U.S.-Israel International Research Experience for Students in Coastal Zone Research

Dr. Adina Paytan of the University of California, Santa Cruz will lead a three-year International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project supporting collaborative research projects by 18 U.S. graduate students with scientists from the InterUniversity Institute (IUI) in Eilat, Israel. The project provides international research opportunities related to coastal zone sustainability to US graduate students in the geosciences. The project also trains these students in the processes required to formulate, design and conduct original research overseas, an essential skill for today?s scientists who must function effectively on multi-national teams and work on projects that are globally relevant.

This project focuses on coastal zone research, covering the complex ecosystems extending from fresh water systems to near-shore ocean systems. These ecosystems face numerous challenges and offer significant research opportunities of global importance. The students will work with well-regarded Israeli researchers and will use the excellent facilities of the IUI located on the Gulf of Aqaba. A total of six students per year over three years (18 total students) will participate in this summer research program in collaboration with scientists from IUI.

This project is somewhat unusual in that a clear research plan for the students is not defined at the outset. However, this is also a crucial strength of the project, since students will develop the skills needed to perform independent, globally oriented research. Students will apply by preparing their own proposal for a summer research project in Israel that complements their ongoing thesis work in the US. Students who are accepted will then further develop the idea in collaboration with the selected Israeli investigator over the course of a quarter-long planning course. The U.S. students will get first-hand experience in skills essential for their long term scientific success: constructing scientific research questions that link local and international coastal zone sustainability issues, initiating interactions with non-U.S. scientists, collaboratively designing and executing a research plan, dealing with logistics related to work overseas, communicating and disseminating results jointly with their collaborator, and maintaining long term relations with their international partners.