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  • October 1, 2023

RAPID-RNA: New Techniques to Study Time-resolved RNA Refolding with Enhanced NMR Sensitivity

Story by: Prof. Harald Schwalbe (Goethe University Frankfurt) and Prof. Lucio Frydman (Weizmann Institute of Science)

As part of the joint project RAPID-RNA: New techniques to study time-resolved RNA refolding with enhanced NMR sensitivity , the joint Weizmann-Goethe University team focus on making new discoveries to aid in structural and dynamical elucidations of nucleic acids in general, and of RNA strands derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus in particular. To do so the team developed a whole arsenal of powerful new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tools, endowed with outstanding speed and sensitivity. At the crux of these new methods was the recycling of magnetization arising from the aqueous solvent where the biomolecules resided, and the leveraging of the repeated repolarizations arising from exchanges between labile and water protons, to enhance connectivities between the nucleic acids strands, as revealed via the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE).  Numerous students and postdocs participated and were trained as part of these efforts, including Drs. Mihajlo Novakovic, Tassilo Gruen and Jihyun Kim from the Weizmann Institute, and Drs. Klara Mertinkus, Alex Oxenfarth,  and Robin Schnieders from Goethe University.

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Emma Link

Grants Manager

ISRAEL

GIF STAFF

Emma joined the German Israeli Foundation (GIF) team in 2014. She is the Grants Manager and is responsible for the life cycle of our grants, working with grantees from pre-grant to closing.

Prior to joining GIF, Emma worked in resource development for non-profit organizations in Israel.  She was responsible for grant writing, and designed campaigns and events for worthy causes.

Emma completed her studies at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.  She worked in graduate recruitment and human resources before moving to Israel with her family in 2000.

Emma is committed to the goals of GIF and takes pride in the research collaborations and friendships created between scientists in Israel and Germany.

Professor Michael Rosenbluh

Bar-Ilan University 

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Michael Rosenbluh obtained his Ph. D. in physics from MIT in 1978.  His research was in experimental laser spectroscopy, in particular the exploration of the effects of very high magnetic fields on the spectroscopy of atomic He.  After receiving his Ph. D., he continued as a staff member of the MIT Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory.  In 1980 he joined the Physics Faculty of Bar-Ilan University as Senior Lecturer and established a laser laboratory and research group.  He also continued as a part time staff member at MIT, at first at the Magnet Laboratory and then at Lincoln Laboratory until 1988.  He became Full Professor at Bar-Ilan in 1992 and was Chairman of the Physics Department from 2011 to 2017.  While at Bar-Ilan he was instrumental in establishing the Electrical Engineering Faculty and the Department of Optometry, which he chaired for nine years. He was at IBM Almaden Research Lab for a Sabbatical and has spent a number of short Sabbaticals as Visiting Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado and at NIST in Boulder, Colorado.

 

His research has focused on the interaction of light with matter.  He has performed extensive research in building and using lasers with which he has investigated laser spectroscopy in atomic systems, applications to medical systems, optical communications, cryptography, defense systems and quantum sensing. Special emphasis has been placed on precision spectroscopy and applied to Cs and Rb atomic clocks and magnetometers. An experimental program to study scattered light from random systems was started in the laboratory in the late 80’s and has resulted in many advances in this field.  In particular, speckle correlation techniques and image reconstruction from speckle patterns has been an active field in the laboratory.  In 1990, during a Sabbatical year at IBM Almaden Research Lab he performed a squeezed soliton experiment in a single mode fiber at a wavelength of 1.5 to 1.6 mm.  With these experiments he entered the field of ultrafast and quantum optics and broadband sources and has continued experiments at Bar Ilan in this field.

 

Professor Rosenbluh has been collaborating with leading researchers in quantum optics both in Israel, Germany, France, Australia and the USA and a number of other countries.   He has published more than 260 refereed scientific papers in books and journals, holds a number of patents and has given many invited talks at international conferences.  He has directed more than 40 Ph. D. students and over 30 M. Sc. students while at MIT and Bar-Ilan. 

Professor Dan Meyerstein

Ariel University

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Dan Meyerstein, born in 1938 in Jerusalem, Israel, earned his M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem between 1956 and 1961. He then worked at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center from 1961 to 1965, during which he pursued his Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Prof. M. Anbar. After completing his studies, Meyerstein spent a year as a Research Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. He began his long academic career in 1968 at the Chemistry Department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where he served until 2004, including a joint appointment with the Nuclear Research Centre Negev from 1968 to 1983. He later became Professor Emeritus at Ben-Gurion University in 2004 and has held a position at Ariel University since 2012.

Throughout his career, Meyerstein has made significant contributions to the scientific community, serving as President of both the Israel Chemical Society (1988-91) and the Ariel University (1995-2012). He also chaired the Israel Society for Oxygen and Free Radical Research from 1998 to 2000. Meyerstein’s achievements have been recognized by numerous honors, including the Meitner-Humboldt Research Prize in 1997, the Kolthoff Prize in 1998, and election to the Academia Europaea in 2011. His accolades also include the Israel Chemical Society Prize of Excellence in 2017, a special issue of the Journal of Coordination Chemistry in 2018, and a Dr. Honoris Causa from the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2019. In 2024, he will be honored with both a symposium at the ACS Spring Meeting and the Dionysiou Advanced Oxidation Technologies Award.

 

Professor Sarit Kraus

Bar-Ilan University

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Sarit Kraus (Ph.D. Computer Science, Hebrew University, 1989) is a Professor of Computer Science and Dean of the Faculty of Exact Sciences at Bar-Ilan University. Her research is focused on intelligent agents and multi-agent systems integrating machine-learning techniques with optimization, logic and game theory methods. In particular, she studies the development of intelligent agents that can interact proficiently with people and with robots. She has also contributed to the research on machine learning, XAI, agent optimization, decision support systems, robustness,  automated negotiations, autonomous vehicles, homeland security, adversarial patrolling, social networks and nonmonotonic reasoning.

For her work, she received many prestigious awards. She was awarded the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, the IJCAI Research Excellent Award, the ACM SIGART Agents Research Award, the ACM Athena Lecturer, the EMET prize, and was twice the winner of the IFAAMAS influential paper award. She is an ACM, AAAI and EurAI fellow and a recipient of the advanced ERC grant. She also received a special commendation from the city of Los Angeles, together with Prof. Tambe, Prof. Ordonez and their USC students, for the creation of the ARMOR security scheduling system. She has published over 400 papers in leading journals and major conferences, co-authored five books and was IJCAI-2019 program chair and was elected as IJCAI-2027 conference chair.  She is an elected member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Professor Yoram Weiss

Hadassa Medical Organization

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Dr. Yoram Weiss was appointed Director General of Hadassah Medical Organization, following his tenure as Director of Hadassah Medical Center, Ein Kerem (2014 – 2021). He previously held the position of Medical Director of Hadassah Ein Kerem (2013 – 2014), Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology (2009-2014) and Director of the Center for Surgical Critical Care Medicine (2006-2009).

 

Dr. Weiss received his MD degree from the Israel Institute of Technology – Technion, Haifa, Israel in 1990, following which he trained in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Hadassah and the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Dr. Weiss has more than 20-years’ experience treating patients undergoing major surgical operations and patients suffering from complex multi-organ failure in the ICU. He has extensive experience in both basic and clinical research including the design and execution of large-scale clinical trials.

 

In recent years, Dr. Weiss has served on the Board of Directors of several biotech companies. Dr. Weiss twice won the prestigious research grant of the National Science Foundation and the European Critical Care Research Network Basic Science Award from the European Association for Intensive Care Medicine.

Elke-Vera Kotowski

Dr. Elke-Vera Kotowski

Moses Mendelssohn Foundation

GERMANY

GOVERNOR

Dr. Elke-Vera Kotowski studied political science, literature, philosophy and cultural studies in Duisburg and Berlin.

She has been researching and teaching at the University of Potsdam since 1994 and was involved in the establishment of the “Jewish Studies” course at the University of Potsdam.

Her research areas are European-Jewish literary, cultural, and social history with a focus on the history of identity and mentality of German-speaking Jewry in the 19th and 20th century.

A special area of research that Ms. Kotowski has been conducting since 2012, in cooperation with the German Foreign Office and German embassies, among others, is the cultural heritage of Jewish emigrants worldwide.

From 2009-2016, she was the academic coordinator of the Walther Rathenau Graduate School in the network of Berlin and Brandenburg universities.

She has been a member of the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies Berlin Brandenburg since its founding (2011). She has also been chief curator of the Moses Mendelssohn Foundation and executive director of the Moses Mendelssohn Institute since 2020.

She is currently developing a documentation center on the history of the Berlin deportation site “Platform 17” as well as a student living and working campus for the development of new concepts of commemoration and remembrance in the German-Jewish context (www.else-ury-campus.de).

Gila Gamliel

Gila Gamliel

Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.

ISRAEL

CO-CHAIRPERSON

Gila Gamliel is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party, and as Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Gamliel is the first woman to serve as the chairperson of The Israeli Student Union, and served as a member of the World
Economic Forum.

During her first term in the Knesset starting in 2003, she chaired the committee of the Status of Women, and in March 2005 was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

In April 2009, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Gamliel as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, with the portfolio of the Advancement of Young People, Students, and Women.

In 2013, Gamliel was appointed as the Coalition Coordinator in the Finance Committee and was one of the leaders of The Centralization Law.

After the 2015 elections, Gamliel was appointed Minister for Senior Citizens in the new government. Her ministry was then reconstituted as the Ministry for Social Equality in August 2015.

In May 2020, Gamliel was appointed as Minister for Environmental Protection, and led significant programs in dealing with the climate changes.

In 2023 Gamliel served as the Minister of Intelligence, the first female in the position and a participant in the Security Cabinet of the government.

In March 2024, Gamliel was appointed as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Gamliel is married, with two daughters, and lives in Tel Aviv.

Prof. Avi Rivkind

Hadassah Medical Center

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Professor Avraham Rivkind, M.D., F.A.C.S. Professor of Surgery, former Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and Head of the Shock Trauma Unit in the Department of the General Surgery at Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem. He received his Doctorate in Medicine from the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in 1980. Personal physician to the late President of the State of Israel, Mr. Ezer Weizman, as well as advisor to the Surgeon General of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on general surgery, trauma and ethics. Professor Rivkind completed a Fellowship in traumatology and critical care at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services System (MIEMSS), Baltimore, Maryland, and was a visiting Associate Professor in Trauma and Fore-gut surgery at the University of Southern California. He is Chairperson of the Israel Committee on Trauma, and Director of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Program, Jerusalem, Israel.
Professor Rivkind was awarded the Karl Stoll Chair in Surgical Trauma and was recently honored by the State of Israel as a torchbearer for Israel’s 75th Independence Day ceremony. Professor Rivkind is a widely recognized expert in natural disaster management, motor vehicle accidents, and identifying and treating blast injury as a result of shock waves. His research interests include hemorrhagic shock, fluid re-suscitation and all aspects of trauma care; primary interests in fore-gut surgery, gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), esophageal and stomach diseases and cancer.

Sitara Staiger

Germany Liaison and Program Manager

ISRAEL

GIF STAFF

Sitara joined the German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) as Germany Liaison and Program Manager in October 2025.

Prior to joining GIF, Sitara worked with the European Leadership Network (ELNET) in Tel Aviv and Berlin, where she managed communications and supported initiatives promoting Europe-Israel relations. She also gained cross-cultural experience at the Council of Europe in Vienna and at the European Parliament in Brussels.
 
Sitara holds a Master’s degree in Security and Diplomacy from Tel Aviv University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Westminster in London. She is passionate about advancing bilateral scientific cooperation and strengthening the partnership between Israel and Germany.

Dr. Mirit Liran

Scientific Manager

ISRAEL

GIF STAFF

Dr. Mirit Liran is the Scientific Manager of the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF). She holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Tel Aviv University, where she investigated how alcohol addiction influences adaptive myelination in the brain. She also holds a B.Sc. in Life Sciences and Philosophy with a focus on consciousness studies and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology and Neurobiology.
Before joining GIF, Mirit gained experience in both academia and industry, serving as a Scientific Marketing Manager at NVision Imaging Technologies in Germany, a Research Development Manager at Medint Medical Intelligence, and a medical data analyst. She has authored peer-reviewed publications, contributed to successful grant proposals, and is a co-inventor on a patent related to insulin-degrading enzyme antibodies.
Passionate about advancing scientific excellence and binational collaboration, she brings expertise in research, science communication, and strategy to her role at GIF.

Verena Shifferman

ISRAEL

GIF DIRECTOR

Verena Shifferman has served as Director of the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) since February 2025. She brings to this role over two decades of experience in international education, academic diplomacy, and crisis management, with a strong and sustained focus on German-Israeli cooperation.

Prior to joining GIF, Verena Shifferman worked as a Senior Advisor at the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) in Bonn, Germany. From 2021 to 2022, she was the Language and Education Consultant at the Goethe-Institut Boston, where she supported German language programs across New England and advised educational institutions on transatlantic cooperation.

From 2013 to 2021, she headed the DAAD Information Centre in Tel Aviv, establishing and managing the DAAD’s presence in Israel. In this role, she promoted academic exchange and cooperation between Israeli and German universities, advised students and researchers, and organized numerous delegation visits by academic and political leaders.

Earlier in her career, she taught German as a Foreign Language to diplomats and international professionals in Vienna and Tel Aviv and worked in publishing and civil society organizations.

Verena Shifferman holds a Master’s degree in Political Science, Gender Studies, and German Literature from the University of Freiburg. She also studied at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the University of Basel, and the European College of Liberal Arts in Berlin. With professional experience across Germany, Israel, Austria, and the United States, she brings a deeply rooted, cross-cultural perspective to her leadership at GIF.

Prof. Yehuda
Skornick

Tel Aviv University

ISRAEL

GOVERNOR

Born in Israel Board certified surgeon since 1978.

Served in IDF as chief surgeon of The Army Frontline Field Hospital.

Basic Research at the Membrane department of the Weitzman Institute of Science (1978-1980).

Visiting Scientist at the Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Health (NIH) Bethesda Maryland, USA 1980-1982, 1988.

Full Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Served as the head of Surgery Department at the Tel Aviv Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital).

Former President of Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israel Pre-hospital emergency services.

Currently, board member of the friend organization of MDA.

Active in the “Advanced Surgery Group”, Assuta Medical Center, Tel Aviv.

Served as the Chairman of the Committee for the Early Cancer Detection at the Israel Cancer Association.

Served as member in the Research committee of the Israel Cancer Association and at the Research committee of the Israel Ministry of Health.

Member of the American Society of Surgical Oncology.

Member of the Board of Trustees, The Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan.

Board member of the Israel Opera. Board member of the Israel Culture and Art Council and chairman of its Music Section committee.

Publications: More than 150 original articles published in international professional journals and as chapters in books.

Active participation in more than 400 international scientific conferences.

Professor Dr. Eva Unger

Humboldt University of Berlin / Helmholtz Centre Berlin (HZB)

GERMANY

GOVERNOR

Prof. Dr. Eva Unger is a leading researcher in the field of hybrid photovoltaics, currently specializing in the development of scalable solution-based processed for Perovskite PV devices. She did her undergraduate education in Chemistry at the University of Marburg and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Uppsala University.

During her postdoctoral research at Stanford University in 2012-2014, she emerged as an early adopter of Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics. Eva Unger started her independent research group in a dual appointment between Lund University, where she held a tenure track position, and Helmholtz Center Berlin, where she led a young investigator group funded by BMBF.

Since 2022 she is a Professor at Humboldt University Berlin funded by a Helmholtz program supporting excellent female scientists. In 2023 she received the Helmholtz High Impact award together with three other Yound Scientists (Albrecht, Abate & Saliba) and was among the “100 Köpfe der Berliner Wissenschaft” of the Tagesspiegel in 2025.

Professor Monika
Wohlrab-Sahr

University of Leipzig

GERMANY

GOVERNOR

Monika Wohlrab-Sahr was born in 1957. She studied Protestant Theology and Sociology from 1976 to 1985.

She holds a doctorate in sociology from Philipps-University Marburg (1991) and a Habilitation from Free University in Berlin (1998). From 1999-2006. Monika Wohlrab-Sahr has been professor of Sociology of Religion at the University of Leipzig, since 2006 she is professor of Cultural Sociology there. She was a research fellow at UC Berkeley, the European University Institute in Florence, the Centre for Advanced Study at JNU in New Delhi and at the University of Montréal. She has done research on conversion to Islam, Islam in Europe and – over many years – on secularity, at first related to the East German secularization process, and then expanding globally and historically. At present she is heading a big research project on “The Contested Legacy of 1989. Appropriations between Politicization, Popularization and Historical-Political Education”, and she is one of the directors (with Christoph Kleine) of the Centre of Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences on “Multiple Secularities: Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” (funded by the DFG since 2016).

She has been on the Review Board for Social Sciences of the German Research Council (DFG) for 8 years, for 4 years she served as the spokesperson of this board. She also has been the director of the Leibniz-program at the University of Leipzig, and is member of several Scientific Advisory Boards and Editorial Boards.

Susanne Burger

Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space 

GERMANY

GOVERNOR

Susanne Burger is the former Director General for European and International Cooperation in Education and Research (2018–2021) at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (now the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space). In this capacity, she was responsible for advancing Germany’s international partnerships in education and research, with a strong focus on Europe and Israel.

During her career at the Ministry, she held several senior positions, including Head of Directorate “Europe” (2013–2018), Head of Division “Education and Research” at the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union in Brussels (2009–2013), Head of Division “EU Education Programmes and International Cooperation in Education” (2002), and Head of Division “Education Policy Issues” (1998).

Earlier roles include positions at the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) in Brussels and the German Permanent Representation to the EU. She also worked as Personal Assistant to Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Norbert Lammert and as Desk Officer for East Asia at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg.

She studied Law in Nanjing (China) and Tübingen, completing the First State Examination in Law, and holds an M.A. in East Asian Studies.

Dr. Marcus Pleyer

State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space

GERMANY

ACTING CHAIRPERSON

Marcus Pleyer studied Law in Heidelberg and Singapore as the recipient of a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. After graduating, he completed his practical legal training from 1995–1997 at Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court. From 1997–1998, he completed his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree at the University of Edinburgh, UK, as the holder of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service. He then moved to the Law Faculty at TU Dresden, where he worked from 1998–2004 as an academic assistant at the Chair of Public Law. Whilst here, he completed his doctoral degree (Dr. jur.) on the subject of federal equality. In 2002, he completed his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) at the University of Wales, in cooperation with the FernUniversität in Hagen.

From 2004–2006, Dr Marcus Pleyer worked as an officer at the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority before moving to the Federal Ministry of Finance in 2006. Following this, he worked as senior adviser at the Federal Chancellery (small and medium-sized enterprises, competition policy, commercial law, stabilization of the financial market, G7, G20) until 2011.

In 2011, he returned to the Federal Ministry of Finance, where he became Head of the Minister’s Office for former Federal Minister Wolfgang Schäuble until 2014. Subsequently, he headed the Division “International Financial Markets” until 2015. From 2015–2025, he was Head of Directorate VII A (combating terrorism and proliferation financing and money laundering, cybersecurity, sanctions, digital financial technologies, KfW and other promotional banks, consumer protection, supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) at the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Since 2015, Dr Pleyer has also performed a number of special roles. He was an advisor to the Ukrainian Finance Minister in Kyiv from 2015–2016 on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Foreign Office. Between 2016 and 2025, Dr Pleyer was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and, as a member of the Board of Trustees, he contributed to the setup and development of the Federal Nuclear Waste Management Fund (holding 24 billion EUR) from 2017 until 2025. From 2019–2020, he held the position of Vice President of the Financial Action Task Force – the international organisation for tackling terrorism financing and money laundering – in Paris before becoming President from 2020–2022, the first presidency under the extended two-year term of the FATF’s revised mandate. Furthermore, from 2022 until 2025, he led a project group on reforming the structures for fighting financial crime in Germany.

In May 2025, Dr Marcus Pleyer became State Secretary (Deputy Minister) at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. 

(c) Bundesregierung/ Jesco Denzel.

Dorothee Bär

Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space

GERMANY

CHAIRPERSON

Dorothee Bär was born on 19 April 1978 in the historic cathedral city Bamberg, just a stone’s throw from her home district Haßberge where she grew up in the town of Ebelsbach. At the age of 14, she joined the youth organization of the CDU/CSU, before joining the main CSU party in 1994. She moved to Bavaria’s capital city Munich to study and was very active throughout Bavaria as chair of the regional branch of the German Association of Christian Democrat Students.

She became a member of the CSU executive committee in 2001 before being elected to the German Bundestag in the 2002 general election. From 2009 to 2013, she served as Deputy Secretary-General of the CSU as well as spokesperson for the whole CDU/CSU parliamentary group on matters pertaining to family affairs, senior citizens, women and youth. She was Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure from December 2013 until March 2018. From March 2018 until December 2021, she was a Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery and Federal Commissioner for Digitalization. From 2021 to 2025, she held the position of Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for matters pertaining to family affairs and culture.

©Bundesregierung Steffen Kugler