Prof. Eliezer Rabinovici, Chairman of the High Energies Committee at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, has been selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as one of five joint recipients of its 2019 Award for Science Diplomacy. Rabinovici and four colleagues have been recognized for their contribution to the founding and development of the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East laboratory (SESAME), a synchrotron-based research facility established in Jordan with the participation of countries in the region, including Israel.

 

The goals of the facility's initiators are to promote scientific activity using synchrotron radiation and to increase cooperation among regional scientists. The facility contributes greatly to mediation and understanding between Israel and its neighbors. "SESAME is an outstanding example of how scientists can collaborate in search of knowledge, even when they come from countries with long-term political tensions," said AAAS CEO Rush Holt. The awardees, Prof. Rabinovici, Sir Christopher Llewellyn Smith of Britain, Zehra Sayers of Turkey, Herwig Schopper of Germany and Jordanian Khaled Toukan, all played key roles in promoting the SESAME Center. They will receive the prize on February 15, 2019, during the 185th AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.