Agricultural Fulbright fellowship to be offered at Volcani Center
The United States-Israel Educational Foundation will partner with Israel’s Volcani Center to offer a fully funded postdoctoral fellowship position in agricultural research, the institutions announced Sunday.
The postdoctoral position will be awarded as part of the US government’s Fulbright Program, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US-Israel Educational Foundation and the Volcani Center – the research arm of Israel’s Agriculture Ministry.
The partnership paves the way for the further integration of American postdoctoral fellows into the Volcani Center, where the American foundation has chosen to invest in Israeli agricultural research for the first time, a statement from the institute said.
“Without a doubt, the Volcani [Center] is one of the best institutions in the world for agricultural research,” said Anat Lapidot-Firilla, executive director of the US-Israel Educational Foundation. “Therefore, the foundation views this as a natural partnership for advancing knowledge, fostering leaders and reinforcing scientific collaboration with the United States.”
The partnership is particularly unique because it represents the first institutional agreement the foundation has signed with another research institute, Lapidot-Firilla added.
With the global population poised to exceed 10 billion people by 2056, the Volcani Center administration stressed how agricultural challenges have become the true challenges of the future.
“The world’s natural, drinkable water sources are waning and global warming influences our ability to produce a sufficient amount of food for the world’s population,” the administration said in a statement. “We are very pleased that along with us, [the foundation] recognizes the importance of the world’s agricultural challenges and that they aim to bring the best minds into the field.”