TELEM (The National Infrastructure Forum for Research and Development)
TELEM was established in late 1997 at the initiative of the Israeli National Academy of Science. The Forum is a voluntary organization that strives to promote R&D programs and projects in scientific and technological fields through establishment of national R&D infrastructures and inter-organizational, inter-departmental and international collaborations.
The Goal of the program:
Consultation and coordination between the Forum’s member entities on issues relating to R&D; initiation, coordination, assessment, pooling of resources (from the budgets of the forum’s member entities and other relevant bodies) and assignment of responsibility for implementation and supervision of the establishment and operation of national R&D infrastructures.
Who is the program for?
The forum approaches members and external entities with whom contact is established through official agreements that detail each party’s obligations.
The Projects in this Incentive Program:
Biotechnology: MIDGAM Bank (Tissue Bank): MIDGAM is an organized collection of human biological material, stored for medical or biological research purposes and operated under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.
Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative: The INNI program aims to aid investment in nanotechnology centers in academia in order to create and develop an academic technological infrastructure that will be used by the industries.
For further details: TELEM
Nanotechnology in Academia Incentive Program
The first nanotechnology research institute was established at the Technion in 2005 for a period of five years and with a total investment of USD 78 million, funded jointly by the Technion, a philanthropic fund and the State of Israel. The funding was implemented by the members of TELEM (The National Infrastructure Forum for Research and Development). The program aims to aid investment in academic nanotechnology centers to create and develop an academic technological infrastructure capable of meeting the industry’s needs.
The Program’s Achievements:
As part of the establishment of the nanotechnology R&D center at the Technion, valuable infrastructure equipment was acquired, the use of which is not limited to the institute and may be used by researchers from other universities and companies in the industry.
Two years after the establishment of the center at the Technion, nanotechnology centers were inaugurated at 5 further research institutes: The Weizmann Institute, The Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, Bar Ilan University, and Ben Gurion University.
The scope of total investment in these centers stands at approximately USD 142 million, about 20% of which was invested in 2009. The “triangle funding” model that characterized the establishment of the institute at the Technion, is also implemented at the other nanotechnology centers.
13 projects with joint Israeli-German funding were launched during 2018 with a total of approximately NIS 80 million for 3 years. At the center of these projects is the transfer of knowledge from nanotechnology centers in academia to Israeli industry together with German research centers and industry. The research projects include: applications of technologies in the fields of photonics, materials, diagnostics, drug administration, coatings, electronic components and sensors efficiency, and energy utilization.
A further call for proposals for continued collaboration with Germany in this field is expected to be published in 2019.
