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Professor
Shlomo Havlin

Department of Physics
Bar-Ilan University
Ramat-Gan, Israel

havlins@gmail.com

About

Shlomo Havlin is a Professor in the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. He served as the President of the Israel Physical Society (1996-1999), Dean of Faculty of Exact Sciences (1999-2001) and Chairman, Department of Physics (1984-1988). 

Havlin obtained the Landau Prize for outstanding Research (Israel, 1988), the Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (Germany, 1992) the Nicholson Medal of the American Physical Society (USA, 2006), the Weizmann Prize (Israel, 2009), the Lilienfeld Prize for “a most outstanding contribution to physics” of the American Physical Society (USA, 2010), the Rothschild Prize in Physical and Chemical Sciences (Israel 2014), the Order of the Star of Italy by the President of Italy (2017), and the Israel Prize for Physics and Chemistry (2018).

Havlin is a Fellow of the American Physical Society since 1995 and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in England since 2000. He was the Head of the Excellence National Network Center supported by the Israel Science Foundation (1990-2011) and the Head of the Minerva Center (1994-2011). He is in the Editorial Boards of Physica A, New Journal of Physics, Fractals and Co-Editor of Europhysics Letters. 

Havlin has made fundamental contributions to statistical physics. He contributed also to multidisciplinary fields such as complex networks, climate, medicine, biology, geophysics, and computer science. Specific achievements include: developing the theory of anomalous diffusion in percolation; developing the first model for photon migration in biological tissues which led to medical diagnostic procedure using optical imaging (J. Opt. Soc. 1987); introducing of the concept and applications of the shortest path in disordered media; developing the law governing the territory covered by N-diffusing species (Nature, 1992); discovering long-range correlations in non-coding DNA sequences (Nature, 1992); discovering self-stratification in granular mixtures (Nature, 1997); discovering a universal persistence law governing atmospheric variability (PRL, 1998); discovering multifractality in heartbeat dynamics (Nature, 1999); discovering different scaling for healthy and diseased heartbeat fluctuations (PRL, 1993); developing the first theory for the stability of complex networks such as the Internet (PRL, 2000); developing the theory for an optimal path through a network (PRL, 2003); discovering the “ultra-small-world” property of complex networks (PRL, 2003); Introducing the concept of fractals in complex networks (Nature, 2005); developing tools that show that network approaches are useful to identify and predict extreme climate events such as El-Nino (PRL, 2008, PNAS 2013, 2014, 2017); developing the first framework to study interacting networks (Nature, 2010); developing a framework for the robustness of spatial embedded networks of networks (Nature Physics, 2013); introducing the concept of recovery in complex networks (Nature Physics, 2014; Nature Comm., 2016); developing the concept of reinforced nodes (PNAS, 2017); discovering the critical stretching phenomena in spatial embedded networks (PRL, 2019); developing a framework for dynamic interdependence in multiplex networks (Nature Physics, 2019).

Havlin published more than 800 scientific papers including 89 Nature and PNAS papers and 76 Phys. Rev. Lett. His papers are highly cited, total over 57000 citations (ISI) and 92000 (Scholar). Ten of his papers are between the top 1% highest cited papers in the last 10 years. He has nine papers (ISI) and eighteen (Scholar) with over 1000 citations.  His h-index is 110 (ISI) (110 papers with over 110 citations) and 136 (Scholar). Havlin is between the two most cited scientists in Israel.

Academic Positions

  • 1984 - Present

    Professor, Bar-Ilan University

  • 2016 - 2017

    Specially Appointed Professor, Tokyo Tech Institute

  • 1999 - 2001

    Dean, Faculty of Exact Sciences

  • 1984 - 1988

    Chairman, Department of Physics

  • 1982 - 1984

    Associate Professor, Bar-Ilan University

  • 1977 - 1982

    Senior Lecturer, Bar-Ilan University

  • 1973 - 1977

    Lecturer, Bar-Ilan University

  • 1972 - 1973

    Research Associate, Bar-Ilan University

Academic Prizes and Fellowships

Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal

CSS senior scientific award 2021

IOP Honorary Fellow 2021

Top cited scientist in Israel in 2019

Israel Prize for Physics and Chemistry (2018) Article    pdf

Order of the Star of Italy, President of Italy (2017) (Hebrew)

Distinguished Scientist Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2017)

Honorary Professor, Beihang University, Beijing, China (2016)

Rothschild Prize in Physical and Chemical Sciences, Israel (2014)

Ehrenfest Colloquium, Leiden University, Netherlands (2012)

Lilienfeld Prize for a most outstanding contribution to physics, APS, USA (2010)

Chaim Weizmann Prize for Exact Sciences,(2009)

Nicholson Medal, American Physical Society (2006)

Excellence Center Award for Networks, Israel Science Foundation (2003)

Honorary Professor, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China (2000)

Fellow, Institute of Physics, England (1999)

President, Israel Physical Society (1996 – 1999)

Fellow, American Physical Society (1997)

Director, Gonda-Goldschmied Medical Diagnostic Research Center (1995)

Director, Science Education Project (1994)

Minerva Center Award (1993)

Senior Humboldt Award, Germany (1992)

Landau Prize for Outstanding Research (1988)

Top 100 Most-Cited Articles of 1984 (Havlin and Nossal, J. Phys. A17,L24 (1984))

Prize for Best Teacher, Faculty of Natural Sciences (1980)

Royal Society Fellowship (1979)

Lord Marks Fellowship (1979)

Rothschild Fellowship (1971)

Editorial Board

  • Europhys. Letters (2008-2017 )
  • New Journal of Physics (2004-2011 )
  • Physica A, (1991-)
  • Journal of Statistical Physics, (1991 – 1994)
  • International Journal of Fractals, (1991- )
  • Research letters in physics (2007- )
  • Journal of Phys. Complexity (2019- )

Sabbatical Positions

  • Royal Society Visiting Fellow, University of Edinburgh, 1978 – 1979
  • Visiting Scientist, Physical Sciences Laboratory, DCRT, NIH, 1983 – 1984
  • Visiting Professor, Boston University, 1984 – 1985
  • Visiting Scientist, Physical Sciences Laboratory, DCRT, NIH, 1989 – 1991
  • Visiting Professor, Boston University, 1991 – 1992
  • Visiting Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, 2016–2022 Adjunct Professor, Physics, Boston University