Message from the Head of School
Since its establishment two decades ago, the Department of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University has been a leader in research and teaching in environment and sustainability using an interdisciplinary approach. The department's activities are known in Israel and around the World thanks to groundbreaking research, multidisciplinary teaching and social involvement that aims to reach all levels of the society.
Environmental challanges are close to the heart of each and every one of us, and we all have a personal responsibility for the environment in which we live. Environmental issues are non-political and partisan, and they bring together different groups in Israeli society, and therefore the Department has a critical role to play in creating a knowledge base that will enable and support sustainable existence in Israel and abroad.
It is important for us to ask provoking and critical questions, and to invest the most resources in order to gather data on the basis of which new insights will be produced that will be supported by development and sustainable existence.
The faculty of environmental studies focuses, through research and teaching, on environmental challenges related to understanding the effects of climate change and developing methods for dealing with a variety of issues related to unrestricted use of natural resources such as land, water, plastics and fossil energy sources; We are exploring how to reduce the negative effects of development, such as waste and disappearance of plant and animal species, without compromising fair access to food, water, energy, transportation, housing and medicine. Through research and teaching, we learn to ask ethical and critical questions about the nature of sustainable existence, and develop measurement methods and technologies that will contribute to it. The research team of the department has established innovative and unique laboratories in the field of industrial ecology, food systems, environmental nanotechnology, urban, ecology and evolution of plants, infectious diseases, environmental ethics and environmental bioengineering. The students of the department come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. They come to us to acquire broad knowledge in the fields of environment and sustainability and tools for understanding the world around them and to apply the tools they acquired during their studies, as part of their workplace in industry, third sector, government and local government and academia. In order to provide the necessary tools for understanding sustainability and the environment and their implementation, we have provided you with a special teaching team, consisting of researchers and experts with extensive knowledge and experience in environmental work.
The department offers a variety of study options for graduate degrees, from a master's degree with a thesis, through a master's degree without a thesis, an international and abbreviated master's degree (only one year) without a thesis, and a third degree. We also invite you to participate in the Porter Internship Program, during which you will have the opportunity to specialize in industry, local authorities and environmental organizations, and even receive an internship scholarship from us. Our department staff is dedicated and professional and we engrave on our banner the importance of service quality and the accessibility of content that is learned and researched on environmental issues around the world.
I invite you to join our community and wish you all great success in your studies.
Looking to constribute
Prof. Alexander Golberg
Head of the Department of Environmental Studies