Prof. Hermona Sorek, dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Hebrew University: "The government is cutting back on the flow of funds to universities, which affects the quality and results of research in Israel not only in the present but also in the future"
Research in Israel is on the brink of collapse, stated Prof. Hermona Sorek, dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Hebrew University. Prof. Sorek spoke in a panel that dealt with the scientific tomorrow on the second day of the President's Conference in Jerusalem. According to her, the government is cutting funding to universities, which affects the quality and results of research in Israel not only now but also in the future. Sorek added that the buds of the effect of the cut are mainly evident in the experimental study.
In the panel, the influence of the global changes and the rapid rates of development that characterize the digital age of the current century were brought up. Adapting to the new worlds that science opens up to us is fraught with heavy difficulties that raise complex ethical issues, one of which stems from the influence of the money that researchers need and is a key pillar to achieve scientific and technological breakthroughs. According to Prof. Sorek, the financial cuts imposed on experimental research in Israel are evident in all universities in Israel and affect the quality and level of research from the student to the senior researchers at the university.
Yehuda Bronitsky, chairman and founder of Ormet Industries Ltd., lamented the fact that the infusion of funds into scientific and technological research affects not only the funding of research but also the research directions. According to him, the studies are often dictated by private financiers and governments with a political interest, and the way in which the studies are published raises questions both on an ethical and a professional level.
