Adams Winners

The fellowship, amounting to $3,000, supports the career development of outstanding doctoral students through international travel, networking opportunities, and more. According to the Academy’s statement, “The fellowship recipients are the cutting edge of Israel’s future researchers in the fields of natural sciences, life sciences, engineering, mathematics, data science, and computer science.”

The fellowship award ceremony took place on Sunday, September 29, 2024, as part of the annual Adams Seminar, with the participation of a family representative, Mr. Sylvan Adams, and former Academy President, Prof. Nili Cohen.

In the photo from the left: Head of the Adams Fellowships Program Ms. Batsheva Shor, Prof. Moshe Oren, Academy Member and chairperson of the program’s Steering and Approval Committee, Former Academy President Prof. Nili Cohen, Former Academy President Prof. Ruth Arnon and Mr. Sylvan Adams, with the Adams Fellows of 2024-2025. Photo: Michal Fattal, Courtesy of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

 

 

The Technion recipients are:

Jonathan Somer from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Somer completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Tel Aviv University and a bachelor’s degree in medicine at the Technion, both summa cum laude. He is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Shie Mannor from the Technion and co-supervised by Prof. Uri Alon from the Department of Molecular Biology at the Weizmann Institute. Somer is enrolled in the MD/PhD program, which trains physician-scientists at the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and has published seven academic articles so far. His research focuses on developing computational tools for cancer research and treatment using machine learning and principles from physics and control theory.

Evgenii Zheltonozhskii from the Faculty of Physics. Zheltonozhskii was born in Russia and immigrated to Israel at the age of 14 as part of the Na’aleh program. After his military service, he was accepted into the Technion Excellence Program, completed a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude (in computer science and physics-mathematics), and continued to a master’s degree in computer science, which he also completed summa cum laude under the supervision of Prof. Alex Bronstein and Prof. Avi Mendelson. Currently, he is working on the theory of material phases, primarily in the context of topological quantum computing, aiming to improve the performance of “traditional” quantum computing.

Ron Ruimy from the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Ruimy completed a dual bachelor’s degree in physics and electrical and computer Engineering at the Technion, during which he began working in Prof. Ido Kaminer’s lab. Even during his undergraduate studies, which he completed summa cum laude, he was a lead author on a paper published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters. In his direct-track PhD, he focuses on electrons, electron microscopy, and possibilities for creating new types of quantum technologies.

Majd Machour from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. Machour completed a dual bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and medicine at the Technion summa cum laude after which he was accepted into the MD/PhD program and began his research in Prof. Shulamit Levenberg’s lab at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. His doctoral research involves 3D bioprinting of multi-layered tissues containing blood vessels, and developing new printing methods and materials that can serve as bio-inks for printing thick and mechanically stable tissues intended for implantation. During his PhD, Majd co-authored nine scientific papers and three patents and won the 2023 Rappaport Award for Outstanding Doctoral Students.

Michael Birk from the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program. Birk completed a dual bachelor’s degree in physics and electrical and computer engineering as part of the “Psagot” military-academic program and is currently a PhD student under the joint supervision of Prof. Ido Kaminer (AdQuanta) from the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Prof. Oren Cohen from the Faculty of Physics. His doctoral research focuses on the theory and application of quantum optics. According to Prof. Kaminer, “Michael’s contributions were crucial to our publications in Nature Physics and Nature Photonics last year, where he was one of the lead authors. Together, these two papers laid the foundation for a new research field—quantum optics of strong fields—which has already begun to engage researchers worldwide. In a third paper, published in the Journal of Optics, Michael led the Technion’s contribution in an international collaboration, demonstrating impressive leadership and teamwork skills.”

The Adams Fellowship Program, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, is a joint initiative of the Academy and Mr. Marcel Adams from Canada. Each year, the Adams Fellowships are awarded to around eight young researchers starting from the second year of their PhD studies, for a period of up to four consecutive academic years. The fellowship amount is currently 100,000 NIS per year. In addition, the Adams Fellowship Program allocates up to $3,000 annually to each fellow for active participation in scientific conferences and workshops abroad, scientific collaborations, or travel to interview for postdoctoral positions overseas. Participation in the fellowship program greatly contributes to the professional advancement of the fellows. Adams Fellows have the opportunity to form connections with each other and build a young scientists’ community through meetings at the Academy for students from all cohorts.

The founder of the fellowship program, the late Mr. Marcel Adams (1920–2020), was a passionate Zionist. He was born in Romania and, during World War II, was imprisoned in a labor camp established by the Nazis. He managed to escape, immigrated to Israel, and even fought in the War of Independence. In 1951, he emigrated to Canada, and seven years later, founded a real estate company, which grew and expanded over the years. Mr. Adams established the fellowship program as a way to give back to the country where he found refuge. He passed away in the summer of 2020 at the age of 100.