Pasteur-Weizmann Council
Weizmann Institute
Pasteur-Weizmann Scientific Initiatives
1- Targeted funds for each Institute
Part of the annual Pasteur-Weizmann grants (roughly €100,000 per year and per Institute) is turned over to the General Management of each Institute, to be used for priority initiatives.
2- Pasteur-Weizmann Collaborative Research Projects
The Pasteur-Weizmann Council supports research projects that involve at least one Institut Pasteur laboratory and one Weizmann Institute laboratory. Each selected project receives an annual sum of €70,000 during two years, to be shared equally between the laboratories. The projects, which are submitted in response to an annual call for applications, are assessed and classified by two committees of experts (one from each Institute). Based on these committees' opinions, the Chairman of the Pasteur-Weizmann Scientific Council, together with two scientific coordinators, selects two to three new projects every year. Thus far, 43 projects have received financial support from Pasteur-Weizmann.
3- Pasteur-Weizmann Exchanges
Every year, three to four researchers from each Institute spend a week at the partner Institute, at Pasteur-Weizmann's expenses, in order to become better-known (for example, through conferences, lectures and round table meetings) and to visit laboratories that they are likely to interact with. These laboratory visits and meetings with researchers are organised by a local host, who takes in the visitor during his time at the Institute.
4- Pasteur-Weizmann Symposia
Every other year, the Pasteur-Weizmann Council organises a symposium on a specific topic, to be held in turn at Institut Pasteur or the Weizmann Institute. These symposia bring together around thirty researchers, mainly from the two Institutes, to present their research and future plans.
5- Multinational collaborative projects
Since 2001, the Pasteur-Weizmann Council has sought to extend its collaborative research programmes to other European Institutes of Excellence. One research programme on the development of new anticancer molecules derived from retinoic acid has been launched by Institut Pasteur, the Weizmann Institute and the Istituto Mario Negri (Milan, Italy).
6- Doctoral Training
In 2002, an agreement was signed by Institut Pasteur, the Weizmann Institute and the Pasteur-Weizmann Council on the exchange of top-level researchers and students as part of the pre-doctoral (DEA- and thesis-level in the French system) and post-doctoral specialised training provided at the Institut Pasteur Education and Training Department and the Weizmann Institute Feinberg Graduate School.
Grants
Grants for junior researchers
The Institut Pasteur General Management has chosen to dedicate its annual Pasteur-Weizmann grant to supporting junior researchers with Pasteur-Weizmann Grants (end-of-thesis fellowships lasting for 1 to 3 months). These allocations are awarded by the Scientific Assessment Department at Institut Pasteur (contactperson: mailto: claude.parsot@pasteur.fr).
Post-doctoral grants
Ever since 2002, two post-doctoral grants become available every year for young scientists from each partner Institute who have obtained their doctorate less than six years before application.
This program aims at encouraging junior researchers to become involved in the Pasteur-Weizmann collaboration.
History and organisation of Pasteur-Weizmann
A brief history
On 9 December 1974, Robert Parienti, Delegate General to Europe for the Weizmann Institute, met with the French Minister of Health, Mrs Simone Veil. During this meeting, where the isolation of Israeli researchers was discussed, Mrs Veil put forward the idea of a partnership between Institut Pasteur and the Weizmann Institute for the first time. She assured Robert Parienti of her active support if the idea were approved by both Institut Pasteur and the Weizmann Institute. Several weeks later, André Lwoff visited the Weizmann Institute together with Robert Parienti. It was in the plane to Israel that the idea of officially associating Institut Pasteur and the Weizmann Institute in cancer research was born. The fight against cancer, an indisputable initiative, was to be above all sectarian and political criticism.
This idea was greeted with much enthusiasm from the heads of both Institutes: Michael Sela (Weizmann Institute) and Jacques Monod (Institut Pasteur). With a rare kind of courage in the political climate of the times, Mrs Veil, Minister of Health at the time in France, agreed without hesitation to become Honorary Chairman of the Pasteur-Weizmann Council. Since then, she has spared no effort and has given generously of her time, without which Pasteur-Weizmann would no doubt not have made it past the first moments of enthusiasm.
The creation of the "Pasteur-Weizmann Council for Cancer Research was announced on 28 March 1975 at a press conference led by Mrs Simone Veil and Prof Jacques Monod, organized by Léon Zitrone and broadcast live by ORTF.
More than 35 years have elapsed. The Pasteur-Weizmann partnership has continued to expand with a strong framework, thanks to specific financial backing.
Administrative and Organizational Structure
The Pasteur-Weizmann Council is a non-profit association, legally independent of Institut Pasteur and the Weizmann Institute.
Its objective is to raise funds to be distributed equally to the two Institutes in order to encourage the collaboration of researchers from both Institutes in cancer research.
Board of Directors :
The Pasteur-Weizmann Council is headed by a Board of Directors who are appointed at the Annual General Assembly, itself composed of donors and persons known for their administrative, scientific or financial expertise. The Board of Directors is renewed by half every three years. The Board elects its Chairman from amongst its members.
The Board of Directors bases its scientific decisions on the advice of the Scientific Council. The Scientific Council is made up of 9 members: 4 Institut Pasteur researchers and 4 Weizmann Institute researchers, each of whom are appointed by the Board of Directors on recommendation of the Heads of both Institutes, and a Chairman appointed by the Board of Directors. The 8 researchers serve a 6 years term, while the Chairman serves a 3-year term. Half the members of the Council are renewed every 3 ans.
Committees of experts :
The Head of each Institute appoints a committee of experts whose responsibilities include:
- evaluating and classifying Pasteur-Weizmann collaborative research projects that have been submitted in response to a call for applications. The classifications are carried out independently by the two expert committees and are sent to the Chairman of the Scientific Council who, together with the scientific coordinators (see below) selects the final projects.
- drawing up the list of scientists from its Institute who will visit the partner Institute.
- choosing which researchers from the other Institute's list will visit its Institute, and appointing a "mentor" in charge of accompanying the visitor and organizing his/her time at the partner Institute
Scientific Coordinators :
Contact Information
For more information on science-related matters (fellowships, collaborative research programs, researcher exchanges and symposia) :
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