Tel Aviv University gets $16 million grant from Blavatnik Family Foundation
Funds will go toward enhancing programs for drug development, cyber research, film production and recruitment of scientists
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
The Blavatnik Family Foundation said Monday it is giving a $16 million grant to Tel Aviv University to support the multi-year Blavatnik Initiative, which aims to promote interdisciplinary scientific research and development.
Launched in 2014, the Blavatnik Initiative has set up five new centers and funds at TAU, focusing on various fields of science, film production and the recruitment of new researchers. The current grant, which follows previous donations for a total of $40 million to the university, will enable a further development of the centers and the funds.
The centers include the center for drug discovery, which combines biological, chemical and computational research to develop new medications; the cyber and computer science research centers; a film production fund; and the recruitment fund, which supports the recruitment of outstanding young Israeli scientists.
“Len Blavatnik has been a major partner of TAU for many years, exhibiting deep commitment to the advancement of excellence in higher education and research in Israel,” said Prof. Joseph Klafter, the president of the university in a statement, announcing the new grant.
“Our goal in supporting Tel Aviv University is to advance the next discoveries and support future generations of Israeli scientists and researchers,” Len Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries and head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said in the statement.
