Twenty-eight undergraduates from North America participated in the Bar-Ilan University-Yeshiva University’s 12th annual Summer Science Research Internship Program this past summer.
A joint Bar-Ilan University-Yeshiva University initiative, the program enables students to gain hands-on experience in emerging scientific fields while being mentored by some of Israel’s finest scientists.
During the seven-week research experience, the students conduct intensive internships in the University’s STEM research laboratories with faculty members from BIU’s Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA), Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, and the Departments of Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology.
According to Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, BIU’s Deputy President, the Summer Science Research Internship is one of Bar-Ilan’s most successful international programs.
“Over the past 12 years, this program has grown into a major summer initiative that nurtures and develops the students and takes them on an incredible journey into Israel’s hi-tech world and STEM-related fields,” he said.
“These youngsters have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and they are given a wonderful opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds in the STEM world while experiencing everything Israel has to offer. Not only are we proud of the enormous success of the program, but we are also incredibly impressed by the caliber of the students who participate each year, and this year was no exception,” Prof. Lewenstein said.
Talia Simpson and Cayla Muschel stand by a poster explaining their work.
The joint BIU-YU-initiated program started with students from Yeshiva University and its Stern College for Women, but in recent years has included students from Barnard College, Harvard University, Cornell University, Princeton University, Queens College, Touro College, Middlesex College, Rutgers University, The Cooper Union, and the State University of New York at Binghamton.
For the fifth year, Prof. Arlene Wilson-Gordon, of BIU’s Department of Chemistry, directed the program, pairing students with BIU faculty members and research assignments that would best enhance their summer experience and promote individual growth and career development.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for students from abroad to participate in research in Bar-Ilan’s state-of-the-art labs and to get to know researchers from all the diverse sectors of Israeli society,” said Prof. Gordon.
The program also includes trips to Israel Aerospace Industries, the Volcani Institute, Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital, and the Teperberg Winery, lectures by BIU scholars on a wide range of topics, as well as night activities, Torah learning, and Shabbatonim (Shabbat weekends) at YU’s Gruss Institute in Jerusalem, where the group is housed.
The diverse research conducted by the students in the BIU labs this summer included: understanding the function of the Condanine-1 gene responsible for Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia type 1; advancing groundbreaking research on aging; analyzing hardware methods for improving and accelerating the analysis of genomic data; and more.
Aspiring computer science engineers and identical twins, Emily and Nicole Haller, from Long Island, New York, conducted research in Prof. Hillel Kugler’s lab in the Kofkin Faculty of Engineering.
“The opportunity to be part of an environment that advances our career goals and to take part in the Jewish studies aspect of the program is a perfect fit,” Nicole said.
“Just being in Israel and getting exposed to its advanced technology on a daily basis has been great,” Emily added.
The program is generously funded by the late Dr. Mordecai Katz OBM and Dr. Monique Katz, the Irving I. Stone Foundation, and the Zoltan Erenyi Fund.
Read more about this year’s program in the Jewish Standard.
