Taking the ‘Multiversity’ Vision to the Next Level

 

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all, governors and friends, to the University of Haifa’s 46th Board of Governors Meeting. This festive event occurs at an exciting moment for Israel and the University. Not long ago, we celebrated Israel’s 70th anniversary and its remarkable achievements. Today, we are poised to open our new, expansive Downtown Campus, which marks the first stage of our five-year strategic plan to transform the University of Haifa into Israel’s first “Multiversity”. Driven by continual innovation in education, research, creativity, and entrepreneurship, the Multiversity vision will position the University as a hub for multidisciplinary studies and a catalyst for cutting-edge research, economic development and social mobility in Israel and the North.

 

 

 

 

 

University of Haifa Tower proudly lit up in celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary.

The Multiversity model is especially suited to the current academic climate, which promotes cross-disciplinary teaching and research, easy accessibility, and the increasing need for reskilling. This transformative model also encourages and supports academic mergers and strategic partnerships within Israel, with industry, and abroad. According to the plan, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the University of Haifa will have expanded its academic activities beyond its Mount Carmel Campus to include academic portals in downtown Haifa and the Western Galilee:

 

 

Professor Ron Robin 

University of Haifa President 

The Marine Sciences Portal

(Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, Kibbutz Sdot Yam, Ashkelon and Acre)

The establishment of new coastal branches of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences has enabled a significant expansion of research activities at the departments of Marine Biology, Dr. Moses Strauss Marine Geosciences, Hatter Marine Technologies and Marine Civilizations. Generous donations by Lady Irene and Sir Maurice Hatter and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided for new laboratories and state-of-the-art marine equipment (ROV & AUV) for deep-sea research. Plans are underway to secure a building on the Haifa coast to serve as the future home for marine conservation community outreach programs and research laboratories.

 

The Biotechnology & Health Care Portal

(Helmsley Health Discovery Tower)

We are making great strides in the implementation of our landmark agreement with the Rambam Health Care Campus to build the 20-floor Helmsley Health Discovery Tower. The Tower, located adjacent to the hospital, will help propel Israel’s budding life sciences industry. The building project will create a historic opportunity for joint research and academic opportunities between three leading institutions: Rambam, the University of Haifa and the Technion Medical School. Six floors of the Tower will house University laboratories in the fields of nursing, neurobiology, personalized medicine and related areas. Construction of the Tower, which we hope will begin as early as August 2018, is being supported by a generous $18 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

 

The Engineering Portal

(Karmiel)

Under a new academic agreement, the highly-regarded engineering school, ORT Braude College in the Western Galilee, will become the University of Haifa’s Faculty of Engineering. Its location will afford us a unique opportunity to introduce university-level education to students in the region and will expand the University’s contribution to Israel’s fast growing high-tech industry. The academic merger is being made possible with the support of the governmental Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC); the Jewish National Fund, and the Karmiel Municipality.

 

The Industrial Design Portal

(Downtown Haifa)

The NB Haifa School of Design, located in downtown Haifa, is set to become the University’s new Faculty of Design and Architecture. Plans to integrate the School’s academic and professional activities into the University are being supported by the PBC, which is providing interim financing for the project. The project is currently in a holding pattern due to a court ruling on the composition of the School’s executive council.

 

The Downtown Campus Portal

Situated in the heart of Haifa’s ‘up and coming’ port district, the University of Haifa’s new Downtown Campus will be a leading academic and research hub for the rapidly growing fields of computer and information sciences, digital health, big data, and artificial intelligence. This portal will consist of several buildings dedicated to expanding the University’s STEM offerings. In honor of a generous gift by the Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, one of the four buildings will be named the Dylan Tauber Building.

  

 

The new Dylan Tauber Building at the Downtown Campus. 

The China Portal

With the establishment of this portal, the University has expanded its academic and research activities to Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou. A major agreement with Hangzhou Wahaha Group and the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA) is establishing three joint Artificial Intelligence Technology Centers in Haifa, Beijing and Hangzhou. A partnership with the East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai led to the establishment of the ECNU-UH Joint Translational Science & Technology Research Institute at the ECNU campus that will serve as a hub for joint research, mainly in the areas of high-tech, statistics, neurosciences and marine sciences.

 

The multiplicity of portals enables the University to fulfill its commitment to cultivate the next generation of professionals, researchers and academics in a wide range of fields of knowledge and promote upward mobility for ethnic and social minorities and the expansion of professional opportunities for all members of the Start-up Nation.

I look forward to sharing with you this challenging and inspiring vision and value your ongoing partnership, support and thoughtful advice.