The event was attended by Prof. Maher Natsheh, President of An-Najah, Dr. Kherieh ‎Rassas, An-Najah’s Vice ‎President for International Development and External ‎Affairs; Eng. Adnan Samara, Chairman of the Higher Council for Innovation & ‎‎Excellence; Dr. Ehab Kobbaj, Representative of the Minister of Higher Education ‎and Scientific Research; Prof. Achille Stocchi, Head of LAL and Co-Chair of ‎WISHEPP; Dr. Ahmed Bassalat, Chair of WISHEPP and staff member at An-Najah's ‎Physics Department and Dr. Maen Ishtaiwi, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences as well ‎as a number of An-Najah's academic and administrative staff and students and other ‎prominent figures.‎

The idea of WISHEPP came from Dr. Ahmed Bassalat, Staff Member at the Physics Department and, Paris-Sud graduate. Dr. Bassalat worked on this project during 2015 in cooperation with Prof Stocchi.

The opening ceremony was moderated by Dr. Hadil Abualrob, and Dr. Dr. Muna Hajj Yahya, Staff members at An-Najah's Physics Departments.

In the opening speech, Prof. Natsheh welcomed the guests, and stressed the importance of this event as it is one of the distinct activities that is organized annually at the University.  He also praised the Physics Department, and those who participated in organizing the Winter School for establishing relations with prestigious international centers.

In her speech, Dr. Rassas ‎said: '' We, at An- Najah national university have full commitment to enhancing the quality of scientific research and building experiences that transcend boundaries. I would like to thank all my colleagues at the Physics Department for developing and shaping this program, and special thanks for our international partners for the efforts made in realizing this project.''

Eng. Adnan Samara referred to the aim of this activity which is aligned with the Higher Council for Innovation and Excellence's vision and mission to cultivate innovation and support inventors and to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem. He then paid tribute to everyone who contributed to the Winter School success.

In turn, Dr. Kobbaj confirmed that the Ministry of Higher Education provides enhanced support for research and academic activities in a wide array of disciplines. He also pointed out that the fields of science and technology measure a country's progress wishing that this event will benefit all participants in different scientific fields.

Dr. Bassalat screened a short film through which he talked about the accomplishments of the Physics Department through the Winter School. He noted that the University obtained fund that covered 90 scholarships for its students from the Physics Department at Bachelor and Master levels over the past three years. The film included speeches by physics students dispatched to LAL, CERN and others. The students talked about their experience and its benefits.

The inauguration ceremony also included a presentation given by Prof. Stocchi on ‎the achievements of the previous winter schools. He also talked about the strong ‎cooperation between LAL and An-Najah which resulted in having several Palestinian ‎students at LAL labs to pursue their higher education.  ‎

Dr. Ishtaiwi expressed the importance of developing academic relations and links ‎with European partners and international research Centres to foster research both ‎nationally and within the University in particular.‎

Notes:

The activities of the Fourth Winter School will be over a week from November 9th – November 15th, 2019. The event will include scientific and entertaining activities on physics targeting An-Najah and high school students, and any student from all other Palestinian universities. It will include lectures moderated by expert professors in different areas of physics ‎especially Gravitational waves, high energy physics, instrumentation and ‎technology, and accelerator physics that targets the Physics Department ‎students and others of the university’s scientific faculties.

It will also include plenary talks on the latest scientific discoveries on different scientific ‎topics for the students and professors and any person who is interested ‎in such topics. Seminars on physics and natural sciences for high school students’ that ‎aim at developing their competencies.