Daniel Zajfman had a simple motivation when he enrolled in physics in 1979 at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology: a desire to understand nature. He has followed that ambition throughout an accomplished career.

In December, Zajfman became the tenth president of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. He lauds the frequent interactions between theoretical and experimental physics at the institute — one of its trademarks. Now he hopes to encourage interactions among other fields as well, such as biology and biochemistry. Zajfman says he would consider regrouping researchers into interdisciplinary departments.

Born in Belgium in 1959, Zajfman moved to Israel at the age of 20. In 1989 he received his PhD in atomic physics from the Technion, then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. When he returned to Israel in 1991, he joined Weizmann's department of particle physics as a senior scientist.

Zajfman also has strong ties with Germany. Since 2001 he has been an external member of the Max Planck Institute of Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, where he was appointed a director in 2005. He found that science was an excellent means of overcoming political tensions among Israelis and Germans. “The diplomatic story between Israel and Germany started with scientists,” he says.

The Weizmann Institute has no problem recruiting graduate students, says Zajfman, although political instability has made it more difficult to attract foreign postdocs. He believes there is a widespread misconception about life in Israel. “Some people think it's a third-world country,” he says. The political situation does, however, make life more complicated. “You organize an international conference with 200 scientists in Eilat,” says Zajfman, “then a bomb explodes in Jerusalem, which is 300 kilometres away, and the whole conference is cancelled.”

Zajfman will face other challenges, says Andreas Wolf of the Max Planck Institute of Nuclear Physics. “He undertakes the task of ensuring further funding of the Weizmann Institute,” says Wolf, noting that private financing plays a big role there. One of Zajfman's biggest challenges will be communicating the ideas behind the science.

At 47, Zajfman is the youngest president in Weizmann's 60-year history. He laments that he'll have less time for science and for his students, but he won't stop his research altogether. Exploring nature remains his primary passion.