Two Technion Faculty Members Win the Krill Prize
The Wolf Foundation will award the prize to ten recipients, two of whom are from the Technion - Dr. Yonatan Belinkov and Dr. Hemi Rotenberg
Dr. Yonatan Belinkov from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science and Dr. Hemi Rotenberg from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering will receive the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research for 2025. The ceremony will take place on June 4.
The Technion’s Vice President for Research, Prof. Noam Adir, said that “The Krill Prize is awarded to outstanding academic faculty members who have been recruited in recent years to research universities in Israel and have already succeeded in blazing new and original paths in their research fields. Past prize winners are among today’s leading researchers and academics in Israel, and we believe that the two new Technion winners will join them in the future. I congratulate the two winners and wish them success in research, teaching, and public activities.”
Dr. Yonatan Belinkov joined the Taub Faculty of Computer Science in October 2020, after completing his doctorate at MIT and post-doctorate at Harvard and MIT. He develops methods for analyzing the knowledge and capabilities of large language models. The practical goal of his research is to enable researchers and users to properly deal with unexpected behaviors that emerge in artificial intelligence systems, including behaviors that may be harmful. “AI-based decisions affect us more and more, and some are crucial. Therefore, we develop tools that will be used, among other things, to deal with challenges of biases, misinformation, and privacy violations.”
Dr. Hemi Rotenberg joined the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering in 2020 after completing his doctorate at Ben-Gurion University and post-doctorate at the University of Chicago. He is engaged in developing new materials and original technologies for electrical and/or mechanical stimulation of cells, tissues, and organs using wireless and non-invasive methods. According to him, “My research is at the interface between biology, engineering, and materials science and opens new ways to explore basic scientific questions and develop new medical applications.”
Both researchers won the ERC Starting grant last year, which helps young and promising scientists advance their research, form research teams, and strive to realize bold and original ideas. Candidates are required to demonstrate potential for scientific breakthroughs, strong ambition, and feasibility of their research proposal.
Since 2005, the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research has been awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation and the Krill family, in memory and honor of Benjamin and Gittela Krill-Mansbach Schlanger. It is given to outstanding academic faculty members and promising researchers from research universities in Israel who have led significant breakthroughs and are expected to lead research and academia in Israel in the future in the exact sciences, life sciences and medicine, engineering, and agriculture. The prize is funded by the estate of Avraham Hirsch Krill Schlanger, who was born in 1912 in Chemnitz, Germany. A year before the outbreak of World War II, Avraham Krill married Deborah Kertzic and emigrated to South America, where he established a successful textile factory. Avraham Krill was active in the community of Jews from Germany in South America and was an enthusiastic supporter of the State of Israel from its establishment. The prizes awarded in memory and honor of his parents symbolize the Krill family’s connection to Israel and their belief in the close relationship between science and vision.
