University of Bristol partners with Ben-Gurion University

Professor Dimitra Simeonidou and Rector Chaim Hames at the signing of the MoU between their respective institutions.

Press release issued: 10 December 2019

The University of Bristol has formalised an agreement to collaborate with the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel on research and education in Telecommunications Networks, Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence.

Professor Dimitra Simeonidou, Director of Smart Internet Lab and Professor Yaron Wolfsthal from the Department of Software and Information Systems in the Faculty of Engineering at BGU, are driving the collaboration between their respective institutions.

As a world-leading specialist in Smart City infrastructures, Professor Simeonidou shares an interest in ICT networks solutions of the future, with Professor Wolfstal, who is founder and Head of IBM's security research lab in Israel.

The Universities have established a strong working relationship through prior research collaboration and successful student exchanges. The desire to build on this and facilitate more joint activities, has led to the drafting of a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The objective of the MoU is to enhance, encourage, and formalise scholarly and scientific interaction between the institutions through the promotion of exchange opportunities for academic staff, professional staff and students, and cooperative activities.

The Smart Internet Lab encourages bilateral exchanges of academic staff, researchers and PhD students. This year two PhD students attended a summer school on cybersecurity funded by Ben-Gurion.The activities and engagement are aligned with the UK Government’s bilateral collaboration with Israel.

Professor Simeonidou said:

“I am delighted with the announcement of this MoU between University of Bristol and Ben-Gurion University. Both Universities are recognised as research leaders in the fields of Telecommunications Networks, Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence. We have established numerous successful exchanges over the past years and we are now looking to scale-up our engagement and build collaborative research addressing key challenges in delivering future digital infrastructure”

Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel, BGU's Vice President for Global Engagement said:

“The envisaged modes of cooperation will include activities such as bidding for joint research projects, organizing joint lectures and seminars, exchanging students, faculty and staff, facilitating assisting and developing other academic activities that may be of joint interest.”

Further information

The Smart Internet Lab at the University of Bristol and our 5GUK Test Network

The Smart Internet Lab at the University of Bristol is a hub for internet research which addresses grant societal and industrial challenges. We perform cutting edge research on optical and wireless communications and offer a unique holistic approach to hardware and software co-design, solving critical problems in the global internet evolution. We are world leaders in 5G convergence research and have deployed 5G capability in Bristol city centre focusing on the convergence of fibre infrastructure and 5G wireless access. The University of Bristol's 5GUK Test Network is the UK’s first urban 5G End-to-End Testbed.