Politecnico, Università di Torino and Technion: a cooperation agreement in scientific and education fields
The Italy-Israel bilateral summit has been the prestigious occasion for signing a memorandum of understanding that formalizes the cooperation between the two universities from Turin, Politecnico and Università di Torino and Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
In the presence of the two Prime Ministers Enrico Letta and Benjamin Netanjahu, this afternoon the agreement was signed by the Rector of Politecnico di Torino Marco Gilli, by the Vice-Rector of the Università di Torino Federico Bussolino and by Naor Gilon, Ambassador of Israel in Italy, as official representative of Technion Institute, together with the Vice President of the Israeli Institute of Technology Moshe Sidi, with the General Director Arnon Bentur, with the Dean of the School of Medicine Eliezer Shalev.
The agreement will pave the way to a new cooperation in scientific and education fields between the three institutions, with particular reference to the health and welfare areas. Indeed, the Parties involved in the agreement represent high-level academic Bodies with different but complementary specializations. They aim to create forms of partnership in cutting-edge scientific fields of this sector, which is more and more strategic for the most developed Countries, where the cooperation between medical and technological disciplines is closer. Besides the research partnership merely conducted in the medical field, the innovative aspect of this agreement is the strong focus on engineering research topics. These will be connected with multiple aspects of therapy, diagnosis, management of the medical structures and application of innovative research results in the health care field, which have been developed in fields which may be different from the traditional medical ones.
The first objective of this agreement is: fostering exchange of students, PhD fellows and professors between the three institutions, organizing meetings and taking part in notices of competition and in research projects jointly. The final aim consists in making international and multidisciplinary research groups grow in topics which are so important for modern societies.
The Rector of Politecnico Marco Gilli thus comments on this agreement: “Our University is more and more involved in the field of life sciences. This has been acquiring an increasing importance, as field of implementation of technological research, also in response to the basic social needs, such as: application of more effective therapies thanks to the new technologies, planning actions for functional support for all ages life and for all types of physical conditions and finally service rationalization.This agreement surely represents a further step to gather and make researchers meet on these topics within an increasingly multidisciplinary and international context. This will be a starting point for a fruitful partnership with one of the most prestigious Israeli universities, as well as a strengthening of the important cooperation in
the field of life sciences, where Politecnico and Università di Torino share a common interest”.
The Rector of Università degli Studi Gianmaria Ajani declares: “Università di Torino has a strong tradition in the field of life sciences, by developing international high-ranking research topics. Undoubtedly, the collaboration with other technological innovation promoters, both locally, such as Politecnico, and internationally, such as the prestigious Technion Institute, represents a great synergy opportunity. Therefore, Università di Torino looks at this agreement with great interest and trust in an increasing and fruitful cooperation”.