The 2020-21 academic year has rolled out under the shadow of the ongoing corona crisis, but this situation hasn’t held back the University, its marvelous people and its remarkable innovations in the service of Israel and the world.

In this, the inaugural issue of a revamped TAU Review, we share with you exciting developments on campus. Leveraging TAU’s ability to get bright minds from different fields working together, we launched several interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Center for Combating Pandemics (a global first); the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for the Humanities in STEM; and a crosscultural Entrepreneurship Accelerator.

Two new projects, the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research and the Taube-Koret Global Collaboration in Neurodegenerative Diseases, both further top goals of boosting academic, industry and international research ties. At the same time, the University is breaking down gender stereotypes, for example with prominent women scholars in Talmud Studies. And of course, there are the students–our great pride and the nation’s promise. Both last spring and this year, our students have had to brave COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning.

One response we’ve made is to dramatically rethink online education and pave the way toward more effective digital learning. Another response has been to recognize the severe financial distress that many of our students are experiencing and to harness TAU and donor funds toward helping them continue with their studies. During these challenging days, I have drawn strength and inspiration from the TAU leadership and community, and especially from TAU’s global circle of friends and supporters. Their dedication is heartwarming.

Prof. Ariel Porat President, Tel Aviv University

Download the whole message in TAU’s annual report for 2020 here