THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
The faculty’s research focuses on increasing food production and improving the quality of agricultural products, all while protecting the environment. Can you give us some examples? One example that’s at the crossroad of agricultural and food sciences is our research into sesame cultivars. This ancient grain is a superfood, but it’s still mostly being grown and harvested by hand, with low returns. Through a process of pure breeding, one of our faculty members has created a line of cultivars with enhanced yield and seed quality, suitable for modern agricultural practices. It’s an example of very applied research based on basic knowledge of genetics — as well as of how you can increase production without harming the environment. Another example at the interface between
agricultural activity and environmental sciences is our research into the use of wastewater for irrigation. Israel is a pioneer in the field, with 50 percent of irrigation water in the country having been reclaimed; that’s great in terms of water management, but what’s in it? We found that, when we irrigate with reclaimed wastewater, we’re introducing pharmaceuticals into the agricultural environment. I’m studying the effect of those medications on the soil — whether they can be degraded and, importantly, whether they’re being reintroduced into the food chain.
How do you ensure graduates of the faculty are ready to face an uncertain future? We’re not sure what the world will look like in 2050, but what we do know is that people will need to eat, and to produce food, we need agricultural sectors. We have entrepreneurship and innovation
courses given as part of the curriculum, and most of our students take them. However, they also have to become comfortable with the unknown: that’s the main message that I, as a dean, try to deliver. We don’t give them the right route from A to Z, we want them to find their own way. They need to understand what they don’t understand, design their experiments and, based on the data they get, re-design the next experiment. As a teacher, in some of my exams, there are various ways to answer a question, and I don’t direct students to a specific solution. I want them to bring me their own answer. In Israel, we have a lack of resources
— we don’t have enough water, land or space. Coming up with innovative ideas to meet these challenges is in our culture, it’s part of our DNA, and we encourage students to learn this way — not just to repeat what we teach them in class, but to think independently.
Read a longer version of the interview online at
israelacademia.che.org.il
All the faculty’s master’s programs, PhDs and short post-graduate courses are taught in English, and around 20 percent of its graduate cohort is made up of international students
2022 | Israeli Academia 7
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