Minister of Education and Chairman of the Council for Higher Education, Rabbi Shai Piron, and the Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, announced today during the annual conference of the Council for Higher Education on the completion of the process of establishing centers of excellence.

The Steering Committee of the I-CORE program announced the start of operations of the 12 new centers of the second wave on 1 May 2013. The first four Centers of Excellence (first wave) began operating in October 2011. With the establishment of the 12 new centers, the selection and establishment of the I-CORE’s has been completed.

Of the 12 new Centers, 5 will engage in research in the Social Sciences and Humanities and 7 in Exact Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences and Medicine. The centers began their operation on May 1, 2013.

The second wave represents another major step in the Centers of Excellence program and is a main pillar in the Multi-Year Reform Plan in Higher Education – a program aimed at fundamentally strengthening the long term positioning of Israel’s academic research and its stature among leading researchers in Israel and abroad. I-CORE was endorsed by the Government of Israel and adopted by Israel’s Council of Higher Education in March 2010 (Government Resolution No. 1503, 03.14.2010). The first four I-COREs began operating in October 2011 (first wave) in the fields of: Cognitive Science, Algorithms, Solar Energy and the Genetic Basis of Human Disease.

The 16 Centers of Excellence that were selected until now – those established in the first wave and those that will be established in the second one – promote innovative and groundbreaking research in a range of fields, promote national and international research collaborations, assist in the recruitment of new excellent researchers and pave the way for nurturing the future generation of outstanding researchers in the country by establishing inter-institutional Joint Graduate Schools.

All centers shall be provided with a total budget of 705 million NIS, for a period of five years, of which 450 million NIS will be allocated from the PBC, with the remaining funds coming from partner institutions and strategic partners.

The following list of 16 centers of excellence – 4 centers of excellence established in the first wave and 12 centers of excellence establihed in the second wave:

Centers established as part of the first wave:

1. Gene Regulation in Complex Human Disease – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Haim Cedar of the Hebrew University, consisting of researchers from the Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, Sheba Medical Center and Hadassah Medical Center.
2. Cognitive Sciences – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Yadin Dudai of the Weizmann Institute, consisting of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Bar – Ilan University, the University of Tel – Aviv Jezreel Valley College Sourasky Medical Center.
3. Algorithms – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Yishay Mansour of Tel Aviv, consisting of researchers from the Tel Aviv University, the Weizmann Institute and Hebrew University.
4. Solar Fuels Consortium – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Gideon Grader Technion, consisting of researchers from the Technion, the Weizmann Institute and Ben Gurion University of the Negev. 

Centers established as part of the second wave:

1. Study of Modern Jewish Culture – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Richard Cohen of the Hebrew University, consisting of researchers from the Hebrew University, Bar-Ilan University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Tel-Aviv University.
2. Education and the New Information Society – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Yael Kali of the University of Haifa, consisting of researchers from the University of Haifa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Technion and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
3. Empirical Legal Studies – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Ilana Ritov of the Hebrew University, consisting of researchers from the Hebrew University and the Technion.
4. Mass Trauma Research – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Zahava Solomon of the Tel-Aviv University, consisting of researchers from the Tel-Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
5. Abrahamic Religions – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Harvey Hames of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, consisting of researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University and the Open University.
6. The Quantum Universe: Particles and Astro-particles – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Yosef Nir of the Weizmann Institute of Science, consisting of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Sceience, the Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University and the Technion.
7. Light and Matter – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Mordechai Segev of the Technion, consisting of researchers from the Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
8. Astrophysics: from the Big Bang to the Stars – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Tsvi Piran of the Hebrew University consisting of researchers from the Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University, the Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
9. Chromatin and RNA Gene Regulation – a group under the scientific management group of Prof. Nir Friedman of the Hebrew University consisting of researchers from the Hebrew University, Bar-Ilan University, the Technion, the Weizmann Institute and Sheba Medical Center.
10. Structural Biology of the Cell – Biophysics and medical technology – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Gideon Schreiber of the Weizmann Institute of Science consisting of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel-Aviv University and the Technion.
11. Plant Adaptation to Changing Environment – a group under the scientific management group of Prof. Hillel Fromm of the Tel-Aviv University consisting of researchers from the Tel-Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Hebrew University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
12. Physical Approaches to Dynamic Processes in Living Systems – a group under the scientific management of Prof. Amit Meller of the Technion consisting of researchers from the Technion, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.