The first Czech-Israeli Technology Days

On 25 – 27 November 2008, the above-mentioned event was held for the first time in Israel. This was already the fourth meeting in a series of similar events in 2008 (in May with Japan in Prague; in October with Switzerland in Zurich and Bern; at the beginning of November with Taiwan in Prague, Liberec and Brno). The CzechInvest Agency undertook the organisational and preparatory work again, co-operating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv. The Czech delegation highly appreciated the participation of Special Mission Ambassador Dana Huňátová. The delegation included representatives of innovative Czech organisations working in fields such as explosive detection (G. Blaha), disaster management facilities development (P. Kostka, K. Hambálková), or agent technology for unmanned air vehicle operation (M. Pěchouček).

The programme of the event was split into three days. On the first day (25 November) the Czech delegation went straight to the Weizmann Institute of Science, which is a leading scientific institution and university in the city of Rehovot. Unlike other Israeli universities, it only provides post-graduate education. It employs 2400 scientists and contributes 25% to the Israeli scientific output. The Institute was established in 1934 by Chaim Weizmann (later the first Israeli President) as Daniel Sieff Research Institute but on 2 November 1949 it was renamed to bear Weizmann’s name. Before Weizmann became President, he had worked in the Institute’s laboratories as a scientist focusing on organic chemistry. Currently the Institute has about 2500 students, who can obtain a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in the following areas: mathematics, computer sciences, physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology, and in a number of interdisciplinary areas. Two-thirds of the 250 (or so) research groups are led by visiting professors, for whom the Institute is attractive with its strong research facilities and a generous budget.

The delegation was received by Mr. Mordechai Sheves, Vice President for Technology Transfer. In a very informal atmosphere (which prevailed in all subsequent meetings with no exception), the discussion primarily focused on the methods of rapid transfer of research and development outcomes to practice. The annual budget of the Weizmann Institute is about USD 200 million and only one-third of this amount is contributed by the government. To support technology transfer, the Institute established Yeda Ltd. a separate organisation wholly owned by the Institute. Since 1959 when Yeda Ltd. was established, it has registered as many as 1400 patents. Since 1973 it provided 169 patent licences and created 42 spin off companies (half of this number has been established during the last eight years). All the intellectual property rights always belong to Yeda Ltd., which shares the benefits with the Institute and the authors of the patents, who receive 40 percent of the net proceeds.

Afterwards the participants were shown round the campus, which comprises about a hundred buildings in an area of about one and a half square kilometres. They appreciated the multiple disciplines represented on the campus and the specially designed places where the scientists can meet (quiet spots in parks, cafés etc.). All laboratories and other workplaces are of course provided with state-of-the art equipment. The Institute receives contributions from hundreds of donors from all over the world. Within the campus, the visitors also saw the original residence of Chaim Weizmann, the Institute’s founder and the first President of the State of Israel. At the end of the tour the group visited the premises called Clore Garden of Science, designed specifically for school children. Various devices installed in the open air show plainly and clearly the various physical principles (waving of the water surface in a pool, acoustics, optics, a closed ecosystem etc.).

Later the same day, a working lunch with Ambassador M. Žantovský and other officers of the Embassy was held at the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv. Talking about his diplomatic experiences in Israel, Ambassador Žantovský said that he had had many opportunities to admire the advances of Israeli research and the ability to transfer its outcomes to practice. He emphasised that the Israeli system is a good model for us and that many of its features can be directly transferred to Czech conditions. The discussion also concerned the agreement on bilateral co-operation in industrial research and development in both countries’ private sectors.

After the working lunch at the Embassy, the Czech delegation went to Beer-Sheva in the Negev Desert in the southern part of the country, where it was welcomed at the Ben Gurion University. The Ben Gurion University was established in 1969 and its mission is to encourage the development of the Negev Region. This idea was inspired by the vision and work of the first Israeli Premier David Ben-Gurion, who saw the future of the country in the relatively unpopulated south. Initially called the University of Negev, it was renamed to the Ben Gurion University after Ben-Gurion’s death in 1973. With its current 17,400 students, the Ben Gurion University is one of the fastest-growing universities in Israel.

The delegation was received by Mr. Arie Moran, Vice President of the University and Dean for Research and Development, and Ms. Sharona Rittberg, Director of the Sponsored Research Office. The members of the delegation, drawing on their experience from a previous visit, asked many questions about tech transfer organisation. The system is similar to ours, emphasis being laid on biotechnologies, bioinformatics, robotics and hydrology (emphasis on hydrology is not surprising, as the University is surrounded by desert with minimum resources, which need to be managed with utmost care). The University specialists then presented their research programmes – Ira Weinstock (chemistry) and Ran Giladi (robotics). Then followed a visit to the research workplaces, and a discussion.

The following day (26 November) was devoted to a seminar held in the Technion Congress Centre in Haifa. Paul Feigin, Vice President of Technion, opened the seminar and then the main organiser Alex Gordon, Director of the Liaison Office, introduced the institution and described in detail the tech transfer principles. Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, is an Israeli technical university established in 1924 in Haifa. In 2007 The Times issued a list of the 200 best universities in the World, in which Technion ranked 25th. Technion is also very successful in technology transfer, and licences represent a significant source of income for its budget. For example, Technion Institute’s scientists in co-operation with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries developed the drug Azilect to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Members of the delegation gave talks at the seminar and were listened to with great attention. The Liaison Office had analysed the profiles of the Czech participants and notified their respective Technion counterparts accordingly. The audience was therefore always well informed, which was reflected in the quality of the discussion. On the Israeli side, there were about 60 participants listening and discussing, including Honorary Consul in Haifa Mr. Roni Gipsz.

Individual meetings were held in the afternoon, also prepared by the Liaison Office with great success. Each of the Czech participants met a group of their peers and other people from both Technion and other institutions, who had been informed in advance about the Czech participant’s profile. Again, interest focused mainly on our applied research with direct use in industrial practice (Haasz, Pěchouček, Rypáček, Blaha, Kostka, Sobota).

In the evening, CzechInvest and the Embassy held a formal meeting in the meeting room of Hotel Dan Panorama, which was attended, among others, by several people from Technion, who were of Czech or Slovak origin. Deputy Mayor of Haifa proposed a formal toast.

The third (last) day the delegation went to Jerusalem and had a short sightseeing tour of the historic centre of the city. Then the delegation was welcomed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Hebrew University, established in 1918, is the oldest and largest university in the country. It includes important scientific centres and is among Newsweek’s 100 best and most recognised universities. In 2004, three graduates from this University won the Nobel Prize (David Gross for physics, Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko for chemistry). Several Israeli presidents (Efraim Kazir, Yitzhak Navon, Moshe Katsav) as well as premiers (Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert) studied at this University. The delegation was welcomed by Dean Gad Marom and a group of specialists from the technology transfer company, led by Ms. Renée Ben-Israel.

Among the visited institutions, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is probably the most advanced in transferring the outcomes of research into practice. It produces 30% of Israeli research (in biotechnologies even 45%) and one-third of all PhD students. It belongs to the 100 best universities of the world, regardless of the ranking system used. Six of its scientists have won the Nobel Prize in the period since 2000 alone. Most of the discussion concerned technology transfer. The University has a special tech transfer organisation, wholly owned by the University. It was established in 1964 and its name is Yissum Technologies (“Yissum” is the Hebrew word for applications). Yissum holds the IP for the inventions made at the University and puts these inventions in commercial use. The market turnover of the products based on Hebrew University’s IP is about a billion dollars (!) annually. Over the period of its existence, Yissum has applied for 5500 patents (some of them also in the Czech Republic), sold 480 licences and created 68 spin off companies. With the University’s net science budget of USD 107 million (data for 2007), it generated an income of USD 51 million (the respective figures for MIT, for example, are USD 61 million with a USD 1.2 billion budget and for Stanford University USD 50 million with a budget of USD 1 billion). This shows that Yissum really knows how to sell science. A letter of intent to conclude an agreement on co-operation between Yissum (R. Ben-Israel) and Masaryk University’s Technology Transfer Centre in Brno was signed on the spot by R. Ben-Israel and J. Slovák, respectively. A case study was presented by Prof. Aharon Agranat, whose inventions in the area of electron holography have led to many commercial applications in optoelectronic equipment.