IT University of Tashkent and HIT signed an agreement to initiate joint StartUp companies

The agreement was signed during a scientific conference held in Tashkent headed

by Prof. Eduard Yakubov President of HIT.

The first Uzbek-Israeli scientific conference was successfully held on October 6-12 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The conference, titled "Contemporary Problems in Mathematics and Physics", brought together more than 100 scientists and researchers from Uzbekistan, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, Japan and Mexico.

The conference was initiated by Prof. Eduard Yakubov, President of HIT and Prof. Avaz Marakhimov, Rector of NUUz -National University of Uzbekistan and was held under the supervision and warm support of Inomjon Majidov, Minister of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Eduard Shapira, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Uzbekistan.

The Israeli delegation consisted of prominent scientists and researchers from leading and prestigious academic institutions:
Prof. Yosef Yomdin -Weizmann Institute of Science ; Prof. Daoud Bashouti- Technion; Prof. Albert Pinhasov, Vice President for R&D -Ariel University; Prof. Mark Agranovsky and Prof. Elijah Liflyand -Bar-Ilan University ; Prof. Mark Elin and Dr. Aviv Gibali -ORT Braude College-.
HIT was represented by Vice-President for Academic Affairs Prof. David Shoikhet; Head of R&D and External Affairs Authority, Dr. Refael Barkan; Prof. Lev Rapoport; Prof. Alla Zak; Prof. Mykhaylo Shapiro; Dr. Luna Elizarraras and Dr. Michael Kroyter.

The conference was attended by other important figures such as Armen Sergeev, Vice-President of the European Mathematics Union, and Prof. Katsushiro Maramura from Japan.
The unique and historic event was largely covered by both local and international media and served as a platform for creating collaborations between the academic institutions, as well as a basis for students and staff exchange programs between HIT and relevant academic institutions in Uzbekistan.

According to recent data, there is an increasing interest in the Uzbekistan academia in expanding collaborations with the Israeli Hi-Tech industry in various fields such as: IT, biotechnologies, Energy and Data, which will hopefully lead to the establishment of joint start-up companies as well as collaborative research.

Ambassador Shapira spoke at the conference about the great achievements in science, technology and academia in Uzbekistan, and invited the Israeli delegation to a reception at his private residence.

Prof. Marakhimov of NUUZ, expressed his joy that HIT and NUUZ have started a new era of joint educational and scientific activities and collaborations.
Prof. Yakubov said in his speech that Israel is beginning to discover the tremendous opportunities which lie in cooperating with Uzbekistan, and said that HIT is proud and honored to be the institution which paves the way towards it. It is an important step toward broadening mutual collaboration in science and technology, especially in IT, biotechnology, data science, digital personal medicine and nanotechnology.

During the Israeli delegation’s visit to Tashkent, a collaboration agreement was signed between IT University of Tashkent and HIT. The two parties agreed to hold an international conference in 2018, establish joint start-ups, engage in collaborative research, teach online courses, and more.

Uzbekistan signs agreement to establish joint start-ups with Israel

Another initiative which was discussed, is exhibiting final projects by the graduates of HIT's Faculty of Design next year in Uzbekistan.

Here are some impressions from the visit as written by some members of the Israeli delegation:

Prof. David Shoikhet: It was the first conference where a delegation of this size came to Tashkent. HIT had initiated and led the conference together with NUUZ and its importance lies in its ability to create long term collaborations as well as mutual learning about the capabilities of both institutions in the academic, research and organizational aspects. There is no doubt that this event had opened a door to real collaborations and indeed already after my lecture, I was approached by some Ph.D candidates who were interested in studying in Israel. Currently we're looking into this and weigh this matter together with other academic institutions in Israel".

Dr. Michael Kroyter: The conference was very interesting and I've personally made some interesting contacts with colleagues from Uzbekistan. A lecture I was attending had even created an idea for a new research. Now that I'm back home I'm looking into ways to advance these new ideas. I have to say a few words about the warm hospitality we received from our hosts. From the first day we felt at home and were treated with utmost respect and warmth".

Prof Alla Zak: "During this visit I was very pleased to see a country that is developing in many directions: science, higher education and industry. We've visited the Center for Advanced Technologies and have heard lectures in all fields of advance sciences, which was very important for me personally. We've received the warmest hospitality and were treated with the utmost respect and honor. We've met the Minister of Transportation who had shown great interest in collaborating with us in the field of Nano- Materials and Tribology and had already asked us to send him samples of materials from our lab. I'm looking forward to continuing this collaboration as well as to meeting our Uzbek colleagues here at HIT".

Prof. Anatoly Golberg: I was very impressed by the attendance in the conference as well as from the fact that many of the young lecturers gave very interesting and even fascinating lectures. I'd also like to add that in addition to the scientific part of the conference, the social aspect was also very interesting and intensive.