Israel Institute for Advanced Studies

History

The Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem was founded in 1975 by Israeli mathematician Aryeh Dvoretzky, winner of the Israel Prize for Mathematics. Visits to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey inspired Prof. Dvoretzky to establish an IAS in Jerusalem in 1975. In March, 1976 Dvoretzky wrote:

In 1982, Yuval Ne'eman, Professor of Physics and Minister of Science, established the first School in Theoretical Physics at the Jerusalem IAS. Prof. Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate in Physics, was asked to become the director of the School, a post he held for twelve years. Four additional Schools were established, based on the same model, in the following fields: Economics, Life Sciences, Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion, and Mathematics. Each School is headed by a preeminent scholar in his or her field.

Directors

• Aryeh Dvoretzky (1975–1985)
• Menahem Yaari (1986-1989, 1990-1992)
• Hanoch Gutfreund (1989-1990)
• David Dean Shulman (1992–1998)
• Alexander Levitzki (1998–2001)
• Benjamin Z. Kedar (2001–2005)
• Eliezer Rabinovici (2005–2012)
• Michal Linial (2012–2018)
• Yitzhak Hen (2018–present)

Advanced schools

The Institute annually hosts five schools under the auspices of the Victor Rothschild Memorial Symposia. Each lasts seven to twelve days, and is headed by an internationally preeminent scholar, working alongside an Israeli co-director. Attendees include senior scholars, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers. The Institute subsidizes participants in the form of travel grants, tuition or hotel expenses. The Israeli coordinator allocates scholarships to candidates and assumes responsibility for technical arrangements. Scholars have come to the institute from Western and Eastern Europe, South and North America, East Asia, and North Africa.

The IIAS also hosts conferences and lecture series, sometimes associated with schools, such as the Ada Lovelace Bicentenary Lectures on Computability during 2015–16.

Current directors of the advanced schools are as follows:

• School in Theoretical physics: David Gross
• School in Economics Theory: Eric Maskin
• Midrasha Mathematicae: Peter Sarnak
• School in Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion: Haym Soloveitchik
• School in Life Sciences: Roger D. Kornberg

References

References

1. "HUJI Media Relations announcement". [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].
2. "Aryeh Dvoretzky biography".
3. [https://www.academy.ac.il/SystemFiles/19731.pdf Prof. Menahem E. Yaari's resume]
4. (25 December 2012). "Institute for Advanced Studies appoints new director, Prof. Michal Linial". [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].
5. (20 December 2015 – 31 January 2016). "Ada Lovelace Bicentenary Lectures on Computability". FindingAda.com.