On May 18, 2023, the Worms family of France was pleased to present the inaugural Worms Prize in memory of Gérard Worms, former Director of the French Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Frederic Worms, Gérard's son, made a heartfelt commitment to awarding the prize annually to exceptional Ph.D. students at BGU's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR) and at Écoles Doctorales and affiliated institutions in France who are conducting groundbreaking research in fields such as agricultural water management, arid soil protection, desertification mitigation and remediation, and overall agricultural advancements in arid environments. This award fosters collaboration between Israel and France in the areas of desertification, water, and desert agriculture research. An esteemed committee comprised of Israeli and French scientists reviewed the applications and selected the winners. It is with great pleasure that we announce the recipients of the 2023 Worms Prize: Paul Vandôme from France's Institut Agro Montpellier-CIRAD and Klil Noy from BGU's BIDR. Congratulations to the winners!
