In the last Evenari Symposium, we honored Prof. Moshe Sagi (Gizi) on the occasion of his retirement. Gizi was and continues to be one of the leading plant stress researchers in the world. His lab activities combine basic research and its application, in the service of meeting current agricultural needs, and applied research aimed at enhancing the agricultural economy in arid zones by introducing new crops and developing new agro-techniques. For example, some of his studies have involved improving the salt-resistance and fruit quality of tomatoes and other vegetable crops, while other studies focused on using highly saline water for developing cash-crop halophytes, such as Salicorina and Portulaca. In particular, I would like to note that despite his retirement, Gizi maintains a very active lab, and he is currently supervising a PhD student and three postdocs. On this occasion, I would like to wish Gizi continued fruitful research and lots of health. Our summer course, Sustainable Agricultural Solutions, will be held next month under the coordination of Dr. Natalie De Falco. The course will provide students with access to cutting-edge knowledge and technology related to agricultural practices. It offers the opportunity to explore a combination of both basic and applied research in agricultural and environmental topics during frontal lessons, practical investigation into the topics, and integration between these components. Over the years, about 300 students have participated in the summer course; approximately 15% continued on to study at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) for their graduate degrees. This year, for the first time, we have opened the course to students from other countries. We received 240 applications and were able to accept 30 students from 10 countries. The students will arrive next month and will participate in many activities in the classroom and in the field. They will also visit the Ramat HaNegev and the Central Arava R&D Centers. I encourage all of you to meet these students. Maybe one of them will be your next excellent student. The Faculty of Engineering Sciences at BGU is one of the strongest faculties at the university. Today it comprises approximately 200 researchers in very diverse fields and 6000 students. Some of the researchers deal with agricultural and environmental issues or fields of study that can complement our groundbreaking agricultural research. The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and BGU offer various funding opportunities for research and scholarships for joint projects between students from different faculties. This funding, thus, can enable the special combination created by joining our research topics with advanced engineering capabilities and innovative computational tools. Two collaborations that will soon get underway demonstrate this connection and are detailed in this newsletter. I highly recommend that everyone keep up to date with what's going on in the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, make connections with their researchers, and perhaps in the future, initiate a collaboration that may lead to groundbreaking research. On June 22, there will be a conference of the Faculty of Engineering where hundreds of engineering projects will be presented. At this conference, you will be able to get an impression of their wide range of activities and also meet fourth-year students who are finishing their undergraduate studies and may be in search of a graduate adviser. Best, Naftali |
פלטפורמת שיווק
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