The University's Ezri Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies and Maritime Policy & Strategy Research Center (HMS) has established a new partnership with the TRENDS Research & Advisory Center in Abu Dhabi. According to Prof. Rear Admiral (Ret.) Shaul Chorev, who heads HMS and The Ezri Center, "The joint issues which are behind the cooperation…make it a strategic collaboration of paramount importance to the two countries, not only academically but also at the security and geopolitical levels." He hopes it will lead to important agreements with additional research institutes in the region. The research centers focus on studying geopolitical shifts, international relations, security and military affairs, and economic sustainability in and around the Middle East. The agreement was signed at an online ceremony in the presence of President Ron Robin and Rector Gustavo Mesch. >>READ MORE in the Jerusalem Post.

Prof. Shulamit Almog (Faculty of Law) will become the University's Presidential Advisor for Gender Equality. On the occasion of the appointment, President Ron Robin noted that, “In addition to being a renowned expert in law and gender, law and literature, and law and culture, Prof. Almog is the founder and co-director of the Forum for Gender, Law and Policy at the University of Haifa. Her research and advocacy activities initiated, promoted and shaped the new Law Prohibiting Consumption of Prostitution Services, as well as another important bill aimed at  preventing occupational harassment.” Prof. Almog replaces Prof. Lea Wittenberg (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies).

Credit: University of Haifa UK

The University of Haifa is proud and honored to congratulate Prof. Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, Trustee of the University of Haifa UK, on being awarded the title of Knights Bachelor from the Queen’s New Year’s Honors, in recognition for  services to people with Autism. Prof Baron-Cohen, FBA, FBPsS, FMedSci, is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge who has made major contributions to the study of autism prevalence, screening, genetics and neuroimaging. >>READ MORE

The round dolomite stone bears microscopic signs of grinding.

Archaeologists from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology have unearthed a prehistoric stone grinding tool used for 'delicate' abrading by early humans some 350,000 years ago at the Tabun Caves – a UNESCO World Heritage site on Mt Carmel. Such implements were previously thought to be introduced 200,000 years ago. Researchers collaborating on the dig, Dr. Ron Shimelmitz, Dr. Iris Groman-Yaroslavski, Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron, and Prof. Danny Rosenberg said in a statement, “While the tool is seemingly ‘simple,’ its early appearance and the fact that it has no parallel in such an early stage of human evolution give it world importance.” The discovery has made headlines in local and international media outlets. >>READ MORE in The Times of Israel, Jewish News Syndicate and The Daily Mail. 

Getty Images

A study recently published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology investigated whether irradiation using UV LED would inactivate human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Yoram Gerchman (Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology) a lead author of the multi-institutional research, explains that the findings are an “important step” in the use of UV-LED devices for disinfecting purposes. Researchers believe that UV-LED technology may soon be available for commercial installation in ventilation and water systems in hospitals and industrial settings. Collaborating in the study are scientists from Tel Aviv University, University of Haifa, Oranim Academic College, and Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer. >>READ MORE 

A representation of the tsunami that hit the shores of Israel some 10,000 years ago. 
Credit: University of Haifa

The team, made up of archaeologists and geologists from the University of Haifa, the University of California, San Diego and Utah State University, estimate the wave measured 50-130 feet high and reached 1.5-3.5 kilometers inland. The event is the earliest known tsunami in the Mediterranean and may possibly explain the absence of signs of human habitation in the area between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. However, by the late Neolithic age (around 5,000 BCE), the area was again settled. Research findings, based on excavations conducted in the area of Tel Dor off the coast of Haifa, were recently published in PLOS One and reported in major media outlets in Israel and abroad. >>READ MORE in The Times of Israel and Ynet

Sea anemone are soft-bodied marine animals that resemble flowers.

A collaborative study by Drs. Tamar Lotan and Shani Levy (Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences) and Dr. Mickey Kosloff (Department of Human Biology) has discovered surprising evolutionary similarities in the functioning of the human nervous system and that of the sea anemone. The research found that the neurotransmitter GABA, which regulates the preliminary development of the nervous system in mammals and particularly in humans, follows a similar regulatory process by a receptor from the  family in the sea anemone Nematostella GABA_BR vectensis. This unexpected relationship not only opens new avenues for basic research in neuronal development and evolution, it also offers new possibilities for pharmacological research aimed at finding new drugs for human ailments such as depression and anxiety. Nature Ecology and Evolution, the premiere journal in ecology, evolution, and related fields, published the paper describing these findings:  >>READ OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

A building destroyed by a devastating earthquake that struck Israel in 1927. | Credit: University of Haifa

A study reviewing 220,000 years of Dead Sea geology predicts the occurrence of a major seismic event to hit the region in the next few decades. According to research data uncovered from the Dead Sea seabed, 7.5-magnitude tremors hit the Dead Sea every 1,300-1,400 years – instead of every 10,000 years as previously believed. Since the last quake of such magnitude hit the area in the year 1,033 C.E., we are currently living in a tectonically active period. Dr. Nicolas Waldmann (Dr. Moses Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences), who specializes in sedimentology and seismic stratigraphy analysis, is a co-author of the study which appeared in Science Advances. >>READ MORE  in Ynet