Dozens of postdoctoral scholars from the United States and Canada who excel in the STEM professions will be absorbed in Israel

• The amount of the scholarship per post-doctoral researcher: USD 100,000 over two years.
• The total budget of the program: about USD 11 million. The program is conducted in cooperation between the State of Israel via the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and the Mortimer Zuckerman Institute.
• The purpose of the program is to strengthen research and promote the international reputation of the higher education system in Israel.

Chairman of the PBC Prof. Yaffa Zilbershatz: The PBC is striving to transform the State of Israel into a magnet for outstanding scholars from various countries in the world: America, Europe and the Far East. Cooperation with the Zuckerman Institute and the increased scholarships for outstanding postdoctoral researchers from the United States and Canada will allow Israeli institutions to enrich research in the STEM professions, empower Israeli researchers, and promote the international reputation of Israel’s higher education system.

Eric Gertler and James Gertler, Zuckerman Institute Trustees: As trustees of the Zuckerman Institute, we watched with pride when the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Postdoctoral Program began in 2016 at four Israeli universities – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Now we are pleased and grateful that the Israeli government, through the Council for Higher Education, has recognized our success, allocating matching funds to expand the program to Bar-Ilan University, Ben-Gurion University, and the University of Haifa. This partnership makes it possible to enhance Mort Zuckerman’s vision, weaving an even larger network of scientific cooperation between Israel and the US.

The program to increase the number of postdocs pursuing research in Israel, with an emphasis on outstanding postdoctoral scholars from leading universities in the United States and Canada, was initiated by the Zukerman Institute. The collaboration of The Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education (PBC) with the Zukerman Institute will enable dozens of outstanding post-doctoral researchers in the STEM (Science and Technology) professions to be absorbed in Israeli institutions in the coming years.

In this context, it should be said that the Council for Higher Education and the Planning and Budgeting Committee have made the promotion of internationalism in higher education in general, and in teaching in particular, a central goal of the multi-year program. The strengthening of internationalism is intended to raise the standard and competitiveness of Israeli academia by absorbing outstanding scholars from abroad and enhancing the international reputation of Israeli institutions. Beyond this, promoting internationalism in higher education is of great importance not only in the academic arena but also in terms of its political (diplomatic relations with foreign countries), social and economic aspects.

The amount of the scholarship for each post-doctoral researcher will be USD 100,000 over two years. The scholarship is designed to fund, among other things, living expenses, accommodation, educational frameworks for children, flights and more. If necessary, it will be possible to extend the scholarship for an additional two year period. The total budget will be about USD 11 million over four years (divided equally between the PBC and the Zuckerman Institute).

The PBC and the Zuckerman Institute explain that the program will enable the best young minds in the United States and Canada to learn from the experience and knowledge that exists in Israel while concurrently developing and enriching Israeli research in the STEM professions. In addition, from a long term perspective, the program will help strengthen the partnership between the US and Israel, and the result will help change not only the work of the researchers involved in the program, but also the way in which the US and Israel choose to cooperate in all areas of science. In accordance with the approval of the PBC, the program will be launched in 2019. A judging committee has been established to select post-doctoral students who will receive these scholarships, according to criteria of academic and research excellence, personal qualities and scientific leadership.