A record number of 3,027 Israeli researchers and scientists registered at the contact center to be accepted to work in Israel

A unique meeting and job fair for hundreds of returning scientists will be held on Thursday, December 24.12, at the Academy House in Jerusalem

The sixth annual convention of the "Contact Center", an initiative of the Israel National Academy of Sciences, will be held on Thursday, December 24, 2015, at the academy building. The meeting will include a job fair where hundreds of returning Israeli researchers from around the world will meet representatives of universities, colleges and leading industrial companies in the country. The convention and the job fair will be hosted by the President of the Academy of Sciences, Prof. Neely Cohen.

The Contact Center was established by the Academy in 2007, and since then more than 500 returning scientists, most of them from the USA, Canada and European countries, have been absorbed by universities alone. 430 of them were accepted as faculty members, and the others in postdoctoral positions. Many more researchers were recruited with the help of the contact center at academic colleges and government research institutes. The purpose of the contact center is to help Israeli researchers abroad to find suitable work within the scientific community in Israel and to raise the issues that bother them before the decision makers. Currently, 3,027 Israeli researchers are registered in the contact center, most of them employed abroad and interested in returning to Israel, of which 2,198 have a doctor's degree and 658 are students for a doctor's degree. The contact center's data analysis shows that of the registered researchers, 1,743 are from the USA, 228 from England, 568 returning scientists who live in Israel and are still looking for jobs, 11 from Canada, 94 from Germany, 52 from Australia and 39 from France. In recent times, new entrants to the database have been registered every day.

New data published by the contact center on the occasion of the fair reveal that among the higher education institutions, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has received the largest number of returning scientists to date - 90, of which 16 in the last year; Tel Aviv University admitted 73 returning scientists, 14 of them in the last year; Ben-Gurion University admitted 63 returning scientists; The Technion received 53 returning scientists; The Weizmann Institute of Science and Bar-Ilan University received 44 returning scientists each; Haifa University admitted 35 returning scientists; Ariel University – 18 returning scientists; And the Open University admitted 9 returning scientists (see table and graph for illustration).

The contact center stated that the main barriers and factors hindering a return to Israel are the different style of conduct in Israel, the fear of the bureaucracy and the lack of transparency in the country, as well as the concern that a permanent job will not be found. The lack of security increases as the time spent abroad increases. Keeping in touch is one of the central activities of the contact center, because it helps prevent disconnection and provides a sense of security when the time comes to return.

It was also reported that of the registered researchers who wish to return to Israel, one third are from the fields of life sciences and medicine, one third from the fields of exact sciences and engineering sciences, and one third from the fields of humanities and social sciences. Some return for a part-time or temporary position or for a second or third postdoctorate, but even for those who manage to get a position on a standard track, the contact center is a safety net, and many researchers rely on it permanently.

This year the gathering of the contact center is spread over a large variety of possibilities for absorption in research in Israel - in universities, academic colleges, research institutes and research centers, industry, the private sector and government offices. It will be opened on Thursday, December 24, 2015, at 09:15 at the Academy of Sciences House at 43 Jabotinsky Street in Jerusalem. As part of the meeting, there will be a guest lecture by Prof. Amnon Shashua, a researcher and inventor of Mobilei, and there will also be a discussion with the participation of the president of the Hebrew University, Prof. Menachem Ben-Shashon, the president of Azrieli College, Prof. Avi Domb, the CEO of Alup and the former vice president of Elbit, Haim Russo, and other guests. . Rabbi Sheik will be guided by the CEO of the Academy of Sciences, Dr. Meir Zadok. At 13:00 the job fair will begin, where the researchers and scientists will be able to meet in person with the representatives of the universities, colleges, companies and organizations in the hi-tech and bio-tech industries and many other entities participating in the fair.

Those interested in attending the conference are invited to register on the academy website.