Awards & Prizes
Major awards and honors garnered by researchers in the Faculty of Exact Sciences include:
The Rothschild Prize is a prestigious award that, since 1959, has been conferred by Yad Hanadiv. Prizes are awarded biannually or quadrennially, depending on the field. The prize is given in recognition of outstanding and original research in the following spheres: engineering, agriculture, social sciences, life sciences, Jewish studies, chemistry, physics, humanities and mathematics. The Rothschild Prize council numbers eight members and is composed of representatives of the Israeli government, the Rothschild family, Israeli academic institutions and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Prize nominees may be recommended by Israeli university presidents, rectors, faculty deans and heads of relevant departments; members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; and past Rothschild Prize laureates in their respective academic fields.
The Wolf Prize is an award that has been granted in Israel since 1978 to distinguished scientists and artists from all over the world, in five fields: four from the scientific sphere (agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, physics and medicine), and one from the artistic sphere (music, architecture, painting and sculpture), on the basis of a regular rotation. The prize honors its recipients for their "achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples [...] irrespective of nationality, race, color, religion, sex or political views." A sum of $100,000 is awarded in each specific field, and prize laureates are selected by an international professional panel that is appointed on a yearly basis.
The Emet Prize is awarded each year for outstanding academic or professional achievement that both exerts a far-reaching impact on the winner's field of activity and constitutes a major contribution to Israeli culture and society. The $1,000,000 prize is funded by the A.M.N. Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Art and Culture in Israel, under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Israel, and is awarded in five fields: culture and art, exact sciences, life sciences, humanities and social sciences. The prize is conferred on the basis of an annual rotation of subtopics, and is administered by a panel composed of representatives of the A.M.N. Foundation and of the Prime Minister.
The Israel Prize is the most important and prestigious distinction awarded in the State of Israel. Each year, prize nominees in a broad array of categories representing Israeli endeavor on the practical and creative planes are recommended by the relevant judging panels to the Minister of Education. In order to encompass all possible spheres, it was decided to establish an annual "rotation" of subtopics within the set of permanent main categories in which the prize is bestowed.