Israeli and a Moroccan university moving towards academic and research cooperation

The collaboration between Ben-Gurion University and Mohammed VI University will be the first of its kind between an Israeli and a Moroccan university.

According to the Israeli economic weekly Globes, Ben-Gurion University in the Negev area of southern Israel and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco are expanding academic and research cooperation, as well as a student-faculty exchange program.

Thus, the initial phase of cooperation between the two parties, according to the newspaper, would focus on agricultural, water, energy, and environmental rehabilitation research, i.e., subjects linked to tackling regional changes and desertification processes.

Briefly, ICL (Israel Chemicals) is a private metal company that produces solutions that respond to humanity’s challenges in the nutrition market, agriculture, and industry, according to those close to the process.

Also, OCP is the Moroccan state fertilizer company, and both companies are expected to donate millions of shekels to research grants for advanced academic titles at both universities.

Ben-Gurion University President Professor Daniel Haimovic said, “For both universities, there is a lot in common, from their desert sites to their focus on applied research and sophisticated teaching methods, so it is very appropriate to collaborate on the themes of sustainability and regional change, both of which are committed to the prosperity of the desert and the promotion of the green environment.”

“We are certain that connecting the two academic institutions in both nations to science and technology will have a major influence on the population at the local and regional levels,” Mohammed VI University President Hicham El Habti stated.

“Both institutions regard scientific research as a crucial component with the development of, essentially, the issue of recovery,” he said, “and so we have identified this topic as a first step in our partnership.”