The Ada Yonath Zuckerman Prize for Emerging Scientific Leadership is a new annual award from the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program. Each year it will recognize one outstanding young scientist at one of Israel’s eight research universities, a researcher whose breakthrough work in STEM has the potential to reach the very highest levels of global science.
The prize was announced in October 2026 at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program.
The prize is named in honor of Prof. Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 2009 she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her pioneering work on the structure and function of the ribosome. She is the first and only Israeli woman to receive a Nobel Prize, and her career shows what curiosity, persistence and scientific courage can achieve.
Prof. Yonath believes that scientific achievement should speak for itself, so the prize is open to outstanding young researchers of all backgrounds.
Objectives
The Ada Yonath Zuckerman Prize aims to:
/ Recognize excellence: honor a young Israeli scientist whose research is a true breakthrough in STEM.
/ Launch long-term leadership: support the laureate at a key stage of their career and set them on a long and successful scientific path.
/ Strengthen Israeli science: raise the international profile of Israel’s research universities and their most promising researchers.
/ Inspire future generations: carry Prof. Yonath’s legacy forward and encourage young scientists to aim for the highest levels of discovery.
A Prize That Grows with Israel
The first prize will be $79,000, one thousand dollars for every year of the State of Israel. For each of the following five years, as Israel grows older, the prize will grow with it.
Timeline
/ December 2026: call for submissions opens
/ June 2027: laureate selected and first prize awarded
Stay Informed
Full eligibility criteria and submission guidelines will be published here when the call for submissions opens in December 2026. For updates, follow us on our website and social media channels.