ACADEMIC HOME IN ISRAEL FOR ISRAELI ACADEMICS LIVING ABROAD

Prof. Rafi Melnick, Reichman University’s President, stated, “Throughout my many years in academia, I have watched the ever-growing phenomenon of brain drain in Israel with concern and wondered how I could help to deal with the challenge. I see the advancement of quality and ground-breaking research as a fundamental national mission, and I have set the goal of connecting with outstanding Israeli researchers in tenured positions at the world’s top universities and offering them an academic home in Israel that will serve their needs. All parties will gain from this, and the State of Israel will benefit from closer ties with its leading scientists and their integration into Israeli academia.”

As part of the project introduced by Prof. Melnick to establish an academic home at Reichman University for Israeli researchers from leading universities around the globe, the University hosted a group of eight researchers from Stanford, Minnesota, Cornell, INSEAD, Maryland and other leading universities. The purpose of the project was to strengthen the researchers’ ties to Reichman University and create fruitful academic and research partnerships.

During this session, which took place over three consecutive days, the group dealt with the topic of “resilience” on the personal, social, and national levels. Two conferences held on campus, entitled “Entrepreneurial Resilience” and “Resilience in Sport”, were held in which the guest researchers from abroad, members of Reichman University’s faculty and other experts participated.

The initiative culminated in a visit to the Gaza Strip, where they met with communities that have lived with the pervasive and constant threat of war for over 20 years. They met with local citizens and heard first-hand testimony of life under ongoing trauma, as well as with army officials dealing with resilience in the area.

The trip included a visit to the Sderot Resilience Center where they met with therapists. Connections were established that will allow for new research on the issue of resilience, based on a unique data set that has previously never been studied. According to Prof. Melnick, “We believe that this new research will contribute greatly to the study of resilience, not only in Israel but also abroad.”

The initiative will continue to expand with a new activity that is planned for the rest of 2023 and for 2024, with the organizers looking forward to welcoming experts in the field of business, economics, and computer science.

From left:

Noa Idan, Gali Kachlon, Prof. Ella Miron-Spektor, Dan Ganor, Prof. Ravit Reichman, Prof. Shahar Ayal, Prof. Roni Reiter-Palmon, Dr. Rany Abend, Prof. Ziv Carmon, Lorena Atyas Levovsky, Matthew Rubin, Prof. Anat Brunstein-Klomek, Dr. Gilad Chen, Dr. Eyal Sulganik, Dr. Michal Reifen Tagar, Lt. Col. (Res.) Uri Ben-Yaakov, Prof. Nir Halevy, Prof. Oren Gross, Prof. Rafi Melnick, Stevie Weinberg and Guy Smiloviz