(l-r) Angelina Drahi, Dr. David Drahi, Patrick Drahi and President Ron Robin.

In a festive celebration, University of Haifa inaugurated the Dr. David Drahi AI Academic Complex, established with a generous gift from the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation (PLFA). The new complex, which will enable the University to expand research activities in the fields of artificial intelligence, is part of the growing Lorry I. Lokey Technological City Campus located in the heart of the city's burgeoning high tech center.

"We are proud to take part in the development of the field of artificial intelligence at the University of Haifa. This project is a link in a chain of innovative projects supported by the foundation in leading academic institutions in Israel and the world,” said representatives of the Drahi family.  

Congratulations to Prof. Noga Ron-Zewi (Department of Computer Science) on being awarded an ERC Starting Grant for her research on error-correcting codes and computation. Reducing transmission errors ('noise') is one of the main tasks in digital communication. The €1.5 million grant will support her innovative approach in designing error correction codes to maximize reliability in everyday situations such as streamlining cellular communications, and investigating their potential use in other fields of computer science. Ron-Zewi's research specializes in the study of computational complexity, particularly at the interface of coding theory, complexity, and algorithms. In 2019, she was awarded the prestigious Krill Prize for her pioneering research.

The Dusty and Ettie Miller Fellowship was recently awarded to Dr. Tal Luzzatto-Knaan (Department of Marine Biology) in a festive ceremony, for her cutting-edge research in metabolomics. Luzzatto-Knaan's Lab at the University of Haifa explores the communication "chemistry" in algae and bacterial interactions, as well as the functional role of these molecules. She hopes that exploring the regulation, diversity and distribution of natural products in algae microbes will lead to marine based medicinal applications. In addition to her academic activities, Dr. Luzzatto-Knaan heads the emerging Interdisciplinary Center for Metabolomics and Natural Products at the University, and is a member of the “Homeward Bound” Women in STEM Leadership initiative.

*The Dusty and Ettie Miller Fellowship Award has been awarded annually since 1991 by the Miller family from the UK to outstanding researchers at the University of Haifa.   

(l-r) Representative of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, members of the delegation from the United Arab Emirates University, and Dean of Research, Prof. Mouna Maroun.

The University of Haifa is partnering with the United Arab Emirates University and the Germany-based GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel to investigate climate change and pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Gulf. The five-year research initiative was signed at the UN’s annual climate conference COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. The partners will use advanced marine technologies like novel cameras, chemical sensors, and underwater vehicles to collect data and develop science-based responses to climate change and pollution. Their goal is to develop models predicting what the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf will look like in the future. Representatives of the University included Dean of Research, Prof. Mouna Maroun, and Dean of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, Prof. Ilana Berman-Frank.

University of Haifa was honored to welcome a special FIDF mission to its Mt. Carmel campus, led by IMPACT! Executive Director Orna Pesach. The delegation met with President Ron Robin and FIDF scholarship recipients. Dr. Eli Cook, Head of the American Studies Program at the University, shared his own academic journey from the US to his current teaching position at University of Haifa. The highlight of the visit was when an IMPACT! graduate from the University of Haifa, Idan Didi, generously donated a full IMPACT! scholarship to a new recipient in the program. Since 2002, the IMPACT! program has supported more than 19,000 combat and combat-support veterans.

At a special event hosted by the Canadian Ambassador to Israel, Prof. Shulamit Almog* and Prof. Noya Rimalt (Forum for Law, Gender and Policy) led a fascinating discussion on issues relating to power, gender, and religious politics raised in Margret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and global contemporary dilemmas of gender equality. The discussion, moderated by Ambassador Lisa Stadelbauer, addressed the feminist criticism expressed in Atwood's novel. The event was attended by leading members of Israel's legal and business communities, and was organized in cooperation with the Israeli Friends of the University of Haifa.

*Prof. Shulamit Almog serves as Head of the Diversity and Equality Unit and as the Presidential Advisor on Gender Equity. >>READ MORE

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