The programs are held in academic institutions throughout the country/screenshot, screenshot
People tend to assume that today's boys and girls are only interested in TikTok and themselves, but a deeper acquaintance with the world of teenagers shows that they - even more than the generation before them - are very busy with their future, and many of them are already working hard towards achieving their important goals with the help of programs that allow them to direct as high as possible.
The Center for Future Scientists of the Maimonides Foundation and the Ministry of Education, the Division for Gifted and Outstanding Students, offer unique programs for gifted and outstanding students who wish to integrate into the world of academia and research while still in high school.
The ambition is to create a community of graduates who are experts in various fields, influential and ground-breaking, who will form the elite team of society in Israel and help in dealing with the great challenges of the country and the world.
These days, registration is underway for the programs: Odyssey (a program for academic studies in the sciences), Alpha (a research program in scientific fields), Idea (a program for research in humanistic fields) and Excellence in Science (a scientific start-up program for students who excel in the sciences.
The programs are run at various academic institutions across the country: Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion, Haifa University, Ben Gurion University, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Ariel University, Bar Ilan University and Tel Hai Academic College - the fields are diverse and the geographical distribution of the institutions is wide.
Registration for the programs will end on 1/21/24.
To join the various programs and for more details, click here>>
"If you are suitable for the program - a way will be found to allow you to study in it."
Students in the Odyssey/PR program
"The Alpha, Odyssey and Ida programs also create a very important connection between the students and the academy at a relatively young age, and they are also national programs, so no matter where you live, a way will be found - if you are suitable for the program - to allow you to study in it, if it is fully funded by the ministry And the fund, and if it's partially funded. Here's the big importance," explained Menachem Nadler, director of the division for gifted and outstanding students at the Ministry of Education.
The goal: to promote a generation of researchers who will take part in the next great breakthroughs
"The Future Scientists Center of the Maimonides Foundation was established with the aim of investing a great deal of resources in nurturing and promoting gifted and outstanding students," explained Eli Fried, the Center's CEO, "Our vision is to contribute and promote a generation of scientists, researchers, industry and society people who will influence and take part in the breakthroughs the largest in Israel and in the world in the 21st century."
Fried added that the Future Scientists Center operates several programs in middle schools and high schools, all for the gifted and outstanding, with each program providing a different answer according to the topics that interest the different students. "The programs are different, the tools and teaching methods are different, but in all Our goal plan is the same.
There is more than one way to reach and fulfill this vision, and each program does it in a slightly different way."
Thousands of students register every year.
Odyssey students in the Research Lab/Future Scientists Center
The admission process for these programs is long and very thorough.
"There is a very high demand for the programs, thousands of students register every year and the selection process is very strict - both because this is our measure to promote the students, and also because in the end it is not enough to want to be accepted, the programs are very demanding and require great effort, perseverance, and a desire to learn," he explained Fried, "It doesn't suit everyone, but for those who it suits - it changes lives."
"The selection process is complex, and it is not suitable for everyone," Nadler also emphasized, "We are looking for students for these programs who are suitable cognitively, and also in terms of behavioral and social abilities, perseverance, the ability to do both - because this is in addition to studying at school and not in their place - but in the end those who enter the programs gain a broad envelope - educational, social and emotional - that accompanies them even afterwards."
We continue to accompany the participants even long after the program is over
Although the programs deal with studies, research and enriching knowledge, they give the youth who participate in them much more.
"We don't just deal with studies," Fried explained, "Studies are very important, but in addition to that there will be a lot of emphasis on the emotional side, on the treatment of 'soft' skills on a personal and interpersonal level, this is very strong in the programs, and the social side is also very significant and we invest in forming between The students and the relationship between them".
"We put no less emphasis on the relationship between the students" female students in the Alpha Program/Future Scientists Center
This connection is important not only for the purpose of dealing with and including the challenging studies, but also for the continuation of the academic future of the participants.
"We are trying to build a group that will later become the cutting edge. And this happens not only in the programs, but also after. We continue to promote the graduates even after through the ``Askola'' alumni network, which promotes and accompanies the graduates before and after military service, in academic studies and professional development. This is a network Professional and social - there is a lot of contact with the industry, they are brought together with leading people in academia, high-tech and the public sector, they see the field, give scholarships to those who need it, and there is also a lot of social activity," Fried explained, adding that "our seniors today are 26 years old, and every 400-500 new young men and women join each year."
Nadler also noted that the wing for the gifted and outstanding places emphasis, as well as the Center for Future Scientists, not only on the cognitive and pedagogical side, but also on emotional and social aspects.
"There is an accompanying consultant, there is a social activity, there is a leadership empowerment activity, to really direct them to be the future generation of influencers in the scientific and social contexts they are researching," he said.
All programs of the "Scientists of the Future" are operated in cooperation with the Ministry of Education/screenshot, screenshot
A collaboration that puts the children at the center
All programs of the "Scientists of the Future" are operated in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
"This partnership is very important to us," Fried emphasized, "we operate under the supervision of the gifted and gifted division and as an integral part of the programs that the education system offers to male and female students." This partnership, and the connection with the schools, make it possible to give the children a broad response, and allow them to invest in their future, and also enjoy the present.
" The relationship with the schools, to see if there is a program that the child is in and it is not doing him any good," Nadler added. This partnership, and the relationship with the schools, make it possible to give the children a broad response, and allow them to invest in their future, and also enjoy the present.
"We do not intend In these plans to replace the school, on the contrary - we think it is important that the child experiences all the social and social processes of the school, and of course the values.
Gifted and outstanding people can often do both, they can be in research labs without giving up youth movement and sports clubs," Nadler concluded, "these are the children we are looking for.
And they earn a lot." And
to the Facebook page of the Future Scientists>>
Registration for the programs will end on 1/21/24. To join the various programs and for more details about the Future Scientists, click here>>
In collaboration with the Future Scientists Center
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Ministry of Education
gifted
outstanding
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