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Tel Aviv University | 2020 How COVID-19 Sparked a Learning Revolution th in the world 30,000 8for graduates with successful startups 2,500 students international Israel's largest university students TOP Reuters 15 TOP global st 100 st film school 1 in Israel: Innovation University in Israel: US patents number1 and impact of scientific publications Officers of Tel Aviv University Prof. Jacob A. Frenkel Chairman of the Board of Governors Mr. Eli Gelman Chairman of the Executive Council Prof. Ariel Porat President Prof. Mark Shtaif Rector Mr. Gady Frank Director-General Prof. Milette Shamir Vice President Prof. Dan Peer Vice President for Research and Development Mr. Amos Elad Vice President for Resource Development Mr. Robert Goldberg, Dr. h.c. Michael H. Steinhardt Chairmen Emeriti of the Board of Governors Dear Friends, Dr. h.c. Dame Shirley Porter, Dr. h.c. Jeremy The 2020-21 academic year has rolled out under the shadow of the ongoing Coller corona crisis, but this situation hasn’t held back the University, its marvelous Deputy Chairpersons of the Board of Governors people and its remarkable innovations in the service of Israel and the world. Dr. h.c. Sylvan Adams, Dr. h.c. Marcus Besen, In this, the inaugural issue of a revamped TAU Review, we share with you Dr. h.c. Josef Buchmann, Dr. h.c. Boaz Dotan, exciting developments on campus. Leveraging TAU’s ability to get bright minds Mr. James Dubin, Dr. Anita Friedman, Dr. h.c. Sami Sagol from different fields working together, we launched several interdisciplinary Vice Chairpersons of the Board of Governors initiatives such as the Center for Combating Pandemics (a global first); the Jack, Ms. Dafna Meitar-Nechmad, Dr. Anita Friedman Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for the Humanities in STEM; and a cross- Co-Chairs of the TAU Global Campaign cultural Entrepreneurship Accelerator. Two new projects, the Shmunis School Prof. Eyal Zisser of Biomedicine and Cancer Research and the Taube-Koret Global Collaboration Vice Rector in Neurodegenerative Diseases, both further top goals of boosting academic, Prof. Yaron Oz Pro-Rector industry and international research ties. At the same time, the University is Prof. Eran Neuman breaking down gender stereotypes, for example with prominent women scholars Dean of the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty in Talmud Studies. of the Arts And of course there are the students–our great pride and the nation’s Prof. Yossi Rosenwaks promise. Both last spring and this year, our students have had to brave COVID-19 Dean of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering restrictions and remote learning. One response we’ve made is to dramatically Prof. Tova Milo rethink online education and pave the way toward more effective digital learning. Dean of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty Another response has been to recognize the severe financial distress that many of Exact Sciences of our students are experiencing, and to harness TAU and donor funds toward Prof. Rachel Gali Cinamon helping them continue with their studies. Dean of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities During these challenging days, I have drawn strength and inspiration from the Prof. Sharon Hannes TAU leadership and community, and especially from TAU’s global circle of friends Dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law and supporters. Their dedication is heartwarming. Prof. Abdussalam Azem Dean of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences Prof. Moshe Zviran Regards, Dean of the Coller School of Management Prof. Ehud Grossman Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Prof. Itai Sened Dean of the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty Prof. Ariel Porat of Social Sciences President, Tel Aviv University Prof. Tova Most Dean of Students Prof. Liat Kishon Rabin Dean of Innovation in Learning and Teaching 1 Opening Gates and Scaling Mountains 12 The TAU women who are breaking convention in the Jewish World Combating Pandemics 8 New TAU Center to tackle global pandemics from a strategic, multidisciplinary perspective Enemies: A Love Story 18 Iran's trapped Jewish minority in photos Issued by the Strategic Communications Dept. Development and Public Affairs Division Big Ideas 8 Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel Tel: +972 3 6408249 Fax: + 972 3 6407080 TLV Perspectives 18 E-mail: [email protected] www.tau.ac.il Global Campaign 22 COVID-19 Student Aid 23 Editor: Melanie Takefman COVID-19 Student Aid Campaign Contributors: Rava Eleasari, Ruti Ziv, Idit Nirel, Change-Makers 25 helps students who need it most Lisa Kremer, Lindsey Zemler, Rafael Ben-Menashe, Sugandh P. Ojha Graphic Design: Issi Dvir TLV Blog 28 Cover and Inside Front Cover Photos: Yoram Reshef Contributing Photographers: Yoram Reshef, Alumni 32 Moshe Bedarshi, Hasan Sarbakhshian, Yehonatan Zur, Yoav Klarman, Yael Tzur, Noam Wind, Muki Schwartz, Omer Levi, Engineers without Borders- News in Brief 34 TAU. Administrative Assistant: David Jozsef Printing: Shavit Print The Social Page 36 Follow us! Global TAU 2 COVER STORY COVER The Virtual TAU Team Academic First Responders How TAU spearheaded a learning revolution in the wake of COVID-19 By Idit Nirel four years ago. His course, "Labor Law," hen COVID-19 broke in Israel in is a hybrid course. This means that Wmid-March and the country shut students study theoretical materials on down, Tel Aviv University decided to their own through online videos of his continue teaching all courses online— lectures, and the in-person sessions are almost overnight. dedicated to discussions and analyzing While many professors and students the latest case studies. Mundlak's struggled to adapt, Prof. Guy Mundlak motivation to go digital preceded was ready. COVID-19, and arose for completely Mundlak, who teaches both at the different reasons: “Teaching this course Buchmann Faculty of Law and the for over 20 years, I couldn’t reinvent Department of Labor Studies at the the wheel and find new ways to teach Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, the same material every time," he says. made the change to online teaching So he decided to make the course 3 make lessons more engaging. These included splitting the class into virtual workgroups, using shared documents or creating classroom quizzes to spur discussions. COVER STORY COVER They also conducted large-scale surveys to evaluate how students The coronavirus crisis profoundly disrupted higher learn online and to assess satisfaction. education and forced it to make the transition to the According to these surveys, which reached 7,000 students and 750 digital world—this is exactly the kind of disruption faculty members, the vast majority that was needed. of students said they would like to incorporate online learning into their studies in the future. Like other universities around digital as a way to refresh it. This is the unit responsible for enhancing the world, TAU also faced the new why, for Mundlak, online learning is the University’s digital teaching challenge of conducting online exams not a constraint, but rather it opens environment and resources. and evaluations. While spring semester up new opportunities: "The format According to her, “online courses or exams were conducted from home allows students to learn the general integrating digital methods into other with supervisors overseeing students concepts at their own pace, and I can courses allow for more personalized through Zoom, TAU is now introducing focus my classroom lessons on what learning that is customized to a pilot computerized authentication interests us here and now, without students’ needs.” At the same time, system for online exams. The new worrying if I’ve covered all the material “online learning can provide students technology will secure online exams in the classroom in time for the exam," with skills for lifelong learning, which by verifying students’ identity and he explains. “This approach leaves are crucial for success in today's labor monitoring their presence and me more room for spontaneity, for market—such as time management activities during the exam. Although dealing with matters of the hour, and the ability to learn independently.” this is a big step forward, Soffer is and for diving deep into topics with aware that in the long run adopting the students. As a result, I don’t just COVID-19 Pushes Learning Online more and more of these technologies lecture to my students; I engage and As the coronavirus spread in Israel may be intrusive and make students involve them in issues that touch their and lockdown appeared imminent, feel as if “big brother” is watching. everyday lives—which is actually the Soffer and her team were already “We need to maintain a balance best way to learn.” working around the clock to facilitate between technology and ensuring With the pandemic and the shift to online studies. It was a the students’ privacy.” Rather than lockdown crushing the success. More than 90,000 live relying on anti-cheating applications, economy, Mundlak's online lessons took place over Soffer says, in the future the University course became the spring semester, and should also encourage alternative especially relevant thousands of lessons were evaluation methods. These include to his students. He recorded, to allow students essays, collaborative student projects, dedicated his classes— to study on their own time. or open-book exams that require taught via Zoom—to All in all, online learning students to reflect on the topics employment issues that Dr. Tal Soffer during the first lockdown learned, minimizing the need for emerged during the Corona accounted for more than 50,000 digital exams as the main determinant pandemic, such as the ramifications hours and 10 terabits in digital volume. of success in the course. of layoffs and furloughs. Because most Soffer and her team set up a "The coronavirus crisis profoundly of his students had been working technical support hotline for online disrupted higher education and forced as waiters or in other hourly jobs to learning; they received as many it to make the transition to the digital finance their studies, these subjects as 700 calls per day.