Previous Fora / 2011
ARNON, Ruth
Wolf Prize Laureate, President, Israel Academy of Sciences
Prof. Ruth Arnon, Formerly Vice-President of the Weizmann Institute of Science (1988-1997), Prof. Arnon is a noted immunologist. Prof. Arnon joined the Institute in 1960. Prior to her appointment as Vice-President, she served as Head of the Department of Chemical Immunology, and as Dean of the Faculty of Biology. From 1985 to 1994, she was the Director of the Institute's MacArthur Center for Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases. Prof. Arnon has made significant contributions to the fields of vaccine development, cancer research and to the study of parasitic diseases. Along with Prof. Michael Sela, she developed Copaxone® a drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is presently marketed in the USA, Canada the EU, Australia and many other countries worldwide.
Prof. Arnon is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences, and was the Chairperson of its Sciences division from 1995-2001. On the world scene, she is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). She has served as President of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS), and as Secretary-General of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), and is presently a member of the European Union Research Advisory Board (EURAB) and served as the Senior Vice-President of the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia (AASA and she also served as the President of the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia (AASA). Her awards include the Robert Koch Prize in Medical Sciences, Spain's Jiminez Diaz Memorial Prize, France's Legion of Honor, the Hadassah World Organization's Women of Distinction Award, the Wolf Prize for Medicine, the Rothschild Prize for Biology and the Israel Prize, Honorary Doctorate Tel-Hai University; Honorary Doctorate – Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Honorary Doctorate – Tel-Aviv University, The AESKU Prize for Life Contribution to Autoimmunity by the 6th International Congress on Autoimmunity, Member of the American Philosophical Society; President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Oct 2010).
ABSTRACT
09:00-11:00 18 NOVEMBER
PLENARY SESSION IV. “THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF SCIENCE: POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND DRIVERS” (Roundtable)
Both worldwide, and in the state of Israel in particular, there is an increasing request, and even demand, that science become more "relevant" to the needs of the state and society at large. This is implemented by the availability of specific relevant earmarked grants and sometimes by government intervention. The role of the academies is to be a leader and a driver in maintaining academic freedom, and enabling the performance of basic research.
In 2009 the national expenditure on civilian R&D in Israel was 4.5% of the GDP, higher than in all developed industrialized countries that are members of the OECD, but most of the funding for R&D originates from the industry.
A comparison between the average government investment in R&D in Israel and other countries belonging to the OECD shows that while in these countries it reaches 29% of the national expenditure, in Israel it is only 16%. Furthermore, the share of the expenditure on basic research has gone down due to the cuts in the budget of higher education in the last ten years. The role of the Israel Academy along with the universities is on the one hand to be responsive to the needs of the country, but on the other to argue for the increase of government share in investment in R&D.
The Science Forum is a place of gathering forces and sharing experiences. Following are some examples of most recent developments in Israel promoted by the Academy:
a) A major increase in the budget of the Israel Science Foundation (ISF): about doubling in five years was approved by the government.
b) Establishment of a new division for clinical and translational medical research in the ISF.
c) Creating a "pool" of budgets (TELEM) universities and government agencies for supporting infrastructure.
d) Creating a new unit at the Academy (YAHALOM) for science evaluation and counsel.
e) Increase of international cooperation with the EU, the USA as well as selected individual academies.