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HaHakulta

The Faculty of Agriculture Podcast
hosted by Shiran Ben Zeev - in Hebrew

 
 
 

On Campus

In the Media

HUJICAST

" Future Lettuce

lettuce

PhD student Yarin Livneh, a member of Prof Vainstein's group, discusses how she managed to edit the genome of lettuce to add extra vitamins and nutrients, making it healthier than before.

Weather and wars

hujicast helman

Is there a connection between the weather and mood not only for individuals but also for groups? Do countries and peoples also lose it when temperatures rise ? Conversation with Dr. David Hellman from the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, whose research showed a direct link between high temperatures and armed conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

The bitter and the sweet
hujicast masha

Prof. Masha Niv was one of the first researchers in the world to characterize the loss of taste and smell in Corona. We asked her why medicines taste bitter and dealt with the question - Is there really no accounting for taste (and smell)?

Here before us, still here after us
hujicast morin

Prof. Shai Morin specializes in insect-plant relationships. He studies the tiny tobacco moth aphid,  a major agricultural pest. What do we know about the disease-spreading aphid, which manages to repeatedly defeat the pesticide industry, and is it possible to learn to like them after thirty years?

Whales write poetry and pigeons are superstitious
hujicast

A conversation with Dr. Oren Forkush, who studies animal behavior using artificial intelligence and is developing a universal translator to interpret animal behavior into human language.
Do humans have unique behaviors?

Tenure Track Faculty Positions for the 2022-2023 Academic Year

 
 
 

University Updates about COVID-19    Ministry of Health English Updates about COVID-19

The Ministry of Health has lifted most covid-19 restrictions nationwide. The lifting of these restrictions are also applied in the Hebrew University campuses. Wearing a mask in closed spaces is still required. 

 
 
 

The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment has been a major contributor to Israel's remarkable achievements in agriculture, through its groundbreaking research and education of generations of students. 

The world around us is changing, there is growing awareness of the state of the environment, and there is growing concern due to the over-exploitation of natural resources by mankind. Reduction of water and food resources combined with population growth can lead to hunger. This "new world" has led the Faculty to commit to a responsible role in preserving the environment for future generations, and while doing so, to continuously search for ways to increase sustainable food and water resources.

 

 
 
 

 

rootsJUST LOOK UP!  How Plants Make Aerial Roots

(Jerusalem, March 3, 2022)—Sometimes, to see the roots, you have to look up.  Roots are normally associated with things that live underground, in the damp and the dark. Think of turnips, radishes and yams. However, many plants make their roots above ground.  Ivy uses its roots to climb on buildings and the mighty ficus tree uses them to support their large branches.  What makes plants form roots in the “wrong place,” so to speak? That would be like us humans sprouting legs from our shoulders.  In a study published this week in the prestigious journal Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) Professor Idan Efroni and his team found the hidden mechanism that enables aerial roots to happen. By decomposing the stem to individual cells, the team identified the extremely rare cells that, when conditions are ripe, cause roots to grow in the air.  “Superficially, these look like other plant cells which is why they evaded detection for so long,” Efroni explained. “We used new techniques to closely screen thousands of cells, one-by-one. We knew that by finding the cells that can make roots, we would be able to look for the ‘switch’ that turns them on.”  Read More -->

 
 
 

 

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Out of the Lab Podcast

out of the lab

The Superwomen Behind the New SuperFood?

In this episode, host Molly Livingstone speaks with the young co-founders CEO Dr. Jasmin Ravid and CTO Dr. Daria Feldman behind Kinoko-Tech, a startup harnessing the power of fungi and deep-tech fermentation to produce the next generation of superfood – sustainable, delicious and highly nutritious. In this candid conversation, you’ll learn about how the three women founders went from a group full of strangers in a Hebrew University accelerator to a winning team and eventually how they left academia for industry. They share their experiences as they head into another funding round, scaling up, and why they are as passionate about their product, as they are knowledgeable.

Can You Smell That?

In this episode, Host Molly Livingstone of Yissum, the Hebrew University’s Tech Transfer Division, speaks with Prof. Masha Niv about her childhood move from Russia to Israel, her love for food, sociology and science and how she ended up researching taste and smell. Prof. Niv shares her new diagnostic approaches and drug development, what it’s like to be a woman in science today and her research on the loss of taste on the road to recovery from Corona.
 

 
 

device Sable’s Promethion Metabolic System

The Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition has purchased a state-of-the-art metabolic system. The system consists of two 8-cage modules for mice and to measure calorimetry and activity. Potential users should contact: Prof. Oren Froy oren.froy@mail.huji.ac.il