Joseph (Sefi) Bloch
Joseph (Sefi) Bloch 1949- 2015
Metal hydrides and metal-hydrogen interactions chemist.
1983 Ph. D. in Nuclear Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
1977-2015 – Researcher at the Nuclear Research Centre-Negev. Also active in many aspects at the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, including supervision of graduate students.
Main research topics: Kinetics and thermodynamics of hydrogen-metal interactions; Surface analysis
(AES, XPS, UPS, ELS) of gas-solid interactions of metals and oxides.
1983-4: Visiting scientist, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA.
1990-1: Visiting Professor, Physics Dept., Univ. of Toronto, Toronto Ontario, Canada.
2003, 2008: Visiting Research member, Physics Dept., Univ. of Uppsala, Uppsala Sweden.
2013-4: Visiting scholar, IAMDN, Rutgers Univ., NJ, USA
2013 – A+ rank (equivalent to full Professor).
An active member of IVS board for many years.
A few words written by Noah Shamir, NRCN:
I had the privilege and pleasure to collaborate with Sefi, doing science for 36 years. He was
one of my closest friends. His enthusiasm of science was like that of a young student, all his
life and it was contagious. Sefi's young inquisitive spirit connected him to the young scientists
around him and inspired them. He was an excellent scientist and an authority in his field.
Sefi dedicated his professional life to science and avoided administrative and management
jobs. His involvement in the activity of the IVS was an exception and he liked it very much.
A sudden heart failure took him from us, in the midst of his prime and future, scientific and
personal plans. He was a true friend to many of us, at the NRCN. His loss hurts and we miss
him very much.