The Hebrew University is the leader in Israel in receiving research grants from the European Union, as recently announced by the Israeli board of the European Union Framework Program for Research and Development (ISERD)
The Hebrew University is the leader in Israel in receiving research grants from the European Union, as recently announced by the Israeli board of the European Union Framework Program for Research and Development (ISERD). The Israeli board of directors consists of representatives of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment, the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports and the Council for Higher Education.
The EU Framework Program for Research and Development awards research grants to universities, research institutes and industry for promising research and development projects. Israel has been participating in this program since 1996.
In the Sixth Framework Program for Research and Technological Development conducted between 2002-2006, the Hebrew University won more research budgets than any other higher education institution in Israel. The Hebrew University was awarded 26 million euros, which is over 23% of the total amount of 112.5 million euros awarded to academia in Israel.
In addition, the Hebrew University is a leader in Israel in the number of projects approved for funding during the period of the Sixth Framework Program. 102 projects were approved for the university, 80 projects were approved for the Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science, and 71 projects were approved for Tel Aviv University.
According to the Vice President for Research and Development of the Hebrew University, Prof. Hillel Berkoviar, "The European Union Framework Program provides a budget that is the second largest source of funding for research at the university after the Israel National Science Foundation. We are even hoping for greater funding from the European Union in the Seventh Framework Program."
The Seventh Framework Program will open in 2007 and continue until 2013 and will provide the highest amount allocated to research and development, 54 billion.
Ahead of the launch of the Seventh Framework Program, the Hebrew University will cooperate with the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, in a special conference on science and scientists as mediators in the Middle East. The conference will open tomorrow, November 28, in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
The opening of the conference will be held in the presence of representatives from the European Commission, during which scientists from the two universities will present their research on genetic changes in cancer, neuroscience, multiple sclerosis and water purification. Among the speakers at the conference, Prof. Hillel Berkoviar from the Hebrew University and Prof. Kurt von Figura, president of the Georg August University in Göttingen. In addition, Prof. Hassan Devik, acting president of Al-Quds University, which has a research collaboration with the Hebrew University and the University of Göttingen, will also speak at the conference.