News about Hebrew University, its faculty and students

• Using tobacco to fight malaria
  Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have developed an anti-malaria drug using tobacco. Professor Alexander Vainstein and graduate student Moran Farhi have genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce artemisinin - the herb used in cancer and malaria drugs. Medical communities agree that to control malaria requires treatment with artemisinin-based therapies. But artemisinin-based drugs are expensive to produce.
  
  
• HU researchers win four of five 2012 Rothschild Prizes
  Four out of five Rothschild Prizes for academic excellence will be awarded to Hebrew University researchers. The $50,000 award serves to support, encourage and advance the sciences and humanities in Israel.
  
  
• 4 HU professors awarded 2011 EMET Prize
  Four professors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will receive the EMET Prize from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Nov. 20, 2011. The EMET Prize is given annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and make significant contributions to society.
  
  
• HU reaches 23,000 enrollment
  The 2011-2012 academic year at the |Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened October 30 with an enrolment of nearly 23,000 students. Among the areas of study that were most in demand, with the highest numbers of those submitting registration for the first year of studies, were medicine, with 1,373; law, with 1,090; economics, with 1,012; dental medicine, with 983; business administration, with 876; psychology, with 796; and accounting, with 722.
  
  
• HU ranks 57th in world
  The Hebrew University is the only Israeli university to make it to the top 100 list, publically annually by China's by Jiao Tong University. Tel Aviv University, Weizmann Institute and Haifa's Technion also placed on list of best 150 universities worldwide.
  
  
• Reflections from 'accidential students' at HU
  Jerusalem, May 27, 2011 — Twelve students, who were evacuated during the rioting in Egypt in early February and given refuge at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, reflect on their changing perspectives as their semester at the university draws to a close.
  
  
• HU receives $500,000 to digitize 80,000 Einstein documents
  Jerusalem, March 14, 2011 — A grant from London's Polonsky Foundation will enable the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to digitize its Albert Einstein Archives. The project will ensure the preservation and accessibility online to researchers and students everywhere for over 80,000 documents in the archives.
  
  
• HU welcomes 12 displaced Americans who were studying in Egypt
  13 February 2011 – The Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem welcomes 12 displaced American students who were forced to discontinue their university studies in Egypt amid the recent political turmoil.
  
  
• HU professor (and first Israeli) appointed to European Scientific Council
  10 February 2011 — Hebrew University Prof. Danny Dolev has been named one of seven new members appointed by the European Commission to the Scientific Council, the governing body of the European Research Council. He is the first Israeli to serve on the council, which is composed of 22 distinguished scientists and scholars. Dolev is a leading computer scientist and engineer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Scientists at HU have been consistently ranked among the top recipients of European Research Council grants, along with Britain’s Oxford and Cambridge universities.
  
  
• 10 HU young researchers awarded European Union research grants worth more than 12 million euros
  Ten young researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded competitive research grants by the European Research Council (ERC), totaling more than 12 million euros. The achievement places the Hebrew University first in Israel in the number of grants awarded to its researchers this year from the ERC.
  
  
• High level of satisfaction shown in Hebrew University student survey
  A survey conducted by the administration of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has shown a high level of satisfaction on the part of students. The results showed that 73% of the bachelor’s degree students and 78% of the master’s degree students responded that, in general, they were highly satisfied as students of the university.
  
  
• 2010 academic year to open at Hebrew University with more than 23,000 students
  Prof. Elon Lindenstrauss of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem today received the Fields Medal for 2010 – a prize regarded as the “Nobel Prize” in mathematics that is awarded once in four years. He was the first Israeli to be awarded the medal.
  
  
• Hebrew University professor first Israeli to win top mathematics medal considered equivalent to Nobel
  Prof. Elon Lindenstrauss of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem today received the Fields Medal for 2010 – a prize regarded as the “Nobel Prize” in mathematics that is awarded once in four years. He was the first Israeli to be awarded the medal.
  
  
• Sderot teens enjoying summer science camp at Hebrew University backed by HU Canadian Friends and Committee for a Secure Sderot
  At a time when Sderot and areas in the south of Israel have again come under renewed rocket attacks, some 200 Sderot teenagers, ages 13-18, are currently enjoying a summer camp experience thanks to the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Committee for a Secure Sderot.
  
  
• Oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem discovered by Hebrew University researchers
  A tiny clay fragment – dating from the 14th century B.C.E. – that was found in excavations outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls contains the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem, say researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The find, believed to be part of a tablet from a royal archives, further testifies to the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the Late Bronze Age, long before its conquest by King David, they say.
  
  
• Hebrew University among ‘best institutions to work for’
  Two of the five best international academic institutions to work in are the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot (second place) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (fifth), according to the eighth annual survey conducted by The Scientist magazine, the results of which were announced on Tuesday, June 29, 2010.
  
  
• Two new Vice Presidents appointed at Hebrew University: Billy Shapira and Prof. Shy Arkin
  Director-General of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Billy Shapira, and Head of the Authority for Research and Development, Prof. Shy Arkin, were appointed to the positions of Vice President at the 73rd meeting of the Hebrew University Board of Governors in June 2010.
  
  
• Hebrew University ranked in top 100 universities in world, fourth in Asia Pacific Region
  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been ranked 64th among the world’s 100 top universities in the new Academic Ranking of World Universities issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. The ranking is one position higher than last year. The Hebrew University was the only Israeli institution included in the top 100. Topping the list were the American universities Harvard, Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley.


• Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson elected president of Hebrew University
  Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, a former rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was elected today as president of the university. The election, based on the recommendation of a search committee, came at the closing session of the 72nd meeting of the university's Board of Governors. Following the election, Prof. Ben-Sasson said that “these are difficult times. Our planet is not as it was. Economic uncertainty and the worldwide financial crisis affect many areas of activity; the academic arena is varied and competitive; the public standing of higher education is in great need of improvement.
  

• Established with lead gift from Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation – largest donation ever given to establish research center in Israel
  Israel's largest institute for brain research will be launched next week at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The new $130 million Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (or ELSC) will be announced in the presence of Mrs. Lily Safra. The Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation has made a lead donation of $50 million to the project, and the Hebrew University is seeking additional funding from its friends in Israel and around the world.
  
  
• If not for the Holocaust, there could have been 32 million Jews in the world today, says Hebrew University scholar
  If it were not for the Holocaust, the number of Jews in the world would likely today be at least 26 million, and perhaps even as much as 32 million, says Prof. Sergio DellaPergola of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. DellaPergola, a world renowned figure in Jewish demography, is Shlomo Argov Professor of Israel-Diaspora Relations and director of the Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University. “The Holocaust struck a deep blow to the demographic, cultural and social fabric of the Jewish people in many ways and with long-range consequences,” says DellaPergola. In 1939 there were 16½ million Jews in the world, and in 1945 the number was estimated at 11 million, he said. . In an article to be published soon in the journal “Bishvil Hazikaron” of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Prof. DellaPergola provides his analyses of the demographic damage to the Jewish people resulting from the Holocaust.