The President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Nili Cohen, and its former President, Prof. Joshua Jortner, joined the official delegation of the Israel Ministry of Science, Technology and Space to the opening of the SESAME particle accelerator in Jordan, on May 16, 2017.  

 

The opening ceremony marked the completion of the construction of SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East), a unique regional collaborative project. SESAME is supported from the Israeli side by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats, Chairperson of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of Israel’s Council for Higher Education, also participated in the delegation.

 

The ceremony was an occasion for representatives of SESAME’s Members and Observers to come together to celebrate the establishment of a competitive regional facility, building regional capacity in science and technology. Scientists from Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Cyprus, the Palestinian Authority and Israel will take part in research at SESAME.

 

SESAME uses electromagnetic radiation emitted by circulating electron beams to study a range of properties of matter. The laboratory’s official opening ushers in a new era of research in fields ranging from medicine and biology through materials science, physics and chemistry to healthcare, the environment, agriculture and archaeology.

 

Within a year, SESAME – one of the top ten particle accelerators in the world and the leading one in the Middle East – will be available for researchers from the region, who will conduct joint projects there.

 

King Abdullah II of Jordan (center) with the heads of the delegates (Photo: private)

 

(From Left): Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats, Prof. Joshua Jortner and Prof. Nili Cohen (Photo: private)