Sir Steve Smith, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Exeter and the head of Universities UK, an advocacy organization for universities in the United Kingdom, visited The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities on May 29, 2018. Sir Steve was accompanied by the Director of International Relations in Universities UK and representatives of the British Council. Sir Steve met with the Academy’s President, Prof. Nili Cohen, its Executive Director, Ms. Galia Finzi, and the head of it International Relations Department, Mr. Bob Lapidot.

 

At the meeting, Sir Steve stressed the importance of academic relations between Britain and Israel. The British representatives showed interest in learning from the Israeli experience regarding international science cooperation and in creating new channels of cooperation between the two countries. Britain, which is expected to leave the EU in the coming years, wishes to learn from the successful Israeli experience with the European Research Council (ERC). Israel is not an EU member.

 

The British delegation expressed admiration for the achievements of Israeli academia, as manifested by various indicators, such as citation indexes and the ratio of research grants received from international bodies like the ERC.

The British delegation discussed the BDS movement against Israel and stressed its strong condemnation of this phenomenon. Sir Steve emphasized the importance Britain sees in enhancing relations with Israeli researchers and academic institutions, for the benefit of science and scholarship in the UK.

 

 

Representatives of the Israel Academy and the senior British Delegation (photo: Israel Academy)