Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest frontal learning university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and research of the city, comprising 9 faculties, 17 teaching hospitals, 18 performing arts centers, 27 schools, 106 departments, 340 research centers, and 400 laboratories.
Tel Aviv University originated in 1956 when three education units merged to form the university. The original 69-hectare (170-acre) campus was expanded and now makes up 89 hectares (220 acres) in Tel Aviv's Northwest District.
Contents
History
TAU's origins date back to 1956, when three research institutes: the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics (established in 1935), the Institute of Natural Sciences (established in 1931), and the Academic Institute of Jewish Studies (established in 1954) – joined to form Tel Aviv University. Initially operated by the Tel Aviv municipality, the university was granted autonomy in 1963, and George S. Wise was its first president, from that year until 1971. The main campus, covering an area of 170-acre (0.69 km2) was established that same year. Its succeeding presidents have been Yuval Ne'eman from 1971 to 1977, Haim Ben-Shahar from 1977 to 1983, Moshe Many from 1983 to 1991, Yoram Dinstein from 1991 to 1999, Itamar Rabinovich from 1999 to 2006, Zvi Galil from 2006 to 2009, Joseph Klafter from 2009 to 2019, and Ariel Porat since 2019.
The university also maintains academic supervision over the Center for Technological Design in Holon, the New Academic College of Tel Aviary, and the Afeka College of Engineering in Tel Aviv. The Wise Observatory is located in Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev desert.
In October 2023 the university launched the "Erez" program, in which around 200 candidates for Israel Defense Forces combat officer positions complete bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences before beginning officers' training.
This university lies on part of the land of the Palestinian village Al-Shaykh Muwannis, which was abandoned in March 1948 due to the threats of Jewish militias.
Academic units
Faculties
Katz Faculty of the Arts
Fleischman Faculty of Engineering
Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences
Entin Faculty of Humanities
Buchmann Faculty of Law
Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (formerly the Sackler Faculty of Medicine)
Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences
Boris Mints Institute
Coller School of Management
Independent schools
Berglas School of Economics
Porter School of Environmental Studies
Buchmann-Mehta School of Music
David Azrieli School of Architecture
Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine
Miller School of Education
Shapell School of Social Work
TAU International (formerly the School for Overseas Students)
Sagol School of Neuroscience
Institutes and centers
Tel Aviv University has over 130 research institutes and centers.
The Lowy International School
In addition to being Tel Aviv University's home for international researchers, visitors and partnerships, The Lowy International School (formerly TAU International) annually affords thousands of students from across the globe the opportunity to study at Tel Aviv University. The school is overseen by Milette Shamir, the university's vice president of international affairs.
The school's full name is The Lowy International School in Memory of Shirley Lowy; the name changed in 2022 following an $18-million gift from Australian-Israeli businessperson Sir Frank Lowy. Lady Shirley Lowy, Sir Frank's wife, died on December 9, 2020.
School programs are primarily conducted in English, though The Lowy International School also offers immersion options for studying in Hebrew. Programs include undergraduate, graduate, study abroad, research, gap year and short-term programs, and the school provides a variety of scholarships. Students in the B.A., M.A., exchange and study abroad programs are given the option of housing at the Einstein or Broshim dorms, just outside the university.
Undergraduate programs:
International B.A. in Liberal Arts and Humanities
International B.A. in Management and Liberal Arts
B.Mus. at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music
Programme de Licence en Sciences Sociales, Politiques et Économiques
Dual Degree B.A. Program in Liberal Arts: TAU & Columbia University
Collaborative B.A. with Yeshiva University
Graduate programs:
M.A. in Ancient Israel Studies
Rankings
In 2024 QS World University Rankings ranked Tel Aviv University 214th in the world, making it the highest ranked university in Israel. In 2016, its subject rankings were: 202nd in Arts and Humanities, 295th in Engineering and Technology, 193rd in Life Sciences and Medicine, 208th in Natural Science, and 240th in Social Sciences and Management.
The Center for World University Rankings ranked Tel Aviv University 81st in the world and third in Israel in its 2016 CWUR World University Rankings. They have also ranked it as 56 in 2012.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2019 placed Tel Aviv University at 189th in the world. The ratings reflect an overall measure of esteem that combines data on the institutions' reputation for research and teaching.
In 2016 QS World University Rankings ranked Tel Aviv University 22nd in the world for citations per faculty, which is the indicator that measures a university's research impact. This makes Tel Aviv University the leading university in Israel in terms of research.
In 2015 the Academic Ranking of World Universities gave Tel Aviv University the following subject rankings: 20th in Computer Science, 51–75 in Mathematics, 76–100 in Physics and 76–100 Economics/Business. In 2016 it was ranked as 51–75 in Engineering.
From the year 2007 until 2018, Tel Aviv university ranks as 35th in the world in Computer Science according to CSRankings, the same rank as Harvard and the second-highest ranked in Israel.
As of 2021, it is ranked as the 191st best university in the world by THE World University Rankings, 230th by the QS World University Rankings and in the 151–200th bracket by the Shanghai Rankings
In 2022, PitchBook Data ranked Tel Aviv University 7th in the world in terms of number of alumni who have founded venture capital-backed companies, the highest out of any university outside the United States.
Relations with other universities
Currently, Tel Aviv University partners with more than 280 academic institutions spanning 46 countries. The university's academic partnerships are supported by The Lowy International School. Types of international partnerships include: joint research centers, research collaborations, joint CFPs for research seed funding, joint or dual degrees, jointly taught courses, joint summer/winter schools, joint post-doctoral fellowships, exchange programs, study abroad programs and visiting faculty opportunities.
The Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law has exchange agreements with 36 overseas universities, including: University of Virginia, Cornell University, Boston University, UCLA, Bucerius (Germany), EBS (Germany), McGill (Canada), Osgoode Hall (Canada), Ottawa (Canada), Queens University (Queens), Toronto (Canada), Bergen (Norway), STL (China), KoGuan (China), Tsinghua (China), Jindal Global (India), University of Hong Kong, Singapore Management University, Stockholm University (Sweden), Monash (Australia), Sydney (Australia), Sciences Po (France), Seoul (South Korea), Lucern (Switzerland), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Bocconi (Italy) and Madrid (Spain).
The Coller School of Management has exchange agreements with over 100 overseas universities. The Coller Exchange Program is open to MBA/MSc/MA students and qualified professionals. The school offers a wide variety of courses for its visiting students in strategy, entrepreneurship, finance-accounting, marketing, organizational behavior, decisions and operations research, technology and information systems. The program also offers courses from other TAU schools on Israeli Culture, History, Economics and more.
In 2013, Tel Aviv University and Ruppin Academic Center jointly created a study center at the Mediterranean Sea, where students will undertake advanced studies of issues impacting the coastal environment and its resources.
International cooperation
In Germany, Tel Aviv University cooperates with the Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main. Both cities are linked by a long-lasting partnership agreement.
Publications
Tel Aviv (journal), peer-reviewed international journal of archaeology in the Levant and the history and culture of Near Eastern civilizations, with a focus on biblical and protohistoric periods and also dealing with the classical and prehistoric periods
TAU Ventures
TAU Ventures is a venture capital firm. founded in 2018 by the university and Nimrod Cohen to invest in early state startups in Israel; it is headquartered in Tel Aviv. In early 2018, Tel Aviv University announced the creation of TAU Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund with US$20 million. Its operational period is a seven-year cycle, tentatively. It is a first of its kind concept in Israel, modelled after similar funds existing in other universities such as Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nimrod Cohen is the managing partner.
Investments
TAU Ventures invests an initial capital of US$500,000 with potential follow-up investments into early stage startups of Israel belonging to various industries such as enterprise solutions, fintech, industry 4.0, and food technology, with a majority being software related.
The TAU Ventures ecosystem combines the resources and network of Tel Aviv University, industry connections, and a network of Israeli startup founders. It operates at its co-working office space located in Tel Aviv. The space consists of in-house experts who mentor and support the portfolio of companies in various aspects of startup growth.
As of May 2021, TAU Ventures had invested in 17 startups. Some of the more notable companies include Xtend, SWIMM, Gaviti, MyAir, Medorion, Castor, and Hoopo.
Accelerator program
Along with its venture capital operations, TAU Ventures operates an accelerator program in partnership with the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) which provides a technological platform for founders. It is a four-month exclusive program that connects startups with the ISA and a US$50,000 grant with no equity clause. The program is geared to companies developing civilian and commercial technologies and can benefit from various technical expertise, unique databases, technology validation, and other factors. The alumni startups have raised over US$100 million. Xtend, Cyberpion, Talamoos, Cyabra, DigitalOwl, Decodea, and NeuraLegion are some of its alumni.
Recognition
In 2018, IVC Research Center awarded TAU Ventures the citation for being the most active venture capital in Israel. In 2019 and 2021, Geektime listed TAU Ventures among the top five and top six of venture capital funds in Israel.
Notable people
Faculty
Notable faculty members (past and present) include:
Joseph Agassi, philosopher
Yakir Aharonov, physicist
Noga Alon, mathematician
Yitzhak Arad, historian
Karen Avraham, geneticist
Shlomo Ben-Ami, historian, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Yoav Benjamini, statistician
Ziva Ben-Porat, literary theorist, writer, and editor
Joseph Bernstein, mathematician
Silvia Blumenfeld, curator of the fungi collection
Athalya Brenner, feminist Biblical scholar
Daniel Chamovitz, biologist
Guy Deutscher, physicist
Yoram Dinstein, international law professor emeritus and former president of Tel Aviv University
Uzi Even, chemist and political activist for LGBT rights
Margalit Finkelberg, historian and linguist
Israel Finkelstein, archaeologist
Yisrael Friedman, historian
Raphael E. Freundlich, Biblical studies and Latin
Alumni
Carmela Abraham, neuroscientist and Alzheimer's disease researcher
Nadav Ahituv, bioengineering professor and geneticist
Yair Ansbacher, author and military researcher
Zvi Arad (1942–2018), mathematician, acting president of Bar-Ilan University, president of Netanya Academic College
Dan Ariely, author and academic
Shai Avivi, actor
Fouad Awad, theatre director
Lucy Ayoub, actress and television host
Alon Bar, award-winning filmmaker
Daphne Barak Erez, current Supreme Court of Israel justice
Mohammad Barakeh, Knesset member and leader of Hadash
Rebecka Belldegrun (born 1950), ophthalmologist and businesswoman
Shlomo Ben-Ami, historian, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Labor)
Yochai Benkler, co-director of the Berkman Center, Harvard Law School
Aluf Benn, editor-in-chief of Haaretz
Avishay Braverman (born 1948), Knesset member and president of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Shimshon Brokman (born 1957), Olympic sailor