Author: Hilary

8,500 people attended TAU’s annual AI, cybersecurity, and defense tech weeks

At Tel Aviv University, the first two weeks of December were dedicated to the many Israeli technologies now changing and saving lives. Three different conferences—AI Week, Cyber Week, and DefenseTech Week—were held on the TAU campus, all run by TAU’s Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center. A combined 8,500 innovators, stakeholders, and experts attended hundreds of talks, viewed dozens of startup stalls, and made countless lucrative professional connections. 

DefenseTech Week and HackTAU  

Israel’s reputation as a juggernaut of security and defense innovations has been earned through years of necessity. At DefenseTech Week, global leaders from the military, academia, and industry shared how Israel’s advancements are shaping today’s global defense landscape.  

With 2,000 attendees and over 80 speakers, as well as two exclusive events for investors, the conference contributed notably to the implementation of better defense systems all over the world.  

A HackTAU participant presents his group’s innovation at DefenseTech. (Photo: LEN Productions)

Even more exciting, the next generation of defense innovators were put to the test in the “HackTAU: Battlefield Challenges” hackathon at the TAU Entrepreneurship Center. Dozens of participants in 24 teams came together to find a solution to three real-world challenges that soldiers face in the field. These brilliant young people presented their ideas for industry professionals at DefenseWeek. 

The hackathon was held in memory of Sergeant Eden Alon Levi z”l, Sergeant Ibrahim Kharova z“l, and Israel Hacohen Yudkin z”l. DefenseTech Week is hosted by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center and the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop, in collaboration with the Directorate of Defense, Research & Development (DDR&D), and Israel’s Ministry of Defense. 

AI Week 

Since 2019, the AI Week conference has been a leading international event showcasing cutting-edge AI research and its applications, in Israel and globally. This year’s gathering featured a variety of panels on the many different facets of AI usage, including the highly applicable “Creativity in the Age of AI”, and an entire day focused on the impact of AI on the health sector. 

One session on cancer research illustrated how AI is helping predict stage, response to treatment, growth rate and more. These crucial discoveries may lead to more precise, effective treatments going forward. Said Dr. Ofir Cohen: “Cancer research is really at the pinnacle of both experimental and computational technologies. There are many lessons that the health and AI fields can draw from oncology.” 

AI Week is hosted by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center, the TAU Center for AI and Data Science (TAD), and the TAU Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, in collaboration with the Israel Innovation Authority.  

Cyber Week 

This year, Cyber Week marked its 15th year. The conference is known as one of the top cybersecurity events in the world, bringing in thousands of top players from across the industry. This year’s conference featured about 35 separate events, with high-profile speakers including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar.  

Thousands attended CyberWeek 2025. (Photo: Chen Galili)

Events included:  

• A full-day track on combating disinformation, analyzing how we can safeguard public discourse and national stability in the age of AI and fake news 

• A youth conference with hundreds of tomorrow’s cyber and tech leaders who got the opportunity to hear from and meet current industry leaders

• A full-day track on quantum research, which may soon change security and the digital world as we know it 

• Two full-day tracks on online fraud, online identity, and finance in the digital age 

• Multiple exclusive closed-door sessions for policymakers and industry executives  

During these sessions and many more, the world’s top technological minds met and created fertile ground for collaborations that will further accelerate innovation in the future. 

Cyber Week is hosted by TAU’S Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center, TAU’s Yuval Ne’eman Workshop, and The Israel National Cyber Directorate, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the City of Tel Aviv, the Foreign Trade Administration and the Israel Export Institute. 

TAU’s Yehuda Naftali Botanic Garden now welcomes individual visitors

For decades, the Tel Aviv University Botanic Garden has stood as one of Israel’s leading living laboratories: an essential hub for plant sciences research, a sanctuary for native species, and a cornerstone of environmental education. Yet despite its scientific significance and rich biodiversity, the garden long lacked the resources needed to fully realize its vast potential. 

According to Kineret Shwartz Maneviich, the Garden’s Operational Manager, the turning point came with the transformative contribution of philanthropist Yehuda Naftali. 

“Yehuda’s support allowed us to leap forward in ways we’d only dreamed of,” she explains. “We were able to create new interactive learning experiences designed to spark curiosity -especially among children and teenagers. Our goal is to instill a sense of wonder and deepen appreciation for Israel’s natural world among new generations.” 

As a result of Naftali’s gift, the Garden has introduced a series of interactive experiential exhibits throughout its grounds, inviting visitors to explore plant diversity, ecological relationships, evolutionary processes, climate challenges, and conservation efforts through hands-on engagement. These exhibits now serve both as educational tools and as gateways into larger botanical knowledge. At the same time, entire sections have been revitalized and enhanced, such as the Wetland Habitat the Succulent collection and the Greenhouse for Useful Plants.  

Yehuda Naftali (left) with TAU Pres. Prof. Ariel Porat. (Photo: Chen Galili, TAU)

Opening to the Public 

In spring 2025, the Naftali Garden opened for a pilot period following significant renovations. A more extensive public reopening followed in October 2025, accompanied by expanded programming for families, school groups, and the wider community. Now, the Garden is preparing to welcome visitors once again for Hanukkah, continuing to grow into its role as a vibrant, accessible space for the wider community. 

Looking ahead, the garden’s academic and operational management follows a vision supported by three pillars: research, conservation and education. “We aspire to serve as a state-of-the-art research facility for plant scientists from TAU, other Israeli universities, and around the world. We are committed to protecting Israel’s unique plant diversity through conservation and the reintroduction of endangered species. And finally, we want to inspire the public-children, students, families, everyone-to discover the beauty and importance of plants,” Maneviich concludes. 

With continued growth, expanded research capabilities, and a renewed commitment to community engagement, the Tel Aviv University Naftali Botanic Garden is poised to achieve its full potential – both as a scientific powerhouse and as an essential cultural and environmental resource for Israel. 

Tickets for the Naftali Botanic Garden’s Hanukkah programs and tours can be purchased via the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History website here>> 

Yehuda Naftali Botanic Garden’s Hanukkah 2025 activities:
 

Dates & Times 

Note: Entrance is by pre-booked ticket only, and a ticket to the garden does not include access to the adjacent Steinhardt Natural History Museum. lifesci.tau.ac.il+1 

TAU trains staff to spot and respond to student distress

A young woman sits in the back row of a large lecture hall. As the professor glances up from his presentation, he notices the student’s head drop into her hands and her awkward attempt to hide her tear-streaked face. He pauses mid-sentence, not knowing how to react, then turns his attention quickly back to the large screen and resumes his lecture.  

These scenarios are likely taking place across Israeli campuses as students face the aftermath of two years of war. At Tel Aviv University, staff and faculty have been recruited to help struggling students through a series of online workshops on recognizing emotional stress. Run by the TAU Student Success Center (SSC), the workshops equip participants to reach out to students and colleagues and direct them to University resources.    

It Takes a Village 

“After a prolonged state of heightened alert, of being in survival mode, students are just now truly grappling with all the pain and grief they suppressed,” said Dr. Liat Sorski, a clinical psychologist, researcher in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, and the Mental Health Awareness Coordinator at the SSC. “After two years of repeated trauma, we’re in the post-trauma stage, and it’s a critical stage.” 

She believes that academic and administrative employees, who often see students daily, should have the ability to identify warning signs of traumatized students and be trained in how to handle sensitive situations and conversations. As adults who serve as mentors, teachers and role models, University employees have a responsibility for the well-being of students, and that includes their emotional state, emphasized Dr. Sorski.  

Participants in the online workshops have included administrative assistants, student coordinators, lecturers, senior faculty, department heads, and heads of schools.  

The feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive. “Many expressed how much they needed this kind of training and how detailed and helpful the workshop was,” said Dr. Sorski. 

Professor or Therapist?  

The training, led by Dr. Sorski since the beginning of the academic year, focuses on recognizing common reactions to all forms of distress and trauma, addressing both overt and hidden signs, responding in various ways while still respecting students’ privacy, and appropriately handling situations such as crying or other emotional outbursts.  

“It’s ok to stop the class and allow the student to step out and gather themselves,” said Dr. Sorski. “And it’s ok to address the entire class and acknowledge the situation – we all went through a difficult period. We have to normalize the expression of our feelings.” 

Just as important to understand is what not to do in these situations. Dr. Sorski acknowledged the urge to share personal experiences in an attempt to identify with a student but stressed that this is not an appropriate response. Also not recommended is attempting to provide advice or counseling.  

“You are not a therapist, that’s not your role,” she said. Instead, staff should make the student feel seen and acknowledge their hardship, then direct them to appropriate resources.  

Dr. Sorski also highlighted populations at higher risk of experiencing difficulties, such as foreign students who lack a support network, and reviewed in depth the University’s support mechanisms: the Student Success Center’s Psychological Services Unit, the network of faculty advisors, and the National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience; as well as national mental health resources outside the University.  

The lectures are part of a wide array of services the Psychological Services Unit provides to students and staff. In the coming weeks, Dr. Sorski will be leading workshops for students this time, teaching coping strategies for stress and anxiety.  

For more information on the Student Success Center’s mental health services, go to https://deanstudents.tau.ac.il/psychological-services.  

A hands-on course at the TAU Buchmann Faculty of Law brings legal knowledge to needy citizens

A low railing separates the distressed town of Jisr al-Zarqa from the affluent coastal city of Caesarea. Just a thin barrier, yet it represents a vast divide—socially, economically, and historically. Nestled along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, Jisr al-Zarqa is the country’s only Arab town on the shoreline, home to some 16,000 residents living on barely two square kilometres of land. Established in the 1920s around fishing and agriculture, the town today faces high unemployment, overcrowded housing, and decades of planning neglect.

Into this gap steps Tel Aviv University. Through its Buchmann Faculty of Law, the University is pioneering an educational initiative that merges legal education with social responsibility, societal change, and coexistence. The course, “Jisr al-Zarqa – Space, Planning, and Housing,” invites law students to bring the classroom to the community. Once a week, students visit Jisr al-Zarqa’s social services headquarters, offering pro bono legal advice on matters ranging from housing assistance and other governmental benefits to more complex legal matters, such as housing registration and permits.

“I enrolled in this course out of a deep sense of obligation, especially toward vulnerable groups or those who have experienced exclusion for various reasons,” says Bashar Siri, a third-year TAU law student.

“I’m glad I took part in the course to help, even if only in a small way. The residents here are an inseparable part of us.”

Hands-on Learning

Led by Prof.Neta Ziv, TAU’s Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Community, along with attorney Sharon Karni Kohn from the Hagar Carasso Social  Housing Program, the course is a model of engaged scholarship.

“The Jisr al-Zarqa Housing and Planning course is unique in the way teaching and research are conducted at the law school,” explains Prof. Ziv.

“First, it brings together Arab and Jewish students in work settings to explore how law can improve the lives of people in the poorest locality in Israel—and at the same time, how law can be used by the powerful to reinforce inequality. Second, students go out into the field, applying their skills to assist real people in real situations while studying doctrine and legal theory. Finally, for Arab students, this is one of the few opportunities to study their own communities academically, with hands-on reflective practice.”

Jisr al-Zarqa Housing and Planning course students and professors

The TAU work is tangible and immediate. On a recent morning, Kohn helped a resident whose home had been recently demolished due to the absence of a building permit. Together, they filled out a rent-assistance form, a small but vital step toward stability.

Diving Deep

The course is supplemented by guest lectures from experts across multiple disciplines, including architect Areej Serhan, a planner who discussed the challenges of mobility and development in Arab communities. “Arab towns often suffer from a lack of proper paperwork, planning, and development,” she explained. “It becomes a vicious cycle that is not easy to break.” Yet, Serhan said, in recent years, the situation is changing. “There’s talk of advancing social mobility and cooperation. We see progress in closing gaps in educational results and economic growth in certain communities.”

Architect Areej Serhan addressing the students

The TAU course is part of the change. Funded by the Social Initiative for the Implementation of Government Decision 1804 (through the JDC) and the Galileo Fund, and supported by TAU’s Commission for Equality and Diversity, the course exemplifies the University’s commitment to social impact. It bridges gaps—between communities, between students and society, and between legal knowledge and real-world application.

A psychologist at the Tel Aviv University National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience shares stories of struggle and success in battling PTSD

Dr. Michal Kahn, a sleep researcher and clinical psychologist in trauma recovery, is confronting an epidemic of invisible wounds. The survivors of the October 7 attacks and the Iron Swords War arrive at the Trauma Clinic at TAU carrying not just the evident scars of conflict, but the devastating weight of guilt and shame.

How Does Trauma Affect Daily Life?

October 7, the war, and the events of the past two years have left an entire generation of young people traumatized and struggling to cope with deep and complex emotions. The memories they carry are often intrusive, affecting their daily existence and ability to function. These are not merely sad recollections.  Memories of trauma feel raw even years later and cause physical pain and psychological disruptions.

“Many people who come to us carry memories that interfere with every aspect of their lives,” Dr. Kahn shares. “Sometimes it’s a mother who can’t sleep because she hears sirens in her dreams, or a soldier who can’t walk into a public space without scanning for danger. These are stories we hear again and again — and while heartbreaking, they’re also treatable.”

For many, the initial feeling upon arrival at the TAU Trauma Clinic is one of utter hopelessness. “The trauma is so raw that many people feel like they’re broken beyond repair. Our job is to hold that pain with them, and slowly show them that healing is possible,” Dr. Kahn affirms.

What Does Guilt Have to Do with Trauma?

Dr. Kahn notes that one obstacle to healing is the internal battle many patients face. They are haunted by questions that place blame squarely on themselves.

“They ask themselves: ‘Why didn’t I protect my children?’ ‘Why wasn’t I strong enough to fight for my family?’ ‘How did I let this happen?’ These thoughts are devastating,” explains Dr. Kahn.

This self-condemnation is incredibly common, even among those who acted heroically or simply did their best to survive in impossible circumstances.

The crucial work of therapy involves disentangling these emotions, which actively block the path to recovery.

“We help them understand how guilt and shame can prolong their suffering — how these beliefs, while so understandable, actually block growth and recovery,” she says. “And when people begin to loosen that grip, to accept this pretty bleak reality of what happened, and to let go of the fantasy of what ‘should have happened,’ that’s when healing can begin.”

What Does Therapy Involve?

The therapeutic approach at the TAU National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience focuses on processing the fragmented, terrifying moments of trauma. “Trauma memories rarely dissolve on their own,” Dr. Kahn explains. “They sit in the mind like unfinished chapters — overwhelming, intrusive, unprocessed. What we do in therapy is help the person walk through their story in a controlled, safe environment.”

The Center utilizes cognitive processing therapy (CPT), an evidence-based, first-line treatment for PTSD. The goal is not to erase the past but to fundamentally change its hold on the present.

“We write it, read it together, say it out loud. Slowly, the brain begins to refile it as something that happened in the past, not something happening right now. They learn to look at their story from multiple perspectives,” Dr. Kahn says.

This structured confrontation is vital to disarming the trauma’s power.

“A big part of CPT is helping people confront the parts of their story they couldn’t bear to touch — the guilt, the fear, the helplessness. When they can finally put words to those moments, the symptoms lose their intensity. The avoidance starts to fall away,” she notes.

The ultimate aim is to restore a sense of control: By taking something that was terrifying and chaotic and giving it structure, patients regain a sense of mastery over their lives and surroundings.

A Deeply Committed and Experienced Team

The urgency and severity of the current crisis in Israel have dictated the Center’s unique staffing model.

“Every therapist on the team is a seasoned clinician with deep expertise in the field of trauma. We don’t have interns and we’re not a teaching facility. We made that choice deliberately, because the level of trauma we’re treating requires experience,” Dr. Khahn explains. “Our team also includes research-practitioners, who are highly knowledgeable in evidence-based treatment, ensuring that the care we provide is both clinically grounded and informed by the latest scientific understanding.”

Moreover, the team’s commitment is personal.

“Our therapists are not only experienced — they’re deeply committed. We have all lived through October 7th ourselves. We know the landscape of this trauma from the inside,” she states.

This combination of highly-trained staff and first-line evidence-based treatments means the Center can offer fast access to high-quality, science-based care, a rarity in Israel right now.

Who Takes Care of the Caregivers?

Despite the immense emotional toll of this work, Dr. Kahn finds profound purpose in her work at the clinic.

“Sitting with these stories means re-living October 7 again and again in many different forms. It’s hard sometimes. There are days when the weight of it sits with me long after I leave the clinic,” she admits.

However, the difficulty is balanced by a powerful sense of purpose:

“I meet people at the lowest point of their lives, and I get to watch them rediscover safety, connection, and sometimes even joy. That’s an extraordinary privilege.”

For Dr. Kahn, every patient’s recovery is a step toward a healthier community.

“I often think: every person who heals here is another thread in rebuilding a healthy, resilient Israeli society,” she says. This sentiment extends to the global Jewish community, whose support provides a crucial message of solidarity to the survivors and to the caregivers who are caring for them.

“When communities abroad stand with us, it sends our patients and us a message: you’re not alone.”

For Developing an Innovative Strategy Toward a New Treatment for Advanced Lung Cancer

Tel Aviv University’s iGEM student team has won a gold medal at the prestigious international iGEM competition, held recently in Paris, France, for developing an innovative therapeutic strategy aimed at treating metastatic lung cancer – offering new hope for patients who until now had no effective treatment options. The project also reached the finals for Best Oncology Research and Best Model.

About the iGEM Competition

iGEM is a global competition in synthetic biology in which each team develops an innovative idea designed to solve a challenge in the field. Teams then implement the idea using engineering, biological, and computational tools in a process that resembles early-stage startup development.

This year, more than 400 teams from around the world participated.

At Tel Aviv University, the iGEM team is composed each year of students from diverse academic backgrounds—including engineering, life sciences, medicine, and exact sciences—who come together to conduct research in synthetic biology.

The Team’s Strategy: Confronting Five Central Challenges in Cancer Treatment

Under the guidance of Prof. Tamir Tuller from the Faculty of Engineering, this year’s team developed a strategy addressing five major challenges that must be overcome to achieve an effective treatment for metastatic lung cancer in particular, and for cancer more broadly:

1. Drug delivery: One of the main challenges in the pharmaceutical world today is finding a strategy that enables transporting a therapeutic molecule directly to the target tissue.
2. Incomplete eradication: It is rare for cancer treatments at advanced stages to destroy all cancerous cells. Even a small number of remaining cells can divide and eventually cause the cancer to return—often in a more aggressive form.
3. Limitations of biological therapies: Most biological treatments identify cancer cells based on altered proteins that typically appear on the cell membrane. However, in many cases, cancer-driving mutations do not change the protein, or they change a protein that is not membrane-bound.
4. Trial-and-error development: Unlike engineering fields, drug development today still relies heavily on trial and error.
5. Patient variability: While pharmaceutical companies aim to develop drugs that can treat many patients, there is often high variability in the distribution of mutations among different individuals, making it difficult for standard strategies to provide a universal solution.

To illustrate these challenges, the team described the effort to overcome them as a chess match against cancer.

Their solution includes a DNA sequence that silences a cancer-related gene and is attached to an antibody capable of penetrating cancer cells. The various components were designed using a combination of diverse computational strategies and innovative algorithms.

From Competition Success to Real-World Impact

Following their success, the team submitted a patent application through Ramot – Tel Aviv University’s technology transfer company. A scientific paper describing the development will be published soon.

The team also prepared a comprehensive and detailed business plan aimed at bringing the product to market. Loza, a company operating in the international pharma and biotech sectors, was impressed with the project and contributed to the team.

Educational Outreach: National High-School Competition

In collaboration with the ORT high-school network, the team organized a national synthetic biology competition for high-school students, with hundreds of participants.

Team Members

Shir Shance (Captain, Faculty of Life Sciences),
Idan Eyni Galanti (Captain, Faculty of Engineering),
Michael Kovaliov (Head of Modeling, Faculty of Exact Sciences),
Ester Buderovsky (Head of Biology, Faculty of Medicine),
Ariella Nouman (Faculty of Engineering),
Gal Aziel (Faculty of Medicine),
Niv David (Faculty of Engineering & Faculty of Life Sciences),
Roni Zarkhovsky (Faculty of Engineering & Faculty of Life Sciences),
May Lieber (Faculty of Engineering),
Din Saadon (Faculty of Engineering),
Hillel Charbit (Faculty of Exact Sciences),
Dr. Daniel Dovrat (Team Advisor, Faculty of Engineering).

The iGEM steering committee included Yair Sakov from the TAU Innovation Center, the team from Startup Nation Central, and Professors Martin Kupiec, Avigdor Eldar, Uri Gophna, and Itai Benhar.

Prof. Tuller: “The Team Was Outstanding”

Prof. Tuller concludes:
“This year’s team was remarkable by every measure. I believe that their developments—including the models and software—will influence not only the field of lung cancer, but also other types of cancer, genetic diseases, and basic research in molecular biology and medicine. I would like to extend special thanks to the Startup Nation Central team, who helped train the group in entrepreneurship at the highest level.”