Prof. Josh Baraban awarded the Israel Chemical Society Outstanding Young Scientist Prize

The Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Israel Chemical Society for 2024 was awarded to Prof. Josh Baraban from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for combining experiments and theory to study the physical chemistry of reactive molecules. The Outstanding Student Award was given to doctoral student Avital Wagner for her work in the field of biological crystallization.

The Israel Chemical Society selected Prof. Josh Baraban, from the Department of Chemistry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Dr. Moran Shalev-Benami from the Weizmann Institute of Science as outstanding young scientists for 2024.

Prof. Baraban began his scientific career studying chemistry at Yale University with Prof. J. Michael McBride and continued for a doctorate in physical chemistry at MIT with Prof. Robert W. Field. During his postdoctoral research with G. Barney Ellison and John W. Daily at the University of Colorado-Boulder, he developed an optically accessible microreactor.

Prof. Baraban joined the Department of Chemistry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2017 and has engaged in research aimed at creating and characterizing reactive molecules at high temperatures and in plasmas. His group’s research has revealed new chemical properties of several fundamental species and developed laser-based methods that assist in their study; the work has received the support of several research grants, such as: ERC Starting Grant, NSF-BSF, Pazy Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation, and the Ministry of Energy.

He has also previously received recognition and awards such as the Alon Fellowship for new faculty members from the Planning and Budgeting Committee (2019), the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research (2021), and the Toronto Prize for Excellence in Research (2024).

"My research deals with molecules that have enough energy to undergo chemical changes. The use of extreme conditions and spectroscopy allows me to create and study them, so the research has varied applications on the one hand and is scientifically fundamental on the other," said Prof. Baraban, adding: "I thank the Israel Chemical Society for the significant recognition and am proud to receive this award from them. Special thanks and congratulations to the amazing students in my group for their efforts, determination, and creativity that led to our achievements."

Outstanding Student Award given to PhD student Avital Wagner

Doctoral student Avital Wagner completed two degrees with honors at Ben-Gurion University. Her master's degree in the Department of Materials Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. Nahum Frage, dealt with the production and characterization of YAG ceramics, and her doctorate in the Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of Dr. Benjamin Palmer, focused on the formation mechanisms of crystals in biological systems. Wagner made extensive use of advanced electron microscopy techniques and participated in three experiments conducted in Europe, presented her work at numerous international conferences, and published ten articles in leading scientific journals. In addition, Wagner volunteers and teaches high school physics to communities in the periphery.

"The award is exciting and encourages me to continue engaging in research and delve deeper into the fascinating topics I deal with. I am very grateful to the Israel Chemical Society for recognizing my work," said Wagner.

Alongside Avital Wagner, Anastasia Behar (Technion), Roi Ben David (Weizmann Institute of Science), Asmita Dutta (Ariel University), Nadem Agbaria (Hebrew University), Omri Shelef (Tel Aviv University), and Rafael Snitkov-Sol (Bar-Ilan University) also won the Outstanding Student Award.

The awards ceremony was held as part of the Israel Chemical Society's annual meeting.