The School of Chemistry congratulates Dr. Barak Hirshberg on winning the 2025 Israel Chemistry Society (ICS) Excellent Young Scientist Prize

Congratulations to Dr. Barak Hirshberg, who is to be awarded the 2025 ICS Excellent Young Scientist Prize.

The prize is awarded to Dr. Hirshberg for his important contributions to theoretical chemistry, for providing valuable concepts and practices in molecular dynamics simulations to study phase transitions, polymorphism, and reorganization in molecular crystals.

Dr. Hirshberg's research group develops innovative algorithms for chemical simulations to understand the dynamics of quantum and classical molecular condensed phases. One of his significant achievements is the development of polynomial-scaling path integral molecular dynamics simulations for indistinguishable particles, with applications to phase transitions in quantum materials. Another remarkable achievement is the development of enhanced sampling methods based on stochastic resetting, which accelerates simulations of slow chemical transformations, such as polymorphism in molecular crystals and conformational changes in biomolecules. 

The award ceremony will be held on February 10, 2026, during the 89th ICS Annual Meeting.