The track is open for students who has started the Desert Studies program starting 2022-2023 academic year.
The M.Sc. program is a two-year program.
The chairperson of the teaching committee is: Prof. Osnat Gillor.
Students are required to complete the following courses during the two-year program:
| Subject | Credits |
A. Mandatory courses
B. Core courses
C. Departmental and student seminars
D. Limited choice
E. Elective courses
F. General courses
| 30 |
Thesis writing
| 12 |
| Total | 42 |
A. Mandatory courses:
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credit |
| 001-2-0153 | Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Christopher J. Arnusch | Writing a Scientific Paper
| 2 |
B. Core courses (at least 6 credits):
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3021 | Prof. Itamar Giladi
| Biostatistics (can be completed during the program)
| 3 |
| 001-2-5011 | Prof. Zeev Ronen
| Environmental Microbiology
| 3 |
001-2-5073
| Dr. Max Kolton
| Practical microbial bioinformatics | 3 |
C. Departmental and students seminars - Mandatory Courses:
Students are required to attend 4 departmental seminars (one seminar per semester).
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2222* | Please check the university course file
| French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar*
| 0 |
| 001-2-5555* | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institite for Water Research Seminar*
| 0 |
| 001-2-6666* | Please check the university course file | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar*
| 0 |
* Students will take the seminars at their home institites.
Students are required to present two seminars (one student seminar per year).
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2666 | Please check the university course file | French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 001-2-2667 | Please check the university course file | French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar* | 0.5 |
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9995 | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institite for Water Research Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 001-2-9996 | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institite for Water Research Seminar* | 0.5 |
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 205-2-2521 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2522 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2523 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
* Students will take the seminars at their home institutes.
In the third and fourth semesters, student must register for Thesis writing.
Course #
| | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9991 | Third semester
| Thesis writing A
| 6 |
| 001-2-9992 | Fourth semester
| Thesis writing B
| 6 |
Students who have completed the above thesis writing courses and continue their studies for a fifth semster must register for the following course:
Course #
| | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1000 | | Thesis writing - continuation
| 0 |
D. Limited choice (at least 9 credits):
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2015 | Prof. Dina Zilberg & Prof. Amit Gross
| Introduction to Desert Aquaculture
| 3 |
| 001-2-3086 | Dr. Hadas Hawlena
| Microbial Ecology from the Ecologist point of view
| 3 |
| 001-2-5005 | Prof. Amit Gross & Prof. Zeev Ronen
| Laboratory Methods for Environmental Studies
| 3 |
| 001-2-5010 | Prof. Zeev Ronen
| Groundwater Microbiology
| 2 |
| 001-2-5012 | Prof. Zeev Ronen
| Biodegradation Process of Synthetic Organic Compound in Water soil
| 2 |
| 001-2-5059 | Prof. Osnat Gillor | Water Microbiology
| 3 |
| 001-2-5062 | Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev
| Microbial Sociology: From a Single Bacterium to Biofilm and Biofouling
| 3 |
| 001-2-5063 | Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev
| Lab-course: New Methods in Biofilm Characterization
| 2 |
E. Elective courses (at least 9 credits):
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0009 | Prof. Avraham Be'er | Physics of Bacterial Communities | 3 |
| 001-2-0022 | Dr. Anat Bernstein | Stable Isotope Application in Contaminant Hydrology | 2 |
| 001-2-1103 | Dr. Hadas Hawlana | Introduction to Dryland Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-2021 | Prof. Dina Zilberg
| Aquatic Animal Health
| 3 |
| 001-2-2025/6/7 | Prof. Dina Zilberg
| Practical Fish Diagnosis (A/B/C) (prerequisite: Theoretical fish diseases course) | 1 |
| 001-2-2036 | Prof. Gideon Grafi
| Molecular Biology and Epigenetics
| 2 |
| 001-2-2038 | Prof. Naftali Lazarovich
| Soil Physics
| 2 |
| 001-2-2040 | Prof. Gideon Grafi
| Lab Course in Epigenetetics - A Concentrated course
| 3 |
| 001-2-2046 | Prof. Aaron Fait
| Analysis of Biological Networks
| 2.5 |
| 001-2-2070 | Dr. Inna Khozin-Goldberg (Coordinator)
| Biology and Biotechnology of Microalga
| 3 |
| 001-2-2076 | Dr. Nina Kamennaya
| Practical Environmental Cytometry
| 2.5 |
| 001-2-2080 | Dr. Nina Kamennaya | Physiology of aquatic microbes | 3 |
| 001-2-2290 | Prof. Dina Zilberg
| Aquatic Animal Health - Guided Reading Course | 2 |
| 001-2-3035 | Prof. Berry Pinshow, Prof. Nurit Agam, Prof. Scott Turner & Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Online Course and Field Workshop | 4 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David
| Conservation genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3047 | Prof. Merav Seifan
| Global changes and the biodiversity crisis
| 2 |
| 001-2-3079 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky
| Scientific Presentation | 2 |
| 001-2-3080 | Prof. Michal Segoli
| Evolution of Life Histories | 3 |
| 001-2-3082 | Prof. Itamar Giladi
| Ecology and Evolution of Dispersal | 3 |
| 001-2-3083 | Prof. Merav Seifan
| Community Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3084 | Prof. Michal Segoli
| Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-3094 | Dr. Uri Roll
| Macro ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3333 | Prof. Boris Krasnov
| Guided Reading on the Ecology of Parasites and Parasitism | 2 |
| 001-2-3344 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David
| Guided Reading on Molecular Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3355 | Dr. Hadas Hawlena
| Guided Reading on Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-5028 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Microbial Biofilms in Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes | 2 |
| 001-2-5060 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Biological Processes in Wastewater Treatment | 2 |
| 001-2-5072 | Dr. Max Kolton
| Discussions in microbial ecology | 1 |
F. General Courses (at least 3 credits):
This is a partial list. The student is allowed to select other courses that are related to the area of his/her research with the approval of the supervisor.
Course #
| Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1200 | Prof. Simon Barak & Dr. Buzi Raviv
| BGU Radio Academy – Podcast production course | 2 |
| 001-2-2069 | Prof. Inna Khozin-Goldberg | Prof. Inna Khozin-Goldberg | 3 |
| 001-2-5029 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod
| Rural Water Development | 2 |
| 001-2-5036 | Dr. Avner Ronen
| Environmental micropollutants & emerging contaminants | 2 |
| 001-2-5037 | Dr. Michal Adler Sela
| Organic micropollutant identification and quantification in the lab | 1 |
| 001-2-5069 | Prof. Amit Gross
| Water & the Environment: Current challenges and solutions | 3 |
| 001-2-5129 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod
| Rural Water Development (field trip) Prerequisite: Course # 001-2-5029 | 2 |
| 205-2-1601 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia
| Ecology of Populations | 3 |
| 205-2-1609 | Dr. Shai Pilosoph
| Networks in Biology and Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-4162 | Prof. Michal Segoli
| Insect Ecology | 3 |
| 369-2-3171 | Prof. Ariel Kushmaro
| Microbiology in films, literature, and art | 1 |
| 369-2-6451 | Prof. Ariel Kushmaro | Molecular approaches to microbial ecology and biotechnology | 3 |
| 372-2-5331 | Dr. Assaf Zaritsky
| Data science in cell imaging | 3 |
| IUI* | Dr. Moshe Kiflawi & Prof. Roi Holzman | Statistical Methods in Marine Ecology | 3 |
| IUI* | Prof. Ilana Berman-Frank, Prof. Dan Tchernov & Prof. Nir Keren
| Marine photosynthesis | 3 |
| IUI* | Prof. Daniel Sher, Dr. David Morgenstern, Dr. Tal Luzzatto Knaan | Marine Venoms and Defense Systems | 3 |
* Please refer to the following link http://iui-eilat.ac.il/Courses/Courses.aspx
