On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany the year 2015 is full of international events.

Science has always played a major role in the initiation of this relationship and the cooperation between Israeli and German scientists has always been dominated by extraordinary intensity and empathy. Thus the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (IASH) organized a symposium on „Chemistry: The Central Science“ to celebrate the anniversary year.

The bilateral conference took place on November 9th and 10th, 2015 in Jerusalem and was organized by Prof. Ruth Arnon, president of IASH, and Prof. Jörg Hacker, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Prof. Neese, director at the MPI CEC, had been kindly invited to join this special event and to give a lecture on „The chemistry of clean energy – Lessons from nature“.

In the evening of November 8th the National Academy of Sciences and the German embassy in Israel invited everyone to a festive reception. The German ambassador in Israel, Dr. Clemens von Geotze, was also a guest.