Weizmann Institute collaborates to establish research center in Berlin

The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science in Berlin, Germany, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, say they will establish a new institution dedicated to fundamental, curiosity-driven research and scholarly collaboration across geographic and disciplinary boundaries.

The Advanced Research Consortium (ARC) will bring together scholars from around the world for periods ranging from a week to one year, giving them the time, space and resources to work collaboratively on fundamental questions across the natural, exact and social sciences as well as the humanities.

ARC will also establish a postdoctoral fellowship program for early-career scholars who will conduct research at two of the three founding institutions. The program will integrate the fellows into international research networks that advance their careers and strengthen the flow of talent and ideas across borders.

“Collaboration across intellectual and geographic boundaries is essential if we are to make substantial progress on so many important and complex questions,” Prof. Alon Chen, president of the Weizmann Institute of Science, says in a statement.

David Nirenberg, director of the Institute for Advanced Study, adds that “when geopolitical pressures can fragment the global scientific community and the value of fundamental research is increasingly questioned, ARC will affirm the importance of open, independent inquiry across borders.”