Weizmann Institute Awarded Six European Research Grants – Days After Devastation by Iranian Missile

The attack on the Weizmann Institute wiped out entire laboratories engaged in lifesaving research. 

By Shula Rosen

Just days after it sustained devastating damage to its labs by an Iranian missile, the Weizmann Institute was awarded six out of Israel’s total 12 grants from the European Research Council (ERC). 

On June 17, the ERC – “the premier funding organization for frontier research,” according to its website – released the names of the 281 researchers who would claim a total of €721 million.

On June 15, Iran’s strikes inflicted catastrophic damage to the Weizmann Institute’s two major campus buildings. One was a new facility for chemistry and materials science labs, set to open this year, and the other was an existing structure dedicated to life and computational sciences.

Writer and speaker Hen Mazzig, a social media influencer, highlighted on X the “stunning achievement” that the Weizmann Institute had achieved amid tragedy and posted, “Incredible news out of the Weizmann Institute, just days after Iranian missiles destroyed parts of its campus.”

He continued, “The European Research Council (ERC AdG) announced its latest grant winners. Israel took home 12. Weizmann alone won 6! To put that in perspective: Oxford University, with a faculty many times the size, won only 7.”

“And here’s the kicker—Weizmann doesn’t even have departments in the social sciences or humanities. Still, it outperformed entire countries.

A stunning achievement,” Mazzig wrote.

The attack on the Weizmann Institute wiped out entire laboratories engaged in lifesaving research.

The laboratory of Prof. Eldad Tzahor, a globally recognized expert in cardiac regeneration and head of the Cellular and Molecular Biology Lab focused on regenerative medicine, was completely destroyed.

Also obliterated was the lab of Dr. Leeat Yankielowicz-Keren, a senior cancer researcher in the Faculty of Biology, whose research team included 12 scientists and was engaged in studying tumor-immune interactions using imaging and tools.

Yankielowicz-Keren told The Jerusalem Post that she was “in mourning” when she learned of the destruction.

She added that expensive medical equipment can be replaced, “but what can’t be are many tumor samples taken and studied over five years from cancer patients, not only in Israel but also in the US, France, Switzerland, and other countries. These cannot be replaced.”