Israel Science Foundation April, 2014

Description of Israel – Size Haifa U. Technion Tel Aviv U. Bar Ilan Weizmann Ben Gurion Hebrew U. 120 miles!

Israel Science Foundation Landmarks 1972A small ($300,000) Basic Research Branch is established within the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities 1987At the request of Israel's Prime Minister Mr. Shimon Peres the Academy submits a master-plan for scientific research. As a result, the Fund expands and is named The Basic Research Fund 1992The fund becomes The Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the major body in Israel supporting scientific research by competitive criteria. 1995The ISF is a fully independent non-profit organization, run by scientists and deriving its authority from the scientific community. 1972A small ($300,000) Basic Research Branch is established within the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities 1987At the request of Israel's Prime Minister Mr. Shimon Peres the Academy submits a master-plan for scientific research. As a result, the Fund expands and is named The Basic Research Fund 1992The fund becomes The Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the major body in Israel supporting scientific research by competitive criteria. 1995The ISF is a fully independent non-profit organization, run by scientists and deriving its authority from the scientific community.

The ISF’s Mission To evaluate, select and support Israeli basic research through competitive grants based on excellence and scientific merit within the wide range of : Exact Sciences and Technology Life Sciences and Medicine Humanities and Social Sciences Currently, the ISF is the primary national body supporting basic research in Israel To evaluate, select and support Israeli basic research through competitive grants based on excellence and scientific merit within the wide range of : Exact Sciences and Technology Life Sciences and Medicine Humanities and Social Sciences Currently, the ISF is the primary national body supporting basic research in Israel

Ministry of Finance Israel Academy of Science Private Foundations PBC (~95%) Others Research Institutions 26 Academic Hospitals 36 Colleges 58 Universities 7+1

Increase in the number of higher education institutions MoE 21 Budgeted 16 non budgeted

Organization Chart Council (10 Members) Academic Board (6 Members) Executive Committee (3 Members) Administration (3 Members) Finance (3 Members) IT (2 Members) Director General Life Science (3 Members) Exact Science & Technology (3 Members) Social Science (2 Members) Humanities (2 Members) Bio- Medical (3 Members) Special Programs (2 Members)

ISF Grant Tracks (Core & Dedicated) *Supports to Exact Sciences Core Tracks (based on core budget, multiannual, excellence-based):  Individual Research Grants *  Basic institutional equipment *  Lab. for new faculty member *  Centers of Excellence *  F.I.R.S.T. (Bikura) Individual Grants *  Research workshops *  Publications support - Humanities Dedicated Tracks (Topic- or population-specific, based on specific allocation):  Physician-Scientist Grant (~32 mNIS 7yrs)  Legacy Heritage Biomedical Science Partnership (~149mNIS, 10 yrs)  PAT Research Grant (~61mNIS, 7yrs) *  ISF - JDRF Joint Program in Type I Diabetes Research (~13mNIS, Ended 2013)  ISF - Broad Joint Program for Collaborative Projects (2mNIS/yr, 5 yrs)  ISF - Broad Joint Program Post-Doc applications  ISF-NSFC Joint Program (~125 mNIS, 7 yrs) *  ISF-UGC Joint Program (~89mNIS, 7 yrs) *  Post Doctorial fellowship in Social Sciences  I-CORE (702mNIS, 9 years, 16 centers of excellence, all fields ) *

Evaluation Criteria – Specific Reviewers are guided to relate to the following: Originality, creativity and innovation Project importance and implications Adequacy of methods Suitability of investigator's scientific background to the project Reviewers are guided to relate to the following: Originality, creativity and innovation Project importance and implications Adequacy of methods Suitability of investigator's scientific background to the project

Leading basic research foundations (In millions of $) Annual budget ($m)Country Foundation 145 (2013)(Israel)ISF 7,172 (2013)(USA)NSF 2,750 (2012)(Germany)DFG 271 (2012)(Austria)FWF 1,021 (2012)(Swiss)SNSF 4,708 (2013)(France)CNRS 765 (2012)(France)ANR 861 (2013)(Holland)NWO

Multi Year PBC Budgetary plan (Core Budget in mNIS/mEuro)  Doubling the grant size  Increasing the number of grants by 1.5%/yr  New dedicated programs Next 5-year plan (?) x1.5 grant increase Infrastructure mEuromNIS

ISF Budget (mNIS)

ISF Grant Tracks (Core & Dedicated) *Support to Exact Sciences Core Tracks (based on core budget, multiannual, excellence-based ):  Basic institutional equipment *  Lab. for new faculty member *  Centers of Excellence *  F.I.R.S.T. (Bikura) Individual Grants *  Individual Research Grants *  Research workshops *  Publications support - Humanities Dedicated Tracks (Topic- or population-specific, based on specific allocation):  Physician-Scientist Grant  Legacy Heritage Biomedical Science Partnership  Petroleum Alternatives program*  ISF - JDRF Joint Program in Type I Diabetes Research (Ended 2013)  ISF - Broad Joint Program for Collaborative Projects  ISF - Broad Joint Program Post-Doc applications  ISF-NSFC Joint Program  ISF-UGC Joint Program*  Post Doctorial fellowship in Social Sciences  I-CORE *

International Cooperation JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) The Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard NSFC (National Science Foundation of China) UGC (University Grants Commission) JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) The Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard NSFC (National Science Foundation of China) UGC (University Grants Commission)

ISF in numbers (current) Annual budget: 145 million $ Submissions: 2203 applications Percentage of funding: ~34% Grants: 1671 per year (in different programs); 1220 ongoing, 451 new Average (no salaries for PIs): Exact Sciences & Technology - $60,000 Life Sciences & Medicine - $78,000 Humanities –$31,000 Social Sciences - $35,000 Reviewing process: more than 14,000 expert reviewers mainly abroad Annual budget: 145 million $ Submissions: 2203 applications Percentage of funding: ~34% Grants: 1671 per year (in different programs); 1220 ongoing, 451 new Average (no salaries for PIs): Exact Sciences & Technology - $60,000 Life Sciences & Medicine - $78,000 Humanities –$31,000 Social Sciences - $35,000 Reviewing process: more than 14,000 expert reviewers mainly abroad

ISF ‘s support of high energy physics research ATLAS program: $600,000 per year ( ) Total: $5,400,000 $40,000 per year ( ) Total: $240,000 Centers of excellence ( :12 grants) Total $11,118,000 Hebrew University – 5 grants Weizmann Institute – 5 grants Tel Aviv University - 1 grant Technion – 1 grant Individual research grants ( :79 grants): $10,582,000 Tel Aviv University 30 grants Weizmann Institute 20 grants Technion 18 grants Hebrew University 5 grants Ben Gurion University 4 grants Haifa University 1 grant Nuclear Research Center 1 grant Total support ( ):$27,340,000

High Energy Physics: Individual Research Grants Experimental Research – 36 grants budget $5,320,000 Theoretical Research – 43 grants budget $5,260,000