October 26, 2022 — The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) School of Engineering and Computer Science and Yissum, HU’s technology transfer company, announced a new research partnership with Meta AI.
Meta AI’s research advances state-of-the-art artificial intelligence through fundamental and applied research in open collaboration with the community.
“Meta’s choice to collaborate with the Hebrew University is proof of our institution’s scientific excellence and the commercial success that Yissum has achieved for its leading professors,” Dr. Itzik Goldwaser, CEO of Yissum, says. “The university’s innovative researchers play a critical role in the marketplace, and we are proud to facilitate this collaboration with Meta to impact the scientific community.”
This partnership stems from Hebrew University’s initiatives to strengthen the ties between academia and the tech industry. Ph.D. students who are accepted into the program will have the opportunity to merge theory with actual work experience, gain a better understanding of emerging fields, and develop new technologies.
The research conducted as part of this strategic partnership will be published for the benefit of the scientific community and industry. Meta will assign mentors to HU students in the program and fund scholarships to deepen their understanding of AI and machine learning. Further, these students will have access to Meta’s computational infrastructure and facilities.
“This partnership offers our students a unique opportunity to experience the world of research and development from two perspectives: a research perspective that enables experimentation, innovation, and breakthroughs, and an implementation perspective, which will give them an understanding of the real-world impact of their research,” says Prof. Sara Cohen, Dean of the Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hebrew University. This one-of-a-kind collaboration will empower HU’s Ph.D. students to both study at one of Israel’s leading universities and test their ideas in Meta’s industry-leading AI laboratory.”
Prof. Joelle Pineau, Managing Director of FAIR (Facebook AI Research) said, “Exploratory research, open science, and cross-collaboration are foundational to our AI efforts. Many of our projects are done with researchers both in industry and academia, as we believe this is the fastest way to make progress in research. Bringing our Ph.D. program to Israel, in partnership with the Hebrew University, will further our collective impact as we together accelerate the world’s progress toward more capable AI.”