International cooperation is part and parcel of science. Researchers depend for their advancement on peer reviews by their colleagues around the world. But when there are those in the academic world who perceive it as correct and moral to punish researchers for the policies of their countries, we are probably facing trouble in one of the most important areas for Israel’s economic strength.

A survey carried out in December last year by The Israel Young Academy (founded by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities) and the Afik in Academia Israeli Women Professors Association, the findings of which have now been released, shows that this negative trend is being strongly felt. The survey, in which 1,015 senior faculty members from all the universities in Israel participated, reveals that many young researchers are already experiencing damage to international ties: to mutual visits, to join research work, and to the ability to recruit and keep international students. The researchers are not optimistic about the future. They expect substantial damage in many other areas, such as the ability to win research grants, to publish in professional journals around the world, and to collaborate with non-Israeli researchers.

Source - Globes - Image - Gil Gibli