Israeli universities look forward to increased involvement in FP5
Even before the EU-Israel Association agreement entered into force in May 1999, allowing Israeli researchers and industrialists to participate as full members in the European Commission's RTD Framework programmes, its universities were already looking to increase collaboration with Europe. Now key figures in Israeli academia are encouraging researchers in their institutions to embrace the potential of the Fifth RTD Framework programme, as CORDIS News discovered from the Tel Aviv-based organisation 'ISERD', which aims to encourage European and Israeli cooperation in FP5. 'Israel wanted to integrate into European research,' explains Shlomo Herskovic, who is Deputy director general for planning and information at Israel's Council for higher education planning and budgeting committee (PBC). 'Research is one thing in which Israel is international. It was an important long term investment, important to learn the rules of the game. We see European science as an area of growth - something Israel couldn't afford to stay out of.' Israel spends 3.5 per cent of its GDP on civilian R&D, making it the second biggest spender in this area after Sweden in the world, says Professor Paul Singer, Chairman of the Executive board of the Israel science foundation. 'Spending on defence R&D is huge,' he says, 'but studies showed that technology transfer from defence was not so important as people and education.' This, he believes, is what has fed Israel's thriving high-tech sector. The Council for higher education PBC distributes about 50 per cent of all R&D funds in Israel, amounting to some US$ 47 to 48 million. The money is distributed between Israel's seven institutions of higher education and research institutes: Bar-Ilan University; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Technion-Israel institute of technology; Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa; the Weizmann institute of science and the Agricultural research organisation. Israeli science has very international characteristics, Singer continues. Some 96 per cent of Israeli authored scientific articles published in the natural sciences and technology are published in foreign journals, he says, adding that Israeli university professors produce close to 1 per cent of world journal articles. In addition, the size of research groups in Israel increased in the 1990s as a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union, and benefited from a PBC programme to increase the number of post doctoral fellows in the universities from 150 in 1987 to 600 in 1995. 'The Israeli academic establishment had very good international ties even before the Framework programme,' says Paul Singer. 'To get a faculty position, you had to show you had ties abroad,' he explains. 'Networking is very much to our taste. Our system has a built-in facility for sabbaticals.' Every seventh year, faculty members have to travel, supported by funds given to them as part of their salaries. Most PhD recipients in Israel go abroad for their post doctoral research training and approximately 40 per cent of the younger senior academic staff hired by the Israeli universities in the 1980s and early '90s received their PhDs abroad, says Singer. Traditionally, Israeli researchers headed for the USA, but are now going increasingly to the UK, Germany and France. Singer recently met with the European Commission's Director General for research, Achilleas Mitsos, with whom, amongst other things, he discussed the Commission's concept of a European research area (ERA). 'There are things we like,' says Singer, although he and his colleagues are concerned that focusing too much on a few centres of excellence in Europe may be detrimental to competition. 'We don't know how the Commission wants to do this,' says Singer. 'If it were to the detriment of science and to Israel's participation...[we] would prefer funding for short periods and then moving on...As far as the universities are concerned we believe in strengthening basic research.' Each university receives a share of the budget depending on their research output. Shlomo Herskovic's office bases its decisions on indices of the share of competitive grants each university receives, on the amount of non-competitive research funds from industry and foreign governments, and on the number of doctoral students and their share of scientific publications, as well as quality indices including the science citation index. The Israeli academy of science and humanities also funds academic research, focusing on areas it believes needs nurturing. Three years ago the academy also set up a separate foundation called 'FIRST', for 'focal research initiatives in science and technology'. FIRST gives grants to interdisciplinary fields including nanotechnology, computer sciences and social science including linguistics. What makes access to the Commission's Framework programme desirable in addition to this kind of support, say the universities, is the opportunity it gives to work with experts in Europe. 'The potential is fantastic. It's a matter of learning the system and building the right consortia,' Ilan Chet, Vice president for research and development at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told CORDIS News. 'When we entered the Fourth Framework programme (FP4) ...our rate of success was 26 per cent for acceptance of projects...now [under the Fifth Framework programme (FP5)] we have 46 projects.' His university now has funds to Israeli researchers to work in Europe where he also sends delegations. 'Before we entered the EU [Framework programme] we weren't used to working with this system. Groups were between countries but not consortia as in the EU. The university brings money from its own budget to research and spends several million on stimulating cooperation. Participation is a very important factor.' Dr Yosef Yarden, a Professor of molecular biology and Vice President for academic affairs at the Weizmann institute are also optimistic about the potential benefits from participation in FP5. 'We are steadily doing better...and we want to continue to do better,' he says. So far, the Wiezmann institute, which focuses purely on scientific research (it has no undergraduates) is participating in nearly 50 projects under FP5, one third of which are funded through the Quality of Life and management of living resources programme. 'The research programmes we're doing well in are the most accessible to scientists,' says Dr Yarden. 'The potential is much bigger.' At the Technion-Israel institute of technology, Managing Director of the Technion R&D Foundation, Ran Kobo, also aims to improve his institution's current 30 per cent success rate for participation in FP5. 'We are looking for ways to participate in continuing education...and to develop coordinating abilities in the Technion, he tells CORDIS News. 'Lets say we have identified participation and success in FP5 as a strategic goal.'