A symposium in Tel Aviv has showcased a $100 million (£76 million) scholarship programme designed to deepen scientific collaboration between Israel and the US.
The Mortimer B. Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program operates a scheme to bring “high-achieving postdoctoral scholars from premier universities in the United States to do research at one of four Israeli universities”: the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University. Current scholars work in fields ranging from statistical physics to the evolutionary ecology of plants and the social life of bats.
The first Zuckerman US-Israel Symposium, held at TAU, brought together academic and business leaders to discuss today’s greatest challenges and to promote further academic exchanges. A panel discussion featuring Yossi Vardi, “the godfather of Israeli hi-tech”, explored ways of monetising scientific breakthroughs.
“All universities in Israel pride themselves on the close connections they have enjoyed with the United States for many decades,” said TAU president Joseph Klafter, “but the Zuckerman Program is taking this academic friendship to the next level.”
