Joint US-Israeli academic works jumps 45% in past decade

“This landmark report shows that the relationship between American and Israeli universities is stronger than ever.”

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
A scientist prepares protein samples for analysis in a lab at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton (photo credit: REUTERS)
A scientist prepares protein samples for analysis in a lab at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Academic collaboration between US and Israeli institutions increased by some 45% over the course of the last 10 years, according to a study released this week by the Israel on Campus Coalition.
The report, conducted in collaboration with the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, found that 4,979 joint Israel-US publications were produced with at least one researcher each from a US and Israeli institute in 2015, up from 3,439 joint publications in 2006.
“This landmark report shows that the relationship between American and Israeli universities is stronger than ever,” said Jacob Baime, executive-director for the coalition.
“At a time when Israel’s detractors are calling for academic boycotts across the nation, the faculty have been undeterred in their work to solve some of the world’s most intractable problems through their important research.”
The study found that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the US university with the most joint academic publications, 1,835, with at least one Israeli co-author between 2006 and 2015. University of California-Berkeley had 1,697, Columbia University had 1,596 and Harvard had 1,451. The University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and the California Institute of Technology all topped 1,000 joint publications.
The findings further found that the highest number of joint US-Israel publications during this time period was in the field of medicine, followed by physics and astronomy, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology and computer sciences.
The study also examined US-Israel student mobility during the same decade and found that the number of American students who attended Israeli universities increased by 67% from the 2005-2006 academic year to that of 2015-2016.
“Our in-depth study of the expansive collaboration between American and Israeli academics shows a deep bond that is vital for the advancement of research in medicine, physics, biochemistry, agriculture, computer science and many other disciplines,” said Dr. Daphne Getz, the lead researcher for the Samuel Neaman Institute. “One can expect these collaborations to continue to grow at a significant pace in the months and years ahead.”