Technion Opens 2022/2023 Academic Year

A total of 2,026 new students – 48.2% of whom are women – began their studies at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa this past Monday. The continued increase in the percentage of female students on campus in recent years is the result of an ongoing effort by the Technion’s management to encourage female high school pupils to major in STEM subjects and to increase the proportion of outstanding women who apply to study science, engineering, architecture, medicine, and teaching. On Sunday morning, a ceremony in honor of the new students was held to launch the academic year.

Technion President Professor Uri Sivan congratulated the new students and said “Today you are joining one of the leading academic institutions in the world, but first and foremost you are joining a new family – the Technion family. Along with your justified pride at being accepted to the Technion, the real challenge begins now. We expect you not only to graduate successfully and to continue the Technion tradition, but also to excel and to lead. The knowledge you will acquire at the Technion is ultimately intended to serve society and improve the quality of life for humanity on this planet, for your sake and for the sake of future generations. The Technion you are entering today is very different from that of 50 years ago, and even five years ago. Information has become accessible to everyone on a variety of platforms, and the Technion must adapt the ways of teaching to the present in order to give additional meaning to the meeting hours in the classrooms and the various forums. We place great emphasis on the quality of the teaching to provide you with the set of skills that you will need in a dynamic world that is rapidly changing. I wish you great success and a fruitful academic year.”

Welcome! Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan with the new students

This year, a total of 9,061 undergraduate students will study at the Technion. The proportion of women among all undergraduate students currently stands at 44.2% – the highest in the Technion’s history since its founding in 1912. The faculties that are most in demand among the new students are those that prepare them for the hi-tech and bio-tech professions, in the tracks of electrical and computer engineering, computer science, and data and information engineering. Among master’s degree students, biomedical engineering is very popular.

There are also 4,275 graduate students. Some 2,940 of them are pursuing master’s degrees, 251 of whom study at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute in New York. Some 1,335 students are pursuing a Ph.D.

Dean of Students Professor Ayelet Fishman said when she was studying at the Technion, female students made up just 25% of the student population. “Today, the percentage of new female students stands at 48%, and I am proud to congratulate them, as well as the other 52% who are male. Welcome to the ranks of outstanding students in Israeli academia,” she said. “You are all smart and have high academic qualifications, but in all other parameters, you are different from each other. Such differences and diversity are signs of strength, not weakness. Be open to other opinions, help those who are different from you, use these years to expand your social circle and empower yourself – and in the words of tennis legend Serena Williams, ‘A champion is defined not by their wins, but by how they can recover when they fall.’”

The Dean of Students, Prof. Ayelet Fishman

At the opening ceremony, Dean of Undergraduate Studies Professor Hossam Haick said: “since time immemorial, the Technion has seen its students as future leaders who will reach crossroads where important decisions are made. Our graduates are required to make decisions out of economic and social responsibility and out of integrity, professionalism and a sense of commitment to the community and society. You, the students of today, are agents of change for the future, leaders who will be ambassadors of science and technology in society.”

The Dean of Undergraduate Students, Prof. Hossam Haick, at the ceremony

Liby Manash, the chairman of the Technion Student Association, told the new students: “You are excited, and this excitement stems in part from the fact that you have been accepted to the best academic institution in Israel. Be involved, don’t be afraid to fail, use these years not only for academic and professional learning but also to get to know yourself better and, above all, don’t give up meeting with friends, sports, and other activities.”

Chairman of the Technion Student Union Liby Manash at the ceremony

New at the Technion this academic year:

In the past year, the Technion worked to expand the Department of Humanistic Studies and Arts as part of a process designed to expose its students to humanistic subjects, such as ethics, history, art, and philosophy. This exposure will be part of their scientific-technological education, under the belief that in order to train the cutting edge of the State of Israel’s engineers, doctors, architects, and scientists, the students must be given a broad worldview that will enable them to make professional decisions with a clear social and ethical stance in the future.

An important pillar in the department’s expansion is the opening of the “Artist on Campus” program, which invites artists to the Technion to perform and present their works, lead projects and workshops for the entire Technion family, study, and conduct joint research with researchers and students. The first artists chosen to participate in the program are Dr. Orit Wolf, Nardeen Srouji, and Dr. Elad Schneiderman.

Number of students living in the dorms: Technion remains 1st in Israel

The Technion provides students with a variety of housing options on campus that include some 4,600 beds. This is the highest number among the academic institutions in Israel. In preparation for the opening of the academic year, the new Cypress Towers, the construction of which was recently completed, were inaugurated on the campus. The apartments in the new dormitories were designed in a modular way that allows them to be used as shared apartments or as apartments for young families. The opening of the new dormitories increased the housing options on campus by 390 additional beds.

The new Cypress Towers dormitories

Preparatory courses for the new students

In anticipation of the opening of the new academic school year, a preparatory mathematics course was held. Around 700 new students participated in the course, which was affectionately dubbed “summer camp” by the participants.

Have a great, successful academic year! Good luck with your studies!