The committee found that the state of teaching and research in ecology, evolution, and biodiversity in the departments of biology and life sciences is in severe deterioration to the point of being in danger of disappearing from the academy

The plenary of the Council for Higher Education adopted the conclusions of the International Assessment Committee for the fields of biology and life sciences and will work towards their implementation

An international evaluation committee for the evaluation of curricula in the fields of biology and life sciences presented its conclusions to the plenary session of the Council for Higher Education today.
The international evaluation committee chaired by Prof. Michael Levitt from Stanford University, USA, examined eight departments that maintain study programs in biology/life sciences at the following institutions: Ben-Gurion University, Bar Ilan University, the Hebrew University, the Open University, Tel Aviv University, the University Center Ariel, the Technion and the Weizmann Institute.

General findings of the committee regarding the undergraduate study programs
1) Bachelor's degree students should get a broad perspective of the disciplines in the field of biology before specializing in a particular field, which will come from mandatory courses. At the same time, the committee emphasized the importance of a selection of elective courses.
2) Basic courses in the exact sciences such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc. should be taught as compulsory courses.
3) Students should be exposed to laboratories used for research and experiments during their studies.
4) Research projects should be encouraged.

Deciding on the balance between these issues and the need to prepare the students for advanced studies within three years do present a challenge to the departments, but they will ensure the success of the programs.

The subject of ecology in biology/life sciences studies in Israel
The committee found that the state of teaching and research in ecology, evolution, and biodiversity in the departments of biology and life sciences is in severe deterioration to the point of being in danger of disappearing from the academy.
According to the committee, ecology is a necessary field for Israel in terms of environmental and agricultural issues. The lack of research and teaching in this field endangers Israel's ability to fulfill its national needs in research, conservation and sustainable utilization of its natural resources, and the ability to provide ecological, agricultural, biotechnological and environmental health services.
In the committee's opinion, this is contrary to global trends in science, which include strengthening and expanding ecological teaching and research. The committee determined that Israel is not at the forefront in this field.
If the institutions that conduct biology/life science studies aspire to lead in the world and train the next generation of researchers in the field of ecology, they must address this problem urgently both in terms of teaching and research. The number of researchers in this field in Israel has decreased significantly due to retirement without renewal of standards, and due to the expected retirement of many researchers in the field in the next five years (in contrast to the field of general biology, where there was an increase in the number of faculty members).
1) Inbreeding
"Academic inbreeding" is a concept that refers to "internal recruitment" both of students studying all their academic degrees at the same institution and of faculty who are graduates of the institution. The committee found that in most life sciences/biology departments in Israel this phenomenon exists. There are advantages and disadvantages to both phenomena, but it is clear that internal recruitment of students and faculty does not allow them to be exposed to a variety of researchers, opinions and ideas. This is reflected in the studies that were done in which it was found that departments where most of the faculty members are graduates of the institution publish less than more diverse departments. Generally, these departments investigate more traditional and less innovative topics. Greater exposure can bring creativity and productivity in the academic career.
The committee recommends that institutions recruit new faculty members who have completed their studies at other institutions.

2) Student scholarships
The committee believes that scholarships for graduate students are necessary to allow the student to devote his full time to research while being able to support his family and himself.
Also, the committee noted that there are large disparities in the amount of scholarships between the various institutions, and it calls for the establishment of uniform criteria to ensure an appropriate scholarship as is done, for example, by the NIH in the USA.
The committee recommended examining the issue at the national level.
3) The quality of doctoral students and junior faculty in Israel
The committee was very impressed by the level of doctoral students and junior faculty in the field of life sciences/biology. The committee praises and supports the efforts of the departments to recruit new faculty and finance research infrastructures for them.

The quality of the research
The committee determined that the overall impact of Israeli research in the field of life sciences/biology (impact factor) is at a high level, but it still does not compare to that of the leading institutions in the world.
Electronic journals
The committee was surprised to hear that not all departments have access to all the leading journals in the field, and it recommends examining the issue at the national level, in order to promote cooperation between the departments in this field.
* Reference number of the full report