Walk through the Weizmann Institute of Science today and the signs of renewal are everywhere: laboratories humming with industry, students moving between classrooms and cafés, and researchers gathered once again around benches, whiteboards, and unfinished questions.

The story of the past year is not defined by what was lost but by what followed: the resolve of a scientific community determined to continue its work and the generosity of friends and partners around the world—including many Canadians—who helped make that possible.

That renewal has emerged after a day that remains etched in memory.

In the early hours of Sunday, June 15, the Weizmann Institute of Science was struck by two Iranian missiles in an attack that sent shockwaves through the global scientific community. In total, 77 buildings across campus sustained damage. Some suffered shattered windows and structural cracks, while others were devastated beyond repair.

Scientists, students, and staff mobilized within hours, navigating debris and danger to salvage what they could. From the still-burning Ullmann Building, researchers came together and worked urgently to recover critical samples, laboratory freezers, and even personal mementos—fragments of years of work and discovery.

One fact brought profound relief: there were no casualties. Yet the human impact ran deep. Reflecting in the months that followed, Dr. Yoseph (Sefi) Addadi, head of the de Picciotto Cancer Cell Observatory in Memory of Wolfgang and Ruth Lesser, captured the prevailing spirit: “We lost our equipment, but not our knowledge or our people.”

Emergency response and a global lifeline

It took only two weeks before the campus was declared free from immediate danger and most areas were reopened. By that time, over 50 labs, roughly one‑fifth of Weizmann’s research capacity, had been brought to a standstill.

Recognizing the scale and urgency of the crisis, the Institute established an Emergency and Recovery Fund. Global response was immediate and helped build a robust fund that allowed Weizmann to act quickly, improvise creatively, and preserve research momentum. This support helped replace multi‑million‑dollar equipment, address damage in core facilities like the Ullmann Building of Life Sciences and the André Deloro Building for Advanced and Intelligent Materials, and stabilize student housing.

Keeping science moving

Even at the height of disruption, Weizmann made a clear choice: science would not stop. Once buildings were deemed safe, some groups returned to their own labs; others were hosted by colleagues across campus, sharing bench space, instruments, and even office chairs. Additional labs were moved into nearby facilities in the Science Park and into modular “caravan” complexes rapidly installed on campus to maintain as close to full research capacity as possible.

This patchwork of temporary solutions demanded enormous flexibility. Lab meetings migrated to borrowed rooms; experiments were redesigned to work around missing equipment; and groups that once worked separately now shared everything from reagents to refrigerators. Out of necessity, collaboration deepened. The crisis even accelerated plans to install next‑generation imaging systems and other advanced platforms that will ultimately leave the Institute with capabilities exceeding what was lost.

If proof were needed that the science never stopped, it could be found in the discoveries themselves. Just days after their labs were damaged in the missile strikes, researchers published findings in Nature Medicine describing a potential blood test that could identify people at risk of leukemia and other blood cancers without the need for invasive bone marrow sampling. In the months that followed, Weizmann scientists reported promising strategies in precision immunotherapy, presented the first use of engineered immune cells to clear Alzheimer’s-related plaques in the brain, documented alarming shifts in North Pacific storm patterns that climate models have failed to predict, and quantified the scale at which humanity is reshaping life on Earth.

Caring for students and families

The Weizmann community includes about 400 international students, many living on or near campus with partners and children. When housing was damaged, students and their families were evacuated, with hundreds temporarily relocated to a hotel on a kibbutz in the Jerusalem Hills. There, under extraordinary circumstances, a new kind of community emerged. Institute staff and kibbutz residents worked together to provide practical support, meals, laundry, and child care, as well as lectures, activities, and informal gatherings that helped restore a sense of normal life.

Students shared shelters during alarms, swam and hiked together, organized impromptu seminars, and held cross‑disciplinary scientific discussions that might never have happened back on campus. One student even defended his thesis on Zoom from the hotel; the entire temporary community marked the achievement with a celebration. Back in Rehovot, as dormitories were repaired, the Institute offered emergency stipends and extra financial support to ensure students could continue their studies uninterrupted. After a short‑term dip, applications to the Weizmann School of Science rebounded, and this academic year the Institute welcomed a new cohort of graduate students, including the inaugural class of its MD‑PhD program in honour of Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth.

Deep appreciation for the collective strength of Canadian support

For the Canadian community, the past year has underscored the resilience of a leading global research institution, the strength of Weizmann’s community, and the power of international solidarity. It has also revealed a remarkable groundswell of support, inspiring profound gratitude for the extraordinary generosity of Canadians who, alongside supporters around the world, responded when it was needed most. From the Emergency and Recovery Fund to the ongoing rebuilding of labs and student spaces, this generosity has helped transform devastation into determination, ensuring that Weizmann’s scientists remain focused on what matters most: advancing knowledge that benefits people and societies everywhere.

As the Institute marks one year since the attack, its message is clear: when science is attacked, Weizmann rebuilds—together.