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The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture


Agricultural Innovation to Feed the World

Many inhabitants of our planet face famine due to drought and salinity stress. Lack of water and increased salinization of arable land is a serious problem which is estimated to develop to devastating proportions, resulting in 30 % land loss within the next 25 years, and up to 50 % in the year 2050. In a world where population growth is outstripping food supply, we cannot rely any more on traditional methods only. Novel research needs to be conducted.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, is the only institution of higher learning in Israel, which trains students in agricultural sciences. Over the past 60 years, the Faculty's scientists and researchers have pioneered major agricultural, world-acclaimed innovations, and have developed sophisticated technologies that have helped Israel's agricultural sector conserve scarce water resources and the environment. In doing so, they apply principles of modern genetics, physiology, biochemistry and other scientific disciplines to improve quality and yields, markets for the country's numerous and develop new crops and worldwide agricultural products.

Improved Crops for a Better Future

One of the most important areas of activity within the broader field of agricultural science is that of plant sciences. The framework of classical agriculture, which has guided the Faculty's development over the past decades, has facilitated great progress in management, genetics and breeding as well as biochemical and physiological applications related to agricultural and horticultural crops. Modern technologies and state-of-the-art disciplines are currently applied ­both for the benefit of the international community and IIsraeli agriculture and research - to further improve production efficiency, maintain sustainable production systems, improve yield and quality, and deepen the understanding of the basic processes of plant life. Scientists at the Faculty are world-renowned innovators and leaders in the extension of the shelf life of vegetables, in the improvement of quality traits of fruit, flowers and vegetables, and in the introduction of new varieties into the market. They have laid the foundations of Israel's floriculture industry and are leading the emerging new disciplines such as biotechnology, genomics and proteomics, and much more.

Focus and Excellence Through Consolidation

The biological approach in modern agriculture, resulting from the major scientific discoveries of the past decade, is today interdisciplinary and encompasses a range of affiliated fields such as cell biology, biotechnology, management, biochemistry, ecology and plant physiology. The new concept of plant sciences strives to integrate methods and scientific disciplines. The establishment of the Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences consolidates three departments of:

  • Agricultural Botany

  • Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics

  • Horticulture

This delineation will facilitate interaction and will allow Faculty scientists to remain at the cutting-edge of science and continue to break through the frontiers of plant sciences and genetics.

The Institute is envisioned as:

  • A unified academic and administrative body devoted to teaching and research; the largest, most diverse and interdisciplinary Israeli academic institution of plant sciences.

  • Combining applied and basic research, employing conventional and most novel research tools, at the whole organism and the cellular-molecular levels. An important goal of the Institute is to promote al I aspects of plant sciences, and especially the frontiers of physiology, breeding, biotechnology and molecular biology.

The consolidation of three separate departments into the Institute for Plant Sciences will promote intensified scientific cooperation among faculty members and centralize resources by combining specialized laboratories, greenhouses, growth chambers and other expensive and sophisticated research facilities and equipment. Through integration of this range of disciplines, scientific expertise and breaking technologies, the Institute will amass the resources to take on its mission. Its researchers will exploit the wealth of plant natural diversity and the ongoing worldwide revolution in plant genomics and proteomics, in order to identify solutions to agricultural problems, mainly water-, salinity-and heat- stress, facing Israel, neighboring countries, as well as many countries worldwide. This Institute will provide its scientists with the most sophisticated equipment that can make use of today's new arising technologies in biological research, technologies which will allow us to introduce traits that provide crops with an ability to cope with stress, or to avoid it.

Excellence in Academic Activity

TEACHING The curriculum for the combined study track in Plant Sciences and Genetics has already been revised and updated to reflect the Faculty's innovative approach to educate the experts who will meet the needs of the future.

RESEARCH Leading scientists in agricultural plant sciences and genetics will engage in national and international research projects under the auspices of the Institute, all aimed at developing new agricultural horizons and meeting future agricultural requirements, with a focus on four thematic areas:

1. Management and the interaction of agricultural plants with the environment

  • Functional physiology and tolerance to a biotic stress

  • Vegetative and reproductive developmental control Management of agricultural crops and their products

2. Biotechnology and biochemistry

  • Production of natural compounds
  • Propagation materials
  • Development of new plants and plant health products

3. Innovative breeding technologies

  • Breeding of agricultural crops and farm animals

  • Marker-assisted selection

4. Applied ecology

  • General ecology of plants and their environment
  • Weed control
  • Nature conservation, open areas and forests, and landscaping

Consolidation for More Effective Research

The new building of the Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences is to be accommodated in a complex requiring 3,250 square meters of space, to include a new 1,800 square meter three-store Plant Sciences Building.
This new facility will consolidate the staff members and students of the current three departments - Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics; Horticulture; and Agricultural Botany - and will enable them to work, interact and teach in close proximity.
The new building will include specialized research laboratories, equipped for cell biology, genomics, proteomics, molecular breeding and tissue culture; laboratories for research involving the use of radio-active materials as well as the necessary facilities for studies related to whole plant breeding; cold rooms and growth chambers; research and graduate student rooms; and fully-equipped seminar/meeting rooms. It will house teaching and research in a manner that corresponds to the academic activity.

Partnership Support

The Hebrew University seeks support for the construction of the new part Plant Sciences Building.
We welcome your partnership in advancing the commitment of the University and its researchers to improve the quality of life for all of humanity.



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