MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) will expand its portfolio of eight countries (China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Spain) with the launch of a new internship and research exchange program with Israel.
MISTI funds intensive, tailored, hands-on professional internships abroad with leading companies, research labs and universities for students at all academic levels and postdoctoral researchers. MISTI also supports workshops, conferences, symposia and lectures for MIT students and faculty with international corporations, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and assists MIT faculty with cross-border research collaboration.
"MISTI-Israel will serve as a lighthouse program--a bridge between the U.S. and Israel that will be the first of its kind at a major university," said Jake Seid (S.B., M.Eng., 1998) of Lightspeed Venture Partners, who is a member of the founding team.
The program will help initiate and strengthen research collaborations in critical areas such as stem cell research and tissue engineering, high-resolution microscopy and nanotechnology, and will allow a broad cross section of MIT students to build a meaningful understanding of Israel and deep local relationships.
Professor Christine Ortiz of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who will serve as faculty director of the new MISTI-Israel Program, said, "The quality of ongoing science and engineering education and research enterprise both in industry and academia in Israel is world-class; students who spend time in Israel via MISTI will receive both an outstanding technological and cultural life-changing experience."
Students who participate in MISTI-Israel may be placed in universities such as the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa), the Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot), Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a variety of leading-edge companies.
Students selected for 2008 internships must take a course on campus about Israel and cultural training before going abroad. They will have all expenses paid in addition to receiving a stipend. An informational session for MISTI-Israel will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29, in 6-104 (pizza will be served). Students who would like to apply to the program should send Ortiz (cortiz@mit.edu) a curriculum vitae, a letter of recommendation and a statement of preferred research area. General questions on MISTI-Israel may also be directed to Ortiz via e-mail.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 28, 2007 (download PDF).
