Universities hunger for more government funding, officials say

Relying on private funds and foreign groups to fund basic research is not the way to develop Israeli tech, top scientist warns

Illustrative: Students attend a lecture at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. (Abir Sultan/Flash90)
Illustrative: Students attend a lecture at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. (Abir Sultan/Flash90)

Israeli universities raised NIS 1.7 billion (about $430 million) in the 2014 academic year — an increase of 9% over the year before — but it’s still far less than the institutions need to do proper research, according to a top official of the Science, Technology, and Space Ministry.

“Israeli researchers are competing with their colleagues from around the world for resources from top funds, and their ability to get funding from these organizations is testimony to the high level of research in Israel,” said Professor Nurit Yirmiya, the ministry’s Chief Scientist.

“With that, Israel does not budget enough funds for basic research, a critical building block for the development of advanced technologies that will have a positive effect on the entire economy,” she added.

The money, raised from private research funds, corporate funds, and private foundations in Israel and abroad, went to seven Israeli universities covered in the annual report issued last week by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

But the money was not split evenly among institutions; the biggest “winner” was Hebrew University, which got NIS 464 million ($116 million), NIS 70 million than in the 2013 academic year. Hebrew U was followed by Tel Aviv University, at NIS 373 million ($93 million), the Weizmann Institute at NIS 287 million ($72 million), the Technion with NIS 242 million ($62 million), Ben-Gurion University at NIS 204 million ($51 million), Bar-Ilan University with NIS 105 million ($26 million), and Haifa University at NIS 78 million ($19.5 million).

Overall, 54% of the external funding went to scientific research, 10% for medical research, 16% for architecture and engineering, 4% for agriculture, and 15% for social sciences. Hebrew University led for fundraising in the latter category, which includes education, law, and psychology, as well as in science and medical research. The Weizmann Institute was the top fundraiser in computer research, physics, and biology.

“The high level of research at Hebrew University is the reason the school is able to raise large amounts of money from external sources,” said Professor Isaac Ben-Israel, chairman of the the National Committee for Research and Development. “The overall amount of money raised by Israeli universities is evidence of respect for the work we do here in Israel, but it is also worrying, because the fact that universities need to raise money from external sources means that the government is not providing enough funding for research.”

It’s a sentiment Yirmiya agrees with. Israeli institutions have long been starved for research funding, expenses for research are climbing, and it is having a debilitating effect on the quality of work being done here, she said.

“Israeli universities fell this year on the Shanghai Index,” considered one of the most reliable rankings of educational institutions. In 2014, for example, Hebrew University was ranked the 70th best higher education institution in the world – down from 59th, the place it held in 2013. The Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan and Ben Gurion University all fell in the rankings as well (the Technion rose slightly).

With Israel’s latest round of elections now behind it, a new government is set to be formed in the coming weeks – and it would behoove officials to pay attention to the issue of academic research funding, said Yirmiya.

“One of the objectives of the Ministry is to help institutions raise more money from funds and by helping to foster connections with foreign institutions and governments,” steps that will help, she said – but in the final analysis, Israel’s university research programs are Israel’s responsibility.

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