Office of the CEO and Senior Vice President
Campus Development
How every place, person, and pixel on campus helps Bar-Ilan seize the opportunities presented by new knowledge and technologies.
Eyes On the Prize
“The uniqueness of the Bar-Ilan approach to innovation leadership,” explains Zohar Yinon, Bar-Ilan’s CEO and senior vice president, “is that it’s not confined to the lab or the classroom. Rather, we strive to cultivate a mindset that’s always on the lookout for both problems and solutions, and that aims to integrate the best human qualities into a world increasingly defined by technology.”
Perhaps the most obvious—and one of the largest—examples of innovation leadership is Bar-Ilan’s forthcoming Health-Tech Valley Campus. Envisioned by President Prof. Arie Zaban and initiated and implemented by Yinon, the first-of-its-kind project—the university’s expenditure for which was approved by the Council for Higher Education last year—will accelerate the growth of Israel’s vital biotech industry. By bringing translational researchers from Bar-Ilan and clinicians from Sheba Medical Center into the same space, most notably in a state-of-the-art shared laboratory, the campus can accelerate diagnostic and therapeutic innovations that it would take individuals working separately much longer to develop, if they were able to develop them at all. “The Health-Tech Valley Campus will literally be built around the recognition that interaction and knowledge-sharing are as important to the discovery and innovation process as the most advanced equipment,” Yinon says. To help ensure the project’s success, Prof. Shulamit Michaeli of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences is heading up a special effort to recruit outstanding faculty.
Zohar Yinon
New Uses for Old Technology
The innovation mindset can also be found where you might least expect it—namely, in the campus libraries. Last year’s library renovations, made possible through the generosity of the Leibler family, were in fact “part of our ongoing efforts to reimagine the role of a library in an AI-powered age.” That doesn’t mean, he’s quick to add, doing away with books, but it does mean enabling more access to information, installing virtual-reality stations, and designing study spaces that encourage the free flow of ideas. And it also means training Bar-Ilan librarians, together with Director of Libraries and Information Division Dr. Olga Goldin, to help students navigate the expanding information universe while ensuring scholarly integrity, critical thinking, and curiosity.
Finally, as part of last year’s “Academic Armor” assistance for reservists, Yinon’s student services and administration team developed an automated system that turned weekly status reports from the IDF into daily absence alerts to instructors. This way, explains Yinon, they were aware in real time when their students were serving, and could make accommodations in their courses and even reach out to inquire after students’ well-being. “Technology allowed us to be aware of the exceptional circumstances so many of our students faced,” concludes Yinon. “But what our faculty did with that awareness speaks to the real human concern our community has for its members. I’m proud to say that that’s also a part of what makes Bar-Ilan unique.”
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Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Cohen explains how the new Health-Tech Valley Campus is set to transform the city for the benefit of Israel and the world.
Explore our three campuses’ main features, today and in the years to come.
Building Capacity
Spearheaded by President Prof. Arie Zaban, managed by CEO and Senior Vice President Zohar Yinon and COO Ofer Shragay, and made possible by gifts from our many partners and friends, strategic additions and upgrades to campus allowed Bar-Ilan to expand its areas of core strength.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Energy Prototype Lab
Through a $6.5M gift from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, renovations were completed on Israel’s first energy prototype lab, a cornerstone of the $37M National Institute for Energy Research launched jointly with the Technion – Israel Institute for Technology in 2023. Housed in the Jerome Schottenstein Center, the lab will enable an evaluation of a product’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL), or the maturity of technologies before operational implementation. Together with the NetZero Accelerator for clean-energy startups—a leading venture builder in Israeli climate and energy deep tech—the prototype lab is expected to cement Bar-Ilan’s status as an international mecca for energy research.
New Synthesis Center
A $9.7M gift from the Adelson Family Foundation will enable the renovation and equipping of a new synthesis center, work for which began last year. Featuring AI-powered mobile robots for carrying out chemical synthesis research with exceptional efficiency, the center will advance research in catalysis, biopharmaceuticals, and medicine.
Expansion of Research in Nanotechnology
Architectural firm Mochly-Eldar was selected in a special architectural competition to design Bar-Ilan’s “Nano 2.0,” the second building on the Bar-Ilan campus dedicated to nanotechnology. Currently in the regulatory zoning and planning process, the building will house labs for research on renewable energy and quantum physics. In addition, one entire floor will be earmarked for cleanrooms, or labs that can maintain the sterile environment required for sensitive research.
Expansion of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering
Slated to house 30 laboratories, classrooms, and an auditorium and student lounge, the newest addition to the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering will allow Bar-Ilan to move into new fields of research, including materials and data engineering, which builds systems for the collection and conversion of data into usable information. Designed by Yaron Granot architects, the building entered the regulatory process last year.
Expansion of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine
Construction began on the Yosef Meir Ben Welwel Marynberg Medical Education Building, adjacent to the medical school’s campus. Made possible through a lead gift from Zeev Marynberg, the building will house a state-of-the-art simulation unit, a two-story library, an auditorium, and numerous classrooms and lecture halls. Planning is also underway on the new Edmond de Rothschild Medical Research Building, future home to 30 laboratories.
New University Data Center
Completed last year, the new data center uses GPUs (graphics processing units) to accelerate AI and machine-learning tasks, thus expanding the university’s computing infrastructure dramatically. It also complies with the highest standards of energy efficiency, temperature control, redundancy and cyber security and allows for constant migration between the cloud and Bar-Ilan databases, servers, and computers.
New Radiology Lab in Sheba
Together with Sheba Medical Center, Profs. Sharon Ruthstein of the Department of Chemistry, Rachela Popovtzer of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, and Prof. Haim Cohen of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences won an Institutional Equipment Grant from the Council for Higher Education (CHE) to establish a pre-clinical imaging center. Featuring three state-of-the-art imaging systems, a PET-MRI 7T, a SPECT-CT, and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging (EPRI) equipment, the center will develop new radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, neurological diseases, and other disorders.
New Experimental Psychology-Social Sciences Lab
Thanks to its investment in advanced equipment, the Department of Psychology is now home to a laboratory for recording behavior and monitoring mental and emotional states. Initiated by the department with the goal of serving researchers across the Faculty of Social Sciences, the lab will facilitate emerging trends in psychology, social work, and neuroscience, in particular their growing emphasis on mental health.
The new engineering and medical-research buildings will almost double the size of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering and the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, respectively.
The campus’ new data center will triple the university’s computing capacity.
More square feet for biotechnology and biomedical research in the Health-Tech Valley Campus.
Square feet for biomedical research by gifted high-school students in the Health-Tech Valley Campus’ two upper floors, dedicated to the University Center for Youth.
Supporting our Heroes
In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, Chief Marketing Officer Naama Gat and Manager of the Devision of Student Services and Administration Ilanit Betit launched the “We Have Your Back” student lifeline fund to ensure that Bar-Ilan’s nearly 5,000 reservists could focus on their missions without financial stress. The online campaign, which sought to provide each reservist with NIS 1,000-5,000 in grants for tuition assistance and living stipends, raised a total of NIS 20M from Bar-Ilan partners and friends.
Bar-Ilan management also continued the “Academic Armor” plan to ensure its reservists’ academic success, both upon their return to studies and during their periods of service. Featuring academic and administrative benefits, tutoring and psychological support, and even a dedicated advisor from the university, the plan was also integrated with the Bar-Ilan student portal to enable reservists to utilize the benefits effectively. “When reservists entered their identification number, they could immediately see what they qualified for and how to proceed,” explains Yinon. “The Student Administration team went above and beyond to ensure that reservists never wasted even the smallest bit of energy in claiming the benefits that they so deeply deserved. In addition, I assigned CFO Arnon Zait the task of collecting tuition fees from our reservists with sensitivity and an eye toward proactive support.”
Raised by the “We Have Your Back” Campaign for direct financial support to student reservists.
Provided to reservists by the university for academic tutoring and psychological and administrative support.
Embracing and Advancing the Administration
Along with providing ongoing support to faculty and staff who suffered the loss of loved ones to the war, Chief Human Resources Officer Maor Pinko and his team, together with the new University Resilience Center, developed creative solutions for those whose work lives were disrupted, whether on account of displacement from their homes, the extended absence of a spouse, or psychological stress. Moreover, as part of Bar-Ilan’s emphasis on innovation leadership, the Human Resources Department also granted the administration “upskilling” workshops in AI literacy, and hired, under the direction of Yinon, the first cadre of “IT 2.0” personnel. These individuals are equipped with the skills required to manage and deploy AI in support of Bar-Ilan’s automated work processes, in such areas as student services, administration, and marketing. They are also versed in AI-related ethics and are able to support both faculty and students who are working remotely.
Investing in Transformative Research
Thanks to the university’s “Alumot” plan for responsible and sustainable financial management, Bar-Ilan closed 2024 with a balanced budget, for the fourth consecutive year in a row. President Prof. Zaban and Vice President for Research Prof. Yaron Shav-Tal, together with CEO and Senior Vice President Zohar Yinon and CFO Arnon Zait, are developing a plan for the investment of surplus funds back into promising Bar-Ilan research.
Bar-Ilan,
70 Years Strong
Whether by means of rare records and books or today’s latest AI technology, Bar-Ilan’s libraries enable faculty and students to learn about the past and present while helping to shape the future. The Wurzweiler Central Library, founded in 1967, today provides reference, access, and technical services to all campus libraries, while also housing special collections in Judaic and Yiddish studies, religious Zionism, and more.
Slide to move from past to future