Prof. Haim Sompolinsky, a leading brain sciences researcher at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, was last week awarded the $25,000 Swartz Prize for
Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience from the US Society for
Neuroscience.
Sompolinsky, of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain
Sciences, was commended for producing a significant cumulative contribution to
theoretical models or computational methods in neuroscience. The award was
presented during society’s annual meeting in Washington.
The society
comprises more than 41,000 researchers and clinicians who study the brain and
nervous system.
“The society is pleased to recognize the exceptional
contributions of Dr. Sompolinsky to the field of theoretical neuroscience,” said
Dr. Susan G. Amara, the society’s president.
“His work, blending
physics and neuroscience, has established innovative methods and set rigorous
standards for advancing the field.”
Sompolinsky has worked throughout his
career to develop the field of theoretical neuroscience, helping to shape
system-level brain theory using principles and methods of statistical physics
and dynamical systems. Sompolinsky’s “ring” model has served as a key paradigm
for modeling neural circuits and has been the basis of countless studies of
short-term memory, decision-making, selectivity and receptive fields.
He
previously received several prestigious award, including the Landau Prize for
Brain Science and the Hebrew University President’s Award for Outstanding
Research. He is a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.