and pursue efforts to increase the female to male ratio in the faculty, especially in the fields of mathematics, physics, and computer science.

In addition, the report commented on the Graduate School of IST Austria: “To build a strong first rate academic institution the quality of the students is also very important. The committee recognizes the efforts made by IST Austria to recruit high quality students worldwide. Our exchange with the students has shown to us that they are in general very happy to be trained at IST Austria.”

Members of the international evaluation committee:

Professor Serge Haroche (Panel Chair)
Collège de France
Nobel Prize in Physics 2012

Professor John Ball
Heriot-Watt University

Professor Maria Leptin
Director of EMBO

Professor Helmut Schwarz
TU Berlin

Professor Robert Tarjan
Princeton University
Turing Award 1986

Professor Richard Tsien
New York University

Professor Ada Yonath
Weizmann Institute of Science
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009

Download the IST Austria Evaluation Report 2019

An External Peer Review panel, which included Nobel Laureates, researchers renowned in their field, and the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of globally pre-eminent institutions, recently submitted its report to the OIST Board of Governors.

The main findings of the report are:

• The Panel’s analysis highlighted achievements to date and made sound recommendations in support of future success. The panel advocated strongly on OIST’s behalf to the Government of Japan – stressing the critical importance of sustained and stable investment which will allow OIST to reach the scale it requires to secure a long-term position at the highest levels of international science.

• The Panel expressed confidence that the trajectory towards success at OIST was more than clear, and given the significant financial and reputational investment of the Japanese government in OIST to date, it strongly recommended that the government stay the course and support the maturation of this ambitious experiment in research and education.

• The Panel commended the Board of Governors for appointing Peter Gruss, an outstanding scientist, as President and CEO in 2017.

• The Panel strongly endorsed the OIST Strategic Plan 2020-30 and recommended that the government provide the funding that will support the rate of growth for OIST that is proposed. It also strongly supported the high-trust model of funding research as a means to give OIST a competitive advantage in the competitive market for faculty and students.

• The Panel praised the OIST leadership for becoming a founding member of the BRIDGE Network to strengthen excellence in scientific research and education through collaboration and exchange. The Panel also applauded the creation of the OIST Foundation. Beyond its central mission, it will be instrumental in augmenting the international visibility and reputation of OIST in scientific and industry circles.

Members of the Review Panel:

Prof. Dr. Olaf Kübler (Chair)
Professor and President emeritus of ETH Zurich
President of the Council of the Einstein Foundation Berlin.
Prof. David Baltimore
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975
President Emeritus and Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology at California Institute of Technology
Prof. Dr. Peter Chen
Professor of Physical-Organic Chemistry,
and former Vice President Research and Corporate Relations of ETH Zurich
Prof. Dr. Artur Ekert
Professor of Quantum Physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford
Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor and Director of Centre for Quantum Technologies at National University of Singapore
Prof. Dr. Claudia Felser
Director of Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Prof. Dr. Martin Grötschel
President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW)
Prof. Maki Kawai
Director General of the Institute of Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences President of the Chemical Society of Japan
Dr. Robert Perich
Vice President Finance & Controlling at ETH Zürich
Prof. Phil Sharp
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993
Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Prof. Choon Fong Shih
University Professor and President Emeritus at the National University of Singapore
Founding President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Prof. Shirley Tilghman
Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Policy and President Emerita, Princeton

The Weizmann Institute of Science is ranked seventh in Europe – and first in Israel – for the total number of research grants obtained from the European Research Council (ERC), for the years 2007-2019.

With over 10,000 research projects supported in 34 countries, the ERC spends billions of euros supporting scientific research each year. The grants awarded by the ERC are important funding instruments for research projects and their institutes. Due to the competitive nature of the science community, ERC grants can act as indicators of an institute’s scientific excellence.

The ERC is a major supporter of the basic research performed at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The Institute is highly successful in obtaining ERC grants even with the competitive nature around them.

 “Our success in this arena for many years is one of the contributing factors to the outstanding research accomplishments at the Weizmann Institute of Science,” says Institute President Prof. Alon Chen. “Our high success rate in the categories for young researchers is especially encouraging, and it points to a promising future for the Institute.”

(Source: Weizmann Wonder Wander, 22.06.2020)

Over the last three months, OIST scientists, students and staff have proactively used their scientific and creative skills to help limit the spread of COVID-19 in Okinawa and protect the local community.  

With their expertise and OIST’s resources, scientists has been contributing to Okinawan medical and governmental institutions by providing PCR testing, antibody testing, 3D printed face shields and mask sterilization units.

Furthermore, students and staff have communicated openly and clearly with both government officials and the local community about the crisis. This ensured that the residents of Okinawa could make informed decisions. OIST President, Dr. Peter Gruss, contributed a special column to a local newspaper, which showed the results of COVID-19 spread modeling in Okinawa and thus the necessity of the lockdown. Meanwhile, groups of students developed promotional materials for handwashing and social distancing, and the communications team made fun science videos for children stuck at home.

Prof. Keshav Dani, who leads the project to develop UCV sterilization units said, “I realized that it was important to first think of what one could do locally for the Okinawan community. Moreover, being a part of OIST – an interdisciplinary institute with leading scientists in many different fields, I felt we were well placed to respond to the unique challenges created by COVID-19, which seem to require a mix of knowledge in biology, physics, chemistry, engineering and other fields.”

To learn more about the COVID-19 projects at OIST, see: https://www.oist.jp/covid-19/community-projects

2019 marks the 60th anniversary of YEDA Research and Development, the Weizmann Institute of Science’s commercial arm. During these years, the company registered over 2,200 families of patents and around 15,000 individual patents altogether.

YEDA Research and Development was founded in 1959 as the first technology transfer company in Israel and second in the world. Sixty years later, the company has set a world record for the highest profits for a researcher, in comparison with all other academic tech transfer companies around the world.

To celebrate all of the company’s impressive achievements a special event was held at the end of 2019. Institute members, YEDA staff and business partners came together to celebrate in honor of YEDA as well as say goodbye to the departing technology transfer Vice President Mordechai Sheves.

“Bringing a scientific discovery to market is a long process – one that is fraught with complications and crises – and it is not self-evident that you would agree to join us on this journey and trust us to bring results. I thank the Institute leadership for giving us the responsibility of handling the Institute’s intellectual property. This is one of the most valuable economic holdings we have, and it, in many respects, ensures the Institute’s ability to remain on the forefront of science. What vision those founders of YEDA had when, sixty years ago, they decided to found a company for market application in the heart of a basic research institute!” says Gil Granot-Mayer, YEDA’s Chief Executive Officer.

(Source: Weizmann Wonder Wander, 20.05.2020)

Since December 2019, a new leadership team has taken office at the Weizmann Institute of Science, with Neuroscientist Alon Chen following Daniel Zajfman as the 11^th president of the Institute.

Along with the change in presidency, four new vice presidents join Professor Alon Chen in the task of leading the Weizmann Institute of Science:

• Professor Ziv Reich, Vice President
• Professor Alon Harmelin, Vice President for Administration and Finance
• Professor Roee Ozeri, Vice President for Resource Development
• Professor Irit Sagi, Vice President for Technology Transfer

“The Weizmann Institute is a world-leading research institution that generates transformative knowledge and educates the scientists of tomorrow,” said Professor Chen in his speech before the Annual International Board. “Our alumni embark on careers in high-tech and biotech, and in academia, providing the foundations of Israel’s booming economy, just as Chaim Weizmann envisioned. As we reach the milestone of seventy years since the establishment of the Weizmann Institute, I believe it’s safe to say that we have indeed lived up to Chaim Weizmann’s expectations. Perhaps we have even exceeded them.”

President Alon’s full speech text can be found here.

A full description of the new leadership team can be found here.

(Source: Weizmann Wonder Wander, 1.12.2019)