The Pandemic Did Not Stop Us Just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, BINA’s international activity was at its peak. “In the first few weeks, everything seemed to have stopped, but we refused to give up. We kept in touch with our longtime partners and held on to nascent partnerships in Finland, the United Kingdom (UK) and the Far East. And now,” says Dr. Talyosef, “we are making a massive effort to realize these collaborations.” With exceptional foresight, BINA’s management has strategically included life science researchers in its faculty. “Today, we have a strong and large life science group, which is essential to bioconvergence research. To open up and expand their collaboration opportunities, we contacted the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, another of the few nano centers worldwide that incorporated life science research from the start.” Despite the original intention of linking BINA’s life science researchers with their peers at Jyväskylä, the first partnerships established were in the field of quantum physicists, Dr. Talyosef says, “but that only points out the vast potential of this cooperation.” Dr. Talyosef notes that BINA is now building its connections with the University of Exeter in the UK, a leading institute in quantum research and engineering that will also focus on bioconvergence research. “Upon leaving the EU, the UK became highly motivated to build its cooperation with Israel and allocated dozens of millions of pounds to establish the UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN), which includes Israel among more than 40 countries around the world.” BINA’s efforts are also directed toward its contacts with institutes in Asia, including the Hanyang University Institute of Nano Science and Technology, in the Republic of Korea, with which BINA has already signed an agreement that only now can be fully implemented. Flash Forward It appears that the world is slowly adjusting to a new COVID-19 routine, and BINA’s management hopes to sign agreements that were on the verge of being signed just prior to the pandemic’s outbreak. Dr. Talyosef says, “In January–February 2022 we will launch the collaboration with the University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), Australia, with two joint grants for energy and bioconvergence research.” As Dr. Talyosef elaborates, BINA also cooperates with Sydney Nano in the International Network for Sustainable Nanotechnology (N4SNano). N4SNano is a consortium of leading organizations in the field of nanotechnology, and consists of institutes, universities, nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies. The consortium’s founders include the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) in Canada, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology in the Netherlands, Sydney Nano and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). “The purpose and focus of N4SNano is to promote scientific discoveries and nanotechnology advancements and applications as key mechanisms for sustainability—to bring positive and impactful solutions to society in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).” Later this year BINA hopes to host another delegation from Bangalore University, one of India’s highestranking universities. “Through our cooperation with Bangalore we aim to attract top students to conduct their doctoral studies and postdoctoral fellowships in BINA’s laboratories, upgrading our research teams while making those students into ambassadors of Israel’s scientific accomplishments.” International collaborations are high on BINA’s agenda and are a daily priority for Dr. Yosef Talyosef, BINA’s manager. The institute’s founders made the decision to establish BINA as a multidisciplinary institute—a strategy that has enabled it to keep growing and developing in line with global and national changes in trends and challenges. “Today, we have a strong and large life science group, which is essential to bioconvergence research” 11
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU2MA==