TABLE OF CONTENTS ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENTS page RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT page Vision Statement 3 Introduction 69 Structure and By-Laws 10 Research at the Faculties 70 Academic Review 12 Distribution of Research among Faculties 88 Recognition of Excellence 14 Regional Desks 89 New Faculty 26 Yissum 95 Candidates, Students, and Student Services 28 Prizes and Honors 98 News from the Faculties and 35 In Summary 106 Schools University of the Jewish 54 People Saltiel Pre-Academic Center 59 Truman Institute 61 STUDENT AFFAIRS Gender Issues 62 Office, Dean of Students 107 Authority for Research 63 Hillel 113 Students Academic Cooperation 66 In Memory 67 In Appreciation 68 REPORT BY THE RECTOR 2008 Report by the Rector ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENTS VISION STATEMENT I hereby present to you my final report as, after serving as Rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for two terms, I will be stepping down at the end of September 2008 and shall return to my Faculty and lab to devote my time exclusively to my research in horticulture. I want to begin by saying that I look with satisfaction and pride upon these seven years that I have served my University as Rector, and believe that the University has been changed during this period despite the vicious terror attack on July 31, 2002 on Mt. Scopus with the murder of nine innocent people and wounding of over one hundred others; the severe budget cuts; war; students' strike; faculty strike, and the malicious attempts of boycotting Israeli academia and academicians. Due to its excellent staff and students, the Hebrew University has managed to overcome these and other hardships and has taken a quantum academic leap forward in the course of these years. Around the world, the Hebrew University is a trademark both for the State of Israel and for the Jewish people. In May 2001, before I began my first term as Rector, I submitted to my peers a brief outline of the points I believed that the University would have to deal with in order to maintain and further its excellence on the level of the best universities in the world, to improve on structure, and to enhance faculty satisfaction. These were: • Innovation and improvement in research and teaching requires cooperation and integration between disciplines: thus there is a need for reorganization of existing programs and units and opening new programs, many of them interdisciplinary. • Encouraging students' excellence – can be achieved through a system of merit scholarships providing incentive to attract the best candidates and improve the results in studies and research. • Absorption of excellent young faculty is the first step in building the future of every academic unit in particular and the University in general. This requires meticulous choice of new staff and rational allocation. Process of appointments and promotions - were impossibly lengthy, and badly needed revision and improved transparency. • Gender ratio at the University, both among graduate students and faculty was imbalanced and required immediate attention. 3 2008 Report by the Rector At the end of my term I am happy to say that the University adopted and implemented the proposed changes or has made significant progress in all these action points, though some (e.g., gender equality among faculty) require very long terms to complete. I would like to briefly review some of the innovations made during the seven years of my terms as Rector in these areas, all with the cooperation of the President of the University, Prof. Menachem Magidor, the Deans, and faculty. Quality Assurance Monitoring as means for quality assurance - As a part of its commitment to academic excellence in an increasingly global environment, for the last four years the Hebrew University has hosted regular visits by international committees to its academic units and research centers (See page 12). The Reports by the internationally renowned scholars together with the academic unit’s reaction are discussed by the Committee for Academic Policy [http://www.huji.ac.il/huji/eng/unit_bakara_e.htm] and the resolutions implemented. Hence, the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies was closed down, whereas successful programs such as Philosophy, Economics and Political Science [http://pep.huji.ac.il/homehb.html] were granted additional funding means and positions. Organizational and Structural changes, and establishment of new interdisciplinary programs: A School of History was established to serve as an organizational framework for combined academic effort and collaboration among scholars researching and teaching the different fields of history. [http://www.hum.huji.ac.il/units.php?cat=1272&incat=0] A School of Literature was established as a broad and interdisciplinary organizational framework to coordinate literature studies in the Faculty of Humanities and encourage the exchange of information and cooperation between the departments, the researchers and students of various fields of literature. [http://www.hum.huji.ac.il/units.php?cat=1359&incat=0] A Center for Environmental Studies has been established, bringing together researchers and students from six Faculties thus encouraging dialogue and joint research between scholars in the fields of economics, law, geography, agriculture, medicine, earth sciences, humanities, and biological disciplines. 4 2008 Report by the Rector The Center for Neural Computation serves as an interdisciplinary unit for the study of the brain, and trains students to address various aspects of mode of the brain’s structure, performance and activity. This rapidly growing field at the forefront of the sciences and technology brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, brain studies, physics, computer sciences, neurobiology, molecular biology and more. This Center received a citation twice by the European Union (in 2000 and in 2004) as a “Center of Excellence”. [http://icnc.huji.ac.il/] In the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences the amalgamation of the three Plant Science Departments into the Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture turned out to be a great success [http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/plantscience/]. (see page 49). This move set as a model for other University units, in and outside the Faculty. A few examples follow: The four new thrusts currently under realization, i.e., the implementation of the Gager committee and restructuring of the Faculty of Humanities already on its way (see page 35); the conceptual and restructuring of the Faculty of Agriculture (see page 49 the construction of the Brain Center and the establishment of the IMR (see page 45). In the Faculty of Medicine the Institute of Microbiology and the Institute of Health Sciences merged to form the Institute of Medical Research (IMR). This enables young innovators and internationally renowned leaders to work together across disciplines and unite their areas of expertise to achieve a deeper understanding of the human body and its genetic makeup. In the new IMR these insights are leading to life-saving discoveries protective of human health, now and in future years. [http://medicine.huji.ac.il/UnitDetails_Heb.aspx?UnitID=12] In the Faculty of Dental Medicine eight departments were amalgamated into the Institute of Dental Sciences providing enhancement of mutual interests concerning teaching, research of the different dental scientific issues, lab spaces and shared research instruments. [http://dental.huji.ac.il/newEsite/departments/institute/instituteindex.html] (see page 47) In the Faculty of Social Sciences the Department of Demography merged with Sociology and Anthropology in an effort to increase efficiency and exposure to undergraduate students with an increase of interaction between students specializing in sociology, anthropology, and demography. [http://sociology.huji.ac.il/] In the Faculty of Science, the School of Applied Science closed down and the group of applied chemists joined the Institute of Chemistry [http://chemistry.huji.ac.il/] and 5 2008 Report by the Rector those of applied physicists joined the Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering, thus becoming the founding unit for the establishment of teaching and research programs in specialized branches of computer engineering, such as in microelectronics and optoelectronics. [http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/site/index.php].Water scientists joined the Department of Soil and Water Sciences thus strengthening the research and teaching capacities at the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences and the University’s strength in water sciences. [http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/soils/] The Federmann School of Public Policy and Governance combines interdisciplinary research with degree studies to contribute to the enrichment and professional training of senior officials in the central civil service, in the local governments and in other public bodies. [http://public-policy.huji.ac.il/] Additional new teaching and research Centers that have been established include: The Swiss Center for Conflict Research Management and Resolution aimed at training students in this specific field [http://crmr.huji.ac.il/], The Gilo Center for Citizenship, Democracy and Civic Education designed to upgrade civic education in research and practice in academia and in the public school system [http://gilocenter.huji.ac.il/]; Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies which conducts a range of multiyear research activities on an interdisciplinary