Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, pictured, and MIT have approved five jointly funded projects. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have approved five jointly funded projects.

The projects are part of a program established by the universities last spring during a trade mission to Israel led by former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. The MIT-BGU Seed Fund helps to promote and support early-stage collaborations between faculty and research scientists of the two schools. It was the first seed funding that MIT has launched in Israel through its MIT International Science and Technology Initiative, which was established in 2005.

The initial five collaborative projects between the two schools focus on environmental and medical research, such as research on agriculture and water use as well as treatments for spinal cord injuries.

“We’re very excited about these early stage BGU-MIT collaborations that focus on our strengths in medical and environmental research,” said Doron Krakow, executive vice president of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

“We look forward to promising results from this research and expanding the relationship between our two world-class universities,” Krakow said.