Inversment in Research

This year's CWTS Leiden Ranking put the Weizmann Institute at number 10 -- and number one outside of the US -- for impact. What is impact? In dry terms, it is publications in excellent journals and citations, weighted for institute size and evaluated by subject. This prestigious ranking favors the Weizmann Institute, because it compares institutes and universities solely on the basis of published research. So you can measure impact and give it a rank. But that number is, ultimately a proxy for something a bit more abstract: We really think of it as the part our scientists play in advancing…

A few days ago, the heads of several Israeli academic institutes, including Weizmann Institute of Science President Prof. Daniel Zajfman, met with Israel’s president, Reuben Rivlin to discuss the possible effects of an academic boycott. Afterward, Prof. Zajfman was interviewed on the evening magazine program London and Kirschenbaum. For Hebrew speakers, here is the interview:   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWdbQITj28&feature=youtu.be[/embed] For those who do not understand Hebrew, here are the main points: It is dangerous to mix politics with scientific research. That is a…