For the first time, Israel and France are bringing together in Israel outstanding young research scientists who have the potential to be Nobel Prize candidates.

A conference starts in Jerusalem today and will run until March 11. It was organized jointly by Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the France-Israel Foundation and the Embassy of France in Israel.

Taking place at the Mount Zion Hotel in Jerusalem, the multi-disciplinary conference brings together 15 young scientists from Israel and 12 from France who received research grants from the European Union for ground-breaking research. The beneficiaries of the grants are considered to have the “potential” to receive a future Nobel Prize in Science.

During the conference the research scientists from both countries will present the results of their work in a variety of areas for which they received the prestigious grants. They will also be hosted at the President’s House in the presence of dignitaries from both countries.

The initiative for the conference came from the Israeli-French High Council for Scientific and Technological Cooperation. In 2004, the two countries signed an agreement to jointly invest one million dollars annually to fund scientific research.

The France-Israel Foundation was established in 2005 with the goals of changing Israel’s image in France and France’s image in Israel and deepening the ties between the two countries.