HIT Invests in Faculty Development: Incentive Awards for Young Researchers 

Dr. Ben Bulmash and Dr. Limor Sahar-Inbar were the inaugural recipients of HIT’s new 2022 faculty development program, which aims "to encourage young researchers" by providing them with seed money for their research undertakings.

The grant is intended for tenured researchers at the beginning of their academic careers who are carving out their research paths. Candidates were requested to submit research proposals which developed collaborations in Israel or abroad with more senior researchers, or alternatively receive support for preparing and upgrading a research proposal to a competitive fund.

Both awardees – Dean of Students Dr. Limor Sahar-Inbar and Dr. Ben Bulmash, lecturers in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Technology Management, were granted NIS 40,000 to support their research endeavors.
“The statement being made here does not go without saying. It stems from a true desire to develop and promote young researchers, alongside veterans. It is a very significant and exciting move."

Dr. Sahar-Inbar's research, "eWOM Shades of Grey", deals with consumer behavior in today's online and digital era and focuses on the senior population. 

"Through research based on characterization and experimentation, we'll be able to try to understand the preferences of the elderly as regards to information-sharing in social media " says Dr. Sahar-Inbar. She adds that this project also has a social agenda, since it might assist seniors in dealing with technological challenges. The research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Ofrit Kol, an expert in digital consumer behavior from the School of Communication at Ariel University. 

Dr. Bulmash's research, "The Effect of Religious Reward and Punishment Cognition and Literal Immortality Cognition on Employee Compliance" deals with the attitudes, beliefs, and real employee perceptions.

"When it comes to society, there are things that are agreed upon and those that are not. "The goal is to try to understand the mechanism behind human behavior - both as individuals and as social creatures. By doing so, we will be able to deepen the discourse.” Dr. Bulmash is conducting his research in cooperation with Prof. Yoav Ganzach, Dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College.

Dr. Bulmash's Photo credit: Or Zahavi

Posted: 09/11/2022