Umbrella – 40 Years of Strategic Partnership

The 36^th Umbrella Symposium opened at the Technion on May 30, 2023. Its focus was on the subject of “Life Science & Engineering: Data Analytics, Neuroscience & Multiscale Biomedical Engineering.”

These annual symposia are part of a long-time partnership between the Technion and two institutions in Germany: Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University. The partnership promotes scientific collaborations among the three institutions, and each year the location of the symposium rotates among them.

This year’s Umbrella Symposium marks 40 years of this strategic partnership, which was launched in 1983. The event began with opening remarks from Prof. Koby Rubinstein, Executive Vice President for Research at the Technion. “In the 40 years of our collaboration,” Prof. Rubinstein said, “the world has changed, and science with it. But Umbrella remained at the forefront of scientific research. Few collaborations not only last for 40 years, but continue to produce revolutionary breakthrough research. May the next 40 years of our collaboration be as bountiful!”

Prof. Ute Habel, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at RWTH Aachen University said “this strategic partnership is of great importance to us. It is a notable element of our international standing. This partnership broadens our horizons and allows international and multidisciplinary work to tackle the great challenges humanity faces.”

Prof. Frauke Melchior, Member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich added that “this is the third symposium that deals with the connection between engineering and life sciences, a very important connection for both research and application. Without a doubt, this conference is an opportunity to make riveting science and to get better acquainted with the Technion.

After the opening remarks on the first day, Umbrella Awards were conferred upon Dr. Arielle Fischer of the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering (Wearable BioMonitoring: Integrating Motion and Biochemical Sensing), Dr. Roger Molto Pallares of RWTH Aachen University (Manipulating f-element chemistry for healthcare applications) and Dr. Stefan Wiefels of Forschungszentrum Jülich (Variability-Aware Characterization of Memristors for Neuromorphic Applications). These prizes, worth €5,000 each, are given every year to outstanding researchers in the field covered by the symposium that year. The prizes are awarded since 2018, and are dedicated to furthering German-Israeli scientific cooperation. Each winner presented his or her research to the audience.

The symposium took place at the Technion’s Visitors’ Center on May 30 – June 1, 2023.