Beneficiary BIU

General Description

Bar-Ilan University is the second largest research university in Israel, with a student population of approximately 22,500 at the main campus in Ramat Gan, and at the four regional colleges.  This figure includes 6,000 young researchers of which 1,800 are PhD students.

The university offers high-level academic studies and the development of advanced research within the framework of faculties, departments, multi-disciplinary centers and research centers.

Role and Commitment of key persons (including supervisors)

Prof. Yoram Louzoun has supervised a large number of Ph.D. students studying bio-mathematics and immunology. He dedicates 50 % of his time to the supervision of students from the university, as well as student of the math for health program. Students have common offices where they can work and share ideas, as well as access to advanced computing services.

Key Research Facilities, Infrastructure and Equipment

Independent research premises?

The Louzoun lab is an independent lab, studying stochastic processes in Immunology. The University has multiple independent computational biology and bio-mathematics labs in the mathematics, Engineering and Life Sciences departments.

Previous Involvement in Research and Training Programmes

Aiming to excel in research, in recent years Bar-Ilan University has placed major emphasis on expanding its research activities and advanced studies, by substantially increasing the number of research students via Presidential and other scholarships. The university has also developed unique interdisciplinary study programs and has intensified research and instruction in fields that are at the forefront of sciences, such as computational biology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, brain and more.

Bar-Ilan University has been involved in the Framework Programme since FP4 both as a partner and coordinator. In FP5 BIU was involved in c. 20 projects, and coordinated the training site HPMT CT2001 00411 and were partners in the training network KTAGS. BIU managed around 30 projects in in FP6 at c. €6ME including coordination of IAPP Folding Misfolding with a budget of €505,468 ME, and participating in FP6 EU SSA project Dialrel and the FP6 EU IP Food project QLIF. In FP7 BIU has managed over 100 projects (c. €34.5 ME EU contribution); of these 57 were Marie Curie projects.

Current involvement in Research and Training Programmes

BIU is currently involved in c 70 FP7 projects including c. 30 Marie Curie projects of which include 2 ITNs LINC and Destiny and IAPP Modicell. BIU is currently coordinating the FET AllOxide project and is participating in c. 10 collaborative FP7 projects including NOVO, MULTIPLEX and Practice. Bar Ilan is also collaborating in the SANCO BoRest Impact project.

Relevant Publications and/or research/innovation products

Behar, H., N. Brenner, and Y. Louzoun, Coexistence of productive and non-productive populations by fluctuation-driven spatio-temporal patterns. Theoretical population biology, 2014. 96 : p. 20-29.

Liberman, G., et al., Multi step selection in Ig H chains is initially focused on CDR3 and then on other CDR regions. Frontiers in immunology, 2013. 4 .

Louzoun, Y., et al., A mathematical model for pancreatic cancer growth and treatments. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2014. 351 : p. 74-82.

Louzoun, Y. and V.V. Ganusov, Evolution of viral life-cycle in response to cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated immunity. J Theor Biol, 2012. 310 : p. 3-13.

Behar, H., N. Shnerb, and Y. Louzoun, Balance between absorbing and positive fixed points in resource consumption models. Physical Review E, 2012. 86 (3): p. 031146.