The Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students is a

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

program for fostering excellence, leading to a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. Only 15 students are admitted to the program every year. "The highly competitive selection is based on applicants’ scores in the Israeli Standardized Matriculation and Psychometric exams, a short essay, a personal interview, and a concourse examination. Thus, the students participating in the program have outstanding intellectual potential and are motivated and capable of hard work and independent thinking." The program was established in 1985 by Prof. Yehuda Elkana, to enable exceptionally gifted students to explore and conduct interdisciplinary research. Elkana led the program for nine years, until 1994. In 1995 the program was named after the late Adi Lautman, an alumnus of the program and the son of Israeli industrialist and businessman . The current head of the program is Prof. Lilach Hadany, an alumna of the program. According to , a former head of the program, "the world is going toward questions and research that simply cannot be done from within only one discipline ..Today, big questions can be answered either by collaborations between researchers from various disciplines ..or by a researcher who has strong bases in several disciplines. Either you can work together or you yourself should be interdisciplinary.”

Notable alumni

* Yuval Adler, director and screenwriter, creator of the film ''

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

''Learning with Heart and Soul
05 November 2013 ("With graduates ranging from writer Etgar Keret and “Bethlehem” director Yuval Adler to master chef Yotam Ottolenghi and world-renowned linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, TAU’s Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students encourages social consciousness combined with intellectual ambition.) *

Shimon Adaf Shimon Adaf ( he, שמעון אדף, born 1972) is an Israeli poet and author born in Sderot. Biography Shimon Adaf's first book of poetry, ''Icarus' Monologue'', won a prize from the Israeli Ministry of Education. In 1996–2000, Adaf studied ...

, author and poet * , writer and film director * Maya Arad, writer * Avner Dorman, composer * Eli Drezner, professor of philosophy at

* Dov Elbaum, writer * , neuropsychologist of language *

Ehud Gazit Ehud Gazit ( he, אהוד גזית; russian: Эхуд Газит; zh, 以笏) is an Israeli biochemist, biophysicist and nanotechnologist. He is Professor and Endowed Chair at Tel Aviv University and a Member of the Executive Board of the Univers ...

, biochemist, biophysicist, nanotechnologist. Former Vice President of Tel Aviv University. Former Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science * Ido Geiger, professor of philosophy at Ben-Gurion University * , author and critic, winner of the

Bernstein Prize The Bernstein Prize is an annual Israeli literary award for writers 50 years of age and younger. The prize is awarded by the Bernstein Foundation, named after Mordechai Bernstein, who left money in his estate to establish a foundation in order to ...

* Lilach Hadany, professor at

* Ran Hassin, professor of psychology at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

* , author and musician *

Assaf Inbari Assaf Inbari ( he, אסף ענברי) (born March 9, 1968) is an Israeli novelist and journalist. He is the Asper Chair in Zionist Studies at Shalem College in Jerusalem and teaches at Kinneret College and . Biography Assaf Inbari was born and rai ...

, writer * Etgar Keret, writer * Neria Kraus, journalist * , linguist, blogger, professor at Ben-Gurion University * , head of the

Van Leer Jerusalem Institute The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (VLJI) is a center for the interdisciplinary study and discussion of issues related to philosophy, society, culture, and education. The Institute was established in to create a body of knowledge and discourseto ...

, professor of law at

Reshef Levi Reshef Levi ( he, רשף לוי; born 13 March 1972) is an Israeli screenwriter, playwright, film director, producer, writer, comedian and television presenter. Winner of the Israeli Theatre Award and the Israeli Academy of Television Award. Levi i ...

, screenwriter, playwright, film director, producer, comedian * Yannets Levi, writer, dramatist, TV host * , journalist, professor of psychology at

* , Breaking the Silence CEO (2012-2017) *

Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. He is the co-owner of seven delis and restaurants in London and the author of several bestselling cookery books, including ''Ottolengh ...

, chef, restaurant owner, food writer * Dan Pelleg, dancer and choreographer * , writer, winner of the Israel Prim Minister's Prize for Hebrew Authors *

Aviv Regev Aviv Regev (born July 11, 1971) is a computational biologist and systems biologist and Executive Vice President and Head of Genentech Research and Early Development in Genentech/Roche. She is a core member (on leave) at the Broad Institute of MIT a ...

, computational biologist, Executive Vice President of

Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...

Research and Early Development * Maayan Roichman, one of the first two Israeli

Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

(2017)ISRAELIS TO BE AWARDED 2017 RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME
Jerusalem Post, BY LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI, MARCH 22, 2017. * , data scientist and professor at Ben-Gurion University * Ori Simchen, professor of philosophy at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

*Sivan Toledo, professor of computer science at

* Barak Weiss, professor of mathematics at

* Yair Weiss, professor of computer science at the

* Yoad Winter, professor of linguistics at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

Ghil'ad Zuckermann Ghil'ad Zuckermann ( he, גלעד צוקרמן, ; ) is an Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity. Zuckermann is Professor of Linguistics and Ch ...

, linguist, revivalist, professor of linguistics and

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...

s at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

References

{{Reflist Tel Aviv University Education in Tel Aviv Research in Israel Scholarships 1985 establishments in Israel