A symbol of artificial intelligence. Photo: public domain.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Wednesday announced the launch of a joint PhD program with social media giant Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to advance research in artificial intelligence in academia and industry.

As part of the joint doctoral program, the participating students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)’s School of Engineering and Computer Science will work with Meta AI mentors and and receive scholarships to cement their understanding in AI and machine learning. The doctoral students will also benefit from access to Meta’s computational infrastructure and facilities.

“This one-of-a-kind collaboration will empower Hebrew U.’s PhD students to both study at one of Israel’s leading universities and to test their ideas in Meta’s industry-leading AI laboratory,” said Sara Cohen, Dean of HU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Meta AI, controlled by Meta Inc., is an artificial intelligence laboratory focused on the advancement of research, projects, and publications in a number of areas, such as natural language processing and machine learning.

PhD students who are accepted into the program will be given a platform to merge theory with real work experience, get a better understanding of emerging technologies and develop new ones.

The partnership which is the first of its kind between Meta and an Israeli university seeks to bring AI research from HU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering to the AI marketplace, the Jerusalem-based university said. The research results emerging from the program will be published and shared with the scientific community and industry. Yissum, the HU’s technology transfer company will also take part in the joint program.

“This partnership stems from Hebrew University’s efforts to strengthen the ties between academia and the tech industry,” HU said in a statement.