UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA

Their core work

The University of Haifa is a broad Israeli research university with particular strengths in marine science, archaeological and environmental research, computational security, and social sciences. They contribute deep domain expertise in marine biodiversity monitoring, coral biology, and desert ecosystem modelling, alongside work in post-quantum cryptography and health informatics. The university also serves as Israel's primary node for European Researchers' Night, bridging Israeli science with EU public engagement over multiple editions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014-2018), the University of Haifa focused on cryptography and security (PQCRYPTO), fundamental biological research (BluGram on wheat pathogens, Ca2Coral on coral calcification), and public engagement through European Researchers' Night events. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted markedly toward applied societal challenges — cancer patient support (CAPABLE), cultural policy and social inclusion (INVENT, SPICE, EQUALS-EU), wildfire risk management (FirEUrisk), and cognitive science (UnReal). The university has moved from a profile dominated by hard sciences and security toward interdisciplinary research connecting environmental, health, and social dimensions.

The university is broadening from natural sciences into interdisciplinary societal research, making it increasingly relevant for projects addressing social impact, public health, and human-environment interactions.

How they like to work

The University of Haifa balances coordination and participation roles well — leading 11 of 34 projects (32%), which is high for a mid-sized university. Their coordinated projects tend to be ERC-funded individual excellence grants or focused research actions, while they join larger consortia as a specialist contributor. With 296 unique partners across 43 countries, they maintain a wide and diverse network rather than relying on a small set of repeat collaborators.

Extensive European and international network spanning 296 unique partners across 43 countries, reflecting Israel's strong integration into EU research frameworks. Their partnerships are geographically diverse with no single dominant regional cluster.

What sets them apart

As one of Israel's leading research universities in EU framework programmes, the University of Haifa offers a rare combination of Mediterranean marine expertise (coral, jellyfish, aquaculture), arid-zone environmental science (Negev, Dead Sea ecosystems), and strong social science capabilities. Their geographic position provides access to unique natural laboratories — the Mediterranean Sea, coral reefs of the Red Sea, and Judean Desert — that are difficult to replicate elsewhere in Europe. This makes them an ideal partner for projects requiring field sites at the intersection of marine, arid, and archaeological research.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Ca2Coral
  Largest coordinated project (EUR 1.5M ERC grant) studying coral calcification mechanisms under ocean acidification — directly relevant to climate change research.
• DEADSEA_ECO
  EUR 1.5M ERC grant combining archaeozoology with desert sustainability, modelling how ancient trophic cascades inform modern Anthropocene challenges.
• UnReal
  Most recent major coordination (EUR 1.26M, running to 2027), investigating the neuroscience and phenomenology of reality perception using virtual reality.