The Department works with committees of friends and supporters of the Weizmann Institute of Science around the globe ─ in close collaboration with the Institute’s scientists, educators, administrators and volunteers ─ to help secure the resources needed to pursue world-changing research and science education.
The symbol of the Weizmann Institute of Science is the many-branched Ficus tree. Like a tree, the Institute began with a single seed planted on a sandy hill in Rehovot, Israel, when the Israel Sieff Family of London founded the Daniel Sieff Research Institute to fulfill the vision of their friend, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, and to memorialize their young son. Dr. Weizmann’s dream was to build a small, tranquil campus to pursue scientific research vital to advancing an agriculture-based society. In 1949, in honor of Weizmann’s 75th birthday, and with the blessing of the Sieff family, the Sieff Institute was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Today, the Weizmann Institute of Science is a world-class research and scientific education powerhouse that is vital to Israel’s knowledge-based economy. Philanthropic support contributes more than one-quarter of the Institute’s budget, and supports major development projects, new buildings, purchases of instruments and supplies, grants for visionary research, specialized centers and institutes, and tuition and stipends for more than 1,200 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Supporters from around the globe are gratefully acknowledged on the Institute’s 280-acre campus and in publications. The Department of Resource Development works to ensure that the Weizmann Institute of Science is responsive, sensitive, and transparent in its stewardship of this vital philanthropic support.