Bar-Ilan University’s Adelson Institute: Propelling Israel’s Global Scientific Leadership

Israeli academia has once again delivered a moment that has the power to reshape the global scientific landscape. With this week’s launch of the Adelson Institute for Smart Materials at Bar-Ilan University, Israel is staking its claim as a world leader in one of the most promising and impactful scientific frontiers of our time.

The Adelson Family Foundation’s transformative gift to Bar-Ilan, announced on May 7th, is far more than a philanthropic milestone. It’s an investment in humanity’s shared future — a future in which smart materials will drive the next generation of innovation across medicine, energy, sustainability, and technology.

Smart materials are substances that adapt and respond dynamically to their environments. They can sense, analyze, and react to stimuli like temperature, pressure, and light. Imagine a world where cancer is treated not with broad-spectrum chemotherapy, but with nano-robots that target diseased cells while sparing the healthy ones. Imagine medical sensors that constantly monitor your body for early signs of illness — and deliver treatment before you even feel sick. This isn’t science fiction. It’s the realm of smart materials, and it’s happening now. At Bar-Ilan, we’re making sure it happens faster, smarter, and for the benefit of all.

What makes the Adelson Institute unique is not only its scientific mission, but its vision. For the first time in Israel — and with few parallels around the world — a single research institute will unite experts across chemistry, engineering, AI, medicine, and life sciences to co-develop smart materials and transition them rapidly from lab to market. This is interdisciplinary collaboration at its boldest and best.

Equally important is Bar-Ilan’s dual identity as both a research powerhouse and a hub of practical innovation. The university excels not only in theoretical discovery but in application — taking ideas and turning them into scalable, real-world solutions. That’s precisely why the Adelson Institute belongs here, on our campus, embedded in the dynamic fabric of Israeli ingenuity.

This institute will maintain and expand Israel’s status as a force for scientific advancement — particularly in energy and health care, where innovation has the power to transform lives on a global scale. It’s a vision that aligns perfectly with Bar-Ilan’s values: academic excellence, social impact, and a steadfast commitment to strengthening Israel’s future through scientific leadership.

Under the leadership of Prof. Arie Zaban, Bar-Ilan’s president and a pioneering chemist in his own right, the institute is poised to build stronger ties between academia and industry and to bridge the gap between research and real-world solutions.

This moment is also a celebration of partnership. The Adelson Family Foundation’s generosity empowers not only Bar-Ilan’s researchers and students but also our broader global network — including our American friends and supporters who are deeply invested in Israel’s continued role as a leader in science and innovation.

The Adelson Family Foundation’s gift also means that the relationship between Bar-Ilan and Dr. Miriam Adelson, co-founder of the foundation along with her late husband Sheldon Adelson (z”l), has come full circle. In 2019, Bar-Ilan recognized Dr. Adelson with an honorary doctorate for her contributions to medicine.

Dr. Adelson developed a methadone program for teen ‎addicts. When Bar-Ilan awarded her the honorary doctorate, she said she chose medicine as her career “in order to liberate people from the bondage of sickness and injury. In treating the disease of drug addiction over the last three decades, I have seen how this liberation radiates out upon society as a whole: it spares addicts’ relatives untold distress. And it spares the law enforcement, courts, welfare, and health systems needless expense and exertion.”

In the ensuing years, Dr. Adelson and Bar-Ilan deepened their relationship. Now, with the foundation’s gift to our institution, Dr. Adelson has in my opinion once again affirmed that science can serve both Israel and all of humanity.

The future of medicine, technology, and sustainable living are all being written in the labs and minds of today’s researchers. Thanks to the nascent Adelson Institute at Bar-Ilan, that future is closer than ever.

Let’s build it together.