Monash University > News and Events > Monash Memo

Ancora Imparo, June 2006

I had the privilege of leading a trade delegation to Israel from 14 to 21 May, sponsored by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Other Monash delegates who took part in the mission were Professor Edwina Cornish, Professor Homer Le Grand, Professor Andrew Markus and Professor David Copolov. There were six other delegates, all interested in biomedical research, technology research or Jewish studies.

From Monash's point of view, there were three objectives. The first was to meet experts in Jewish studies and modern Israel studies to help advance the development of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation. This centre has now attracted donations of more than $5 million which, together with commitments from the Arts faculty and the University Foundation, has allowed the endowment of four Chairs.

The second Monash objective was to develop or expand relationships with the top universities. We already have extensive relationships with the Hadassah Medical School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and we wish to extend these in a very targeted way.

The third objective was to examine and analyse the success of Israeli universities, most notably the Weizmann Institute in research and technology commercialisation.

In addition, I was invited to deliver an address on the 'Future of higher education in the age of globalisation' at a symposium at Tel Aviv University. All aspects of the visit were highly successful.

The delegation met with the presidents and senior staff of all seven research universities in Israel, senior politicians, members of the education bureaucracy and members of the venture capital industry. Warm relations were established, support for the Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation promised and collaborations with specific components of some of the universities progressed.

There are many lessons that Australia can learn from Israel. From our point of view, the stunning success of the Israeli universities in research commercialisation is of great interest. This is best exemplified by the Weizmann Institute. Although small in size, this remarkable institute has the highest income from licence fees and royalties of any higher education institution in the world -- more than US$100 million per year. These flow mainly from discoveries that have led to new pharmaceuticals and information technology research leading to encryption methods used by commercial television networks. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has also been very successful in research commercialisation.

How did a small country embroiled in conflict and without natural resources have so much success in research and research commercialisation? Several factors have contributed. The first is the quality of the scientists, both locally born and immigrants from Eastern Europe. Discovery is the first step in successful commercialisation. The second is the investment in research and development by both the government and industry. In aggregate this is at about 3.5 per cent of GDP, compared with Australia's 1.6 per cent. Part of this is driven by the conflict and research relating to military application, but there is also no question that there is a genuine commitment to research and development at all levels of government and industry that we do not see here. The fourth is innovative government schemes to encourage and enable research commercialisation. Most notable was the establishment, with government funding, of the venture capital industry, initially with an allocation of US$100 million in 1992 to the Yozma Group, which has overseen subsequent steps. The fifth is the willingness of private donors and investors (often from the US) to support early steps in commercialisation. Finally, the chief scientist is empowered with responsibility to stimulate research and development and its commercialisation and has US$400 million at his disposal for this purpose.

This is not to say that all is well in universities in Israel. Over the past five years, they have had severe reductions in their funding (25 per cent in real terms) and there are plans to increase student contributions and to introduce a HECS-like scheme (the Australian model). So Israel is not immune from world trends to decreased government funding of universities and higher fees being imposed on the students. But the research environment remains valued and supported.

Much was learnt, goodwill was generated and specific arrangements for collaborations and exchanges with a number of the universities were initiated. Altogether we have much to learn from Israel and expanding our collaboration will be rewarding.

Richard Larkins
Vice-Chancellor