Prof. Haim Sompolinski is the first Israeli researcher to win the prestigious award, he himself was born in Denmark whose father, Prof. David Sompolinski, was among the members of the underground who smuggled the Jews to Sweden by boat
Prof. Chaim Sompolinsky won the most important international award in the field of brain research for 2024 awarded by the Danish Lundbeck Foundation. Prof. Haim Sompolinski is the first Israeli researcher to win the prestigious award. Sompolinski, one of the founders and leaders of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Neuroscience at the Hebrew University and Professor Emeritus at the Rakah Institute of Physics, is a pioneer of computational neuroscience and the study of the dynamics of neural circuits in the brain, and is world-renowned in his field. Prof. Sompolinski also serves as a professor at the Center for Neuroscience at Harvard University.
Prof. Sompolinski won the award together with two other international researchers, Prof. Larry Abbott from Columbia University in the USA and Prof. Terence Sinovsky from the Salk Institute, USA, in recognition of their pioneering research in theoretical and computational neuroscience. The prize, which was founded in 2011, is awarded annually to researchers who have made original and significant contributions in brain research, from basic research to applied clinical research, and is worth a total of 1.3 million euros to the winners that year.
Prof. Sompolinski's groundbreaking research made a fundamental contribution to the in-depth understanding of the human brain and they focus on understanding the computational principles that underlie neural dynamics in the brain. Among other things, Prof. Sompolinski made a significant contribution to our understanding of how neural circuits process and encode information, produce representations of the outside world and are involved in learning and memory processes. The award was given to Prof. Sompolinski not only for the way his research advanced the understanding of brain functions, but also for the promise that his research holds for applications in brain-inspired artificial intelligence.
Prof. Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University: "Prof. Sompolinski's winning the prestigious Brain Prize emphasizes his pioneering contribution to the field of computational neuroscience. His groundbreaking work and his unique approach, which combines theory with experimental findings, inspired the development of the field of artificial intelligence and brought to light basic computational principles in the brain. The recognition of his impressive achievements is not only a badge of honor for the Hebrew University, but is also a beacon that guides us towards further discoveries at the intersection where neuroscience and computational principles meet."
Prof. Haim Sompolinsky: "It is a great honor for me to win the Brain Prize 2024 which expresses the international recognition of the central contribution of theoretical and computational research to neuroscience. This is also an important opportunity to represent the Hebrew University's pioneering contribution to the development of the multidisciplinary research of the brain."
Prof. Haim Sompolinski, born in Denmark himself, is the son of the late Prof. David Sompolinski. In October 1943, while in Copenhagen, Prof. Sompolinski Sr. along with other members of the Danish underground, transported hundreds of Jews in fishing boats to a safe shore in Sweden and thus saved them from the hands of the Nazi murderers.
THE BRAIN PRIZE for 2024 will be awarded to the three winners by His Majesty the King of Denmark, in a magnificent ceremony in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, in June of this year. Receiving the prestigious award, from the Danish Royal House, is an exciting closing of the circle for Prof. Sompolinski.
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