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ADAMS FELLOWSHIPS OF THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS IN ISRAEL, FOR A TOTAL OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS, WILL BE GRANTED THIS YEAR TO 9 OUTSTANDING DOCTORAL STUDENTS OF THE SCIENCES

Miri Krupkin, doctoral student in structural biology of Prof. Ada Yonath at the Weizmann Institute who studies ribosomes, David Tsivion, a doctoral student in nanotechnology who is an F-16 pilot and another 7 exceptional doctoral students of the sciences, will receive Israel’s most esteemed Adams Fellowships in a ceremony to be held at the Israel Academy of Sciences in Jerusalem.

Nine brilliant doctoral students of the sciences from Israel’s research universities will receive Israel’s most prestigious fellowhip this year – Adams Fellowships of the Israel Academy of Sciences. Each doctoral student will receive a stipend of over $100,000 for up to 4 years of doctoral studies, as well as expemption from tuition. The 9 students will be presented with their fellowships on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at the Annual Adams Seminar at the Israel Academy of Sciences.

The Academy reports that the meticulous screening processes of the universities and the Academy’s professional Adams Fellowship Committee, ensure that the winners of the fellowships are at the forefront of the State of Israel’s future cadre of researchers in the fields of the sciences, mathematics, computer science, life sciences and engineering. Evidence of this is that graduates of the fellowship program are currently conducting postdoctoral training in the most prestigious universities around the world, among them: Stanford, Berkeley, Priceton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, etc. The founder of the fellowship fund, Mr. Marcel Adams of Montreal, Canada, established the fund at the Israel Academy of Sciences in 2005. To date, besides this year’s 9 students, another 69 promising Israeli researchers received these renowned fellowships. Mr. Adams, an enthusiastic Zionist, will celebrate his 92nd birthday this year. He began as a penniless holocaust survivor from Romania who fought in the War of Independence, eventually becoming an entrepreneur in Canada. The Academy of Sciences wishes to emphasize that in the coming week, Mr. Adams, who has made a special trip to Israel, will meet with a number of graduates of the program who have returned to academia and high-tech positions in Israel. Adams, who expressed concern about Israeli researchers abroad, places great importance on their return to Israel.

Among those receiving fellowships this year is Miri Krupkin from the Weizmann Institute, doctoral student of Professor Ada Yonath, an Academy Member and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Miri is studying the structure of ribosomes together with Professor Yonath. Miri, 24, considered one of Professor Yonath’s best students, is described by her as “brilliant”. She made Aliya from Russia at the age of two and as a child in elementary school did experiments in a home lab. As a high school student she participated in summer camps for young scientists and in the Hetz Program for Young Scientists at the Weizmann Institute. Miri regularly lectures to high school pupils, hopefully igniting their passion for science and excellence.

Another research student to receive the fellowship is David Tsivion, who is on a direct track for his doctorate at the Weizmann Institute, in the field of nanotechnology. Among his accomplishments: a prestigious publication as first author, in the highly esteemed journal Science. David is an F-16 pilot with the rank of Major, serving over 60 days a year in the Air Force reserves. David, 32, was born in Rehovot and raised in Givat Ada. He found science fascinating from a young age and during his service as an excelling fighter pilot, he remarkably completed his BSc at the Open University with honors, studying at night and on weekends.

Amit Daniely, another new Adams Fellow is a doctoral student at the Hebrew University who has a strong passion for mathematics since childhood. He completed two first degrees, in mathematics and computer science, with high distinction, while working in a renowned software company. He left a promising career in hightech in order to continue on to his doctorate. Amit, a 27-year-old Jerusalemite, published his research in a highly reputed journal of discrete mathematics, showing a meaningful contribution laying the firm mathematical foundation of machine learning.He won a prize for his work and completed his MSc third of a class of 203.

Another new Adams Fellow is Liel Sapir, who is on a direct track to his doctorate in physical chemistry at the Hebrew University. Liel, 28, son of an X-ray technician who immigrated from Iran, whose mother came as a teacher from Argentina, completed his first degree studies on the highly reputed Amirim program. He completed his second degree with a 99 average, rated first of his entire faculty. In the army he served as an intelligence officer and during his studies went on to attain many prizes. Today Liel is studying Osmolytes which are used as protein stabilizers in the food, drug and biochemical industries.

Tslil Ast is another Adams Fellow at the Weizmann Institute who is researching molecular genetics. She already has 8 publications in scientific journals. Tslil’s advisors testify that at the age of 26 she is outstanding in her talent for synthesizing material and developing hypotheses. Tslil also volunteers, teaching at high schools.