Social networks have become the modern-day “market square.” Functioning as a virtual space for expressing opinions, sharing experiences, seeking advice, and responding to others' posts, they create a new reality for enabling people to understand and overcome common challenges. Meet Dr. Jenny Bronstein, Chair of the Department of Information Science at Bar-Ilan University, who researches how people seek, create and share information on social networks, at different stages of their lives.

Student Spotlight on MSc Candidate Hadas Lupa

After a long, successful career as a partner at leading Israeli law firms, an executive at multi-national high-tech companies and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Law, Reuven Friedman, 62, has changed course and is pursuing his lifelong passion: the study of the archaeology of the Land of Israel.

Meet Hanan Abu Hassan, 23, from the town of Tarshiha in Israel’s north, who is completing her MSc degree in Biotechnology at Bar-Ilan University’s Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences. Hanan is researching Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a human cancer virus, in the lab of Prof. Ronit Sarid. For two consecutive years, Hanan has won scholarships from the Council for Higher Education in Israel for outstanding graduate research students from the Arab minority in Israel. She has mentored a student from the Arab sector, and has assisted in a freshman course in the Goodman Faculty.

As a member of the Israeli national team, Ohad Sheinfeld, of the Department of Mathematics at Bar-Ilan University, has won together with his teammates, a gold medal at the International Mathematics Competition for University Students. This is the second consecutive year that Sheinfeld has won first place in the Mathematics Competition.

With a passion for Shakespeare and French comedy, drama, theater and reading (yes, reading!), Dorit Ben Tov, 20, is enamored with her studies at Bar-Ilan’s Department of Comparative Literature. The perky undergrad, who is now completing her first year on campus, arrived at BIU after a year of national service as a tour guide at the historic Mivkeh Israel youth village and the Haganah Museum in Holon, her hometown. A former cosplayer who donned medieval costumes, she dreams of becoming a playwright.

How do digital networks shape the memory of the Holocaust? Can virtual reality technology be used to boost empathy in society? Meet Prof. Motti Neiger, of the School of Communication at Bar-Ilan University, who researches these questions and others involving media, culture, and technology. Prof. Neiger lectures at the School of Communication in areas relating to journalism during conflicts, political communication, journalistic ethics and press freedom as well as popular culture and reality shows. He published four books, dozens of papers and received many grants and awards.

Depression is a global health problem, increasingly affecting the lives of millions of individual and societies. Numerous psychological and pharmacological treatments for depression have been developed and tested over the last 40 years. On average these appear equally effective, but up to half of all patients do not benefit substantially. Research shows that the effects of these interventions vary greatly between individuals. This raises the crucial question of what works for whom and when?

What do women experience in the period preceding and following childbirth, and what effect does the COVID-19 pandemic have on these mothers and their families? Meet Dr. Rena Bina, of the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University, who researches the mental health of perinatal women and the services provided to them at the personal, family, professional and organizational levels.

In honor of International Creativity Month, celebrated each January, Dr. Tal Ivancovsky, a psychologist at Bar-Ilan University’s Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, discusses cross-cultural differences in creative thinking.