Message from Department Chair

Welcome to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Tel Aviv University - the youngest, most dynamic, and rapidly developing department in this field in Israel!

Materials The

diversity of faculties and departments unique to Tel Aviv University and the enriching culture of interdisciplinary collaborations that has taken root on campus allow our students to conduct multidisciplinary research at the forefront of science and technology. The department is also a pioneer in appointing an international advisory committee composed of leading scientists in the field of materials from prestigious institutions. The role of the committee is to help us ensure that our curricula are up-to-date and comparable to those at top institutions worldwide, and that the research areas and faculty members we recruit remain at the forefront.and engineering is a field that deals with the relationships between preparation methods, structure (ranging from atomic to macroscopic scales), properties, and applications of materials. Modern society relies heavily on advanced materials. Significant breakthroughs in industries such as transportation, energy, implants, microelectronics, and electro-optics would not be possible without simultaneous advances in the field of materials.

Therefore, forecasts in Israel and worldwide unanimously agree that materials science will play a central role in industry in the 21st century and will serve as a growth engine for the global economy, with important impacts on quality of life, security, health, and the environment. The field is already defined today as an enabling technology. As a result, the demand for materials engineers is steadily increasing, and they are increasingly filling key roles. Another notable characteristic of the profession is its interdisciplinary nature: it combines exact sciences (chemistry, physics) with engineering (mainly mechanical, chemical, and electrical), as well as biology.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Tel Aviv University and the study programs it offers for undergraduate and advanced degrees are unique and take the above needs into account. The department currently relies on 9 core faculty members who devote all their time to advancing teaching and research within it. The department is expected to continue growing in the coming years and recruit the best core faculty members in their fields. In addition, it includes 10 secondary faculty members whose primary affiliation is with the Faculty of Engineering (Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering), the Faculty of Exact Sciences (Chemistry and Physics), or the Faculty of Life Sciences. These faculty members are part of the department council and contribute to the development of interdisciplinary research within it.

The undergraduate program (B.Sc) in Materials-Chemistry that we offer, which was approved by the Council for Higher Education (on 14/1/2014), was developed and is managed in close cooperation with the School of Chemistry in the Faculty of Exact Sciences. The School of Chemistry enjoys a reputation and prestige due to a combination of excellence in research and excellence in teaching. Its faculty members include recipients of the Israel Prize. The goal of the undergraduate program is to train future engineers and researchers with solid foundations in basic science and high scientific quality, along with applicability and a broad systemic perspective required in the modern technological world. Although the curriculum is intensive (8-9 semesters), we believe that the training students receive will give program graduates a relative advantage in both R&D and industry. From its inception in the academic year 2014/2015, the Materials-Chemistry program at Tel Aviv University became the largest of its kind in Israel. Demand for the program increased in the academic year 2015/2016, and accordingly, we plan to continue raising the admission threshold for the program in the coming years to establish it as a prestigious program.

We also offer graduate programs for master's and doctoral degrees. Our master's program is the largest in Israel in terms of student numbers! Our faculty members are leading researchers in their fields and have received prestigious international awards. They maintain diverse collaborations with academic institutions and research laboratories abroad, and, of course, with industry and security organizations in Israel. Our research laboratories are equipped with some of the most advanced instruments in the world. We are committed to education for excellence and achievement. Students under the guidance of our faculty have received numerous awards, such as the Israel Defense Prize, the IDF Chief of Staff Prize, the Prize for the Advancement of Women in Science, the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Processes Engineering Prize, outstanding presentations at international conferences, and more.

With us, you will find a young and vibrant department where you will learn in a warm and supportive environment, and also enjoy life in Tel Aviv – a city that never stops. I invite you to join us in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Tel Aviv University!

Prof. Shahar Richter
Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering