The IIAS is proud to extend heartfelt congratulations to Daniel R. Schwartz from the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, on receiving the prestigious Landau Prize for 2024 in the field of Jewish History.

Schwartz's association with the IIAS is longstanding. He began his journey with the IIAS as a fellow, contributing significantly to the "From Hellenistic Judaism to Christian Hellenism" research group in 2001, and later served on the Board of Directors.

Eric Ford, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and a past fellow of IIAS, has developed a new method for detecting low-mass, potentially Earth-like planets around stars beyond our solar system.

Using advanced spectrographs to observe the subtle "wobble"—stellar spectrum variations—of stars caused by orbiting planets, he seeks to identify potential Earth-like planets with the aid of AI processing.

Eyal Benvenisti, a past fellow of IIAS, has inaugurated the Center for Applied Research on Risks to Democracy at Tel Aviv University. This center, which he heads, aims to identify and address the challenges facing contemporary democratic societies. Benvenisti emphasizes the importance of understanding and mitigating risks to democracy, promoting civic education, and fostering public engagement to rebuild trust and community cohesion in Israel and globally.

Former IIAS fellow and member of the "Molecular Electronics" research group, Ferdinand Evers (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), together with María Camarasa-Gómez and Daniel Hernangómez-Pérez, explores a new way to control magnetism at the molecular level in an important new paper just published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: "Spin-Orbit Torque in Single-Molecule Junctions from ab Initio".

Ruth Kanner, past fellow of the IIAS and organizer of the "Interrupting Kafka: Research Laboratory for Scholarship and Artistic Creativity," has brought her innovative directorial vision to Shanghai. Her adaptation of Shen Congwen’s 1934 novel "The Border Town" transforms actors into narrators and engages the audience as active participants.

"The Border Town" tells the story of Cuicui, a young woman living with her grandfather in rural Hunan. As she matures, Cuicui experiences the complexities of first love, torn between two brothers, Nuosong and Tianbao.

Limor Raviv (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics), a former IIAS fellow and member of the "What Allows Human Language?" research group, has co-authored an important study examining the acoustic characteristics of music and speech across different cultures.

In honor of Immanuel Kant’s 300th Anniversary, "The Point Magazine" has invited Sergio Tenenbaum to reflect on Kant’s enduring influence on contemporary thought.

Tenenbaum, professor at UTM and a past fellow of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies and part of the "Practical and Theoretical Rationality: A Comparative Study" research group, offers profound insights into Kant’s understanding of human nature and morality.

Cognitive scientist and past fellow of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, Simon Kirby recently delivered a captivating TED talk delving into an unexpected project that captivated audiences worldwide: the creation of "Cybraphon."

Cybraphon, as Kirby described it, is a musical automaton unlike any other, built with a unique purpose—to mirror humanity's obsession with online popularity.

Renowned Sanskrit scholar H.V. Nagaraja Rao, a past fellow of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies and a member of the "A Lasting Vision: Dandin’s Mirror in the World of Asian Letters" and "Toward a History of Sanskrit Poetry" research groups, was recently honored with the 'Champaka Kalaa Ratna' Lifetime Achievement Award by the Champaka Educational and Cultural Trust.

In his recent paper, "Restricted nominalism about number and its problems," Stewart Shapiro (Ohio State University), a past fellow of the IIAS and member of the “Computability: Historical, Logical, and Philosophical Foundations” research group, , along with colleagues Eric Snyder and Richard Samuels, delves into a critical analysis of Thomas Hofweber's thesis of "internalism" concerning discourse on natural numbers.

Professor Menahem Kister, a former fellow of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, has recently released his latest book, "Ahor Va Kedem." This groundbreaking work delves into the intricate relationship between Second Temple literature and Rabbinic literature, focusing on the evolution of shared traditions, particularly in biblical interpretation.

Professor Tsevi Mazeh, a former fellow at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies and organizer of the "Big Data and Planets" research group, has been awarded the prestigious Israel Prize in the field of physics research for 2024. This esteemed recognition comes in light of his significant contributions to the discovery of the Milky Way's second-largest known black hole.

Simha Gross, a fellow at IIAS and part of the "Judæo-Persian and Persian Textual Landscapes: Towards an Intellectual History of Medieval Iranian Jewry" research group, just published a significant work titled "Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity" through Cambridge University Press.