Keeping the Nobel breakthroughs coming
Brain drain has been the bane of Israeli academia for years now: young Israeli scientists trained at the country’s best universities get a high quality, state-subsidized education for just a few thousand dollars a year.
They go on to become prize post-doctoral researchers at institutions such as MIT, Harvard and Cal Tech. But when the time rolls around for them to start their own labs, few opportunities await them back in Israel’s seven universities.
Lured by better salaries, multimillion-dollar lab equipment and prestige, many of these young scientists stay in the United States, fulfilling their dreams but with their hearts still in Israel. After starting a career abroad, it’s not so easy to return, especially since in Israel it can take more than 10 years to get tenure, and baby-boomers dominate the research scene.
A new research initiative funded by the government called Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE) aims to breathe new life into Israel academia to stem the brain drain and keep creating Nobel-level breakthroughs in renewable energy, cancer research, physics and chemistry. I-CORE will help young Israeli scientists cooperate across universities and build labs before the old generation goes emeritus.
They all seemed so good.