The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities has published its triennial Report on the State of the Sciences in Israel, 2025, as required by law. The fifth report of its kind surveys the state of basic research in Israel across the humanities, social sciences, exact sciences, and life sciences and medicine. It also examines research infrastructure, the international standing of Israeli academia, and the impact of the war on research in Israel. An Executive Summary is now available in English.

Prepared over approximately two years by a designated committee led by Academy Member Prof. Adi Kimchi of the Weizmann Institute of Science, the report was compiled with the help of six subcommittees comprising 30 leading scholars from a broad range of disciplines. The committees met with officials across Israel's higher education and scientific research systems, received written reports, conducted site visits, and collected multi-year data on the state of science in Israel and its standing relative to comparable countries.

The report presents a mixed picture. On the one hand, Israeli researchers continue to achieve international recognition and win prestigious grants and scientific prizes. On the other hand, the report identifies troubling trends, including a decline in national investment in academic research, erosion in research output indicators, and growing strain on international academic ties during the war.

Among the report's central findings:

• There is a continued decline in national investment in academic research. While Israel remains a global leader in overall civilian R&D investment, the share directed to academic research has fallen over the past decade. The report warns that without substantially increased investment in basic research, Israel will struggle to preserve and strengthen its scientific standing.
• The impact of the war on academia: The geopolitical situation has led to a significant intensification of both the overt and covert academic boycott, whose far-reaching implications for academic research remain to be seen. The impacts of the war at the national and international levels were examined in the report, based on reports from universities and an analysis of discussions in focus groups comprising faculty members at various stages of their career. This analysis enabled a comprehensive view of the ways in which the war has affected the state of research in Israel and its international dimensions.
• Effects of the war include cancellation of most international conferences planned to take place in Israel during 2024–2025; a decline in invitations to Israeli researchers to attend conferences and seminars abroad; reports of difficulties in publishing articles; and more. Several European universities announced the severing of scientific ties with Israel. There is also an ongoing threat to remove Israel from the Horizon Europe grants program, and Israeli researchers have been excluded — or are subject to attempts at exclusion — from European consortium programs. Focus group discussions indicate that the most severe impact is being felt by researchers in the humanities and social sciences, as well as by early-career, non-tenured faculty members across all research fields, who are now struggling to establish their international networks.
• In addition, the report identifies a slowdown in research progress across many groups, due in part to extensive reserve military duty call-ups, the departure of international postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and the non-arrival of others. Relocation of senior faculty accepting jobs abroad have been documented in unique research fields that represent key strengths of Israeli academia. Valuable research materials were also destroyed following ballistic missile strikes on several research institutions.
• The report underscores Israel's continued scientific excellence. Israel ranked first among participating countries in ERC grant success rate in 2015 to 2024, at 23%. The report notes, however, that the lower result in the 2025 ERC Starting Grant competition requires continued monitoring to determine whether this was an isolated result or the beginning of a troubling trend.
• Israel's relative share of global scientific publications is declining, even when adjusted for population size. Israel also ranks last among reference countries on the Highly Cited Papers (HCP) index.
• Investment in infrastructure: The report identifies an urgent national need to build a supercomputer dedicated to advancing academic research using artificial intelligence, and to invest in the human capital necessary to operate it. The establishment of a supercomputer dedicated to the needs of academia would have a revolutionary and wide-ranging impact on all fields of science, research, and innovation. It is emphasized that accelerating the development of artificial intelligence is not only an academic need tied to Israeli innovation and economic growth, but also a cornerstone of the country's national power and international standing in the 21st century.
• Finally, the report highlights a broad need, across all disciplines, to strengthen the interface between basic research and the economy, society, and industry. In the social sciences and humanities, this includes improving knowledge transfer to education, health, welfare, and culture. In the exact sciences, it includes strengthening ties between academia and industry in ways that help retain human capital and expand collaboration. In the life sciences and medicine, it includes improving the transfer of knowledge to hospitals and the biotechnology sector.

Prof. David Harel, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities says:

"The current State of the Sciences in Israel report is based on comprehensive work and extensive data and reflects the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities' responsibility to present decision-makers with an accurate, balanced, and evidence-based account of the current situation. Among our roles is to identify trends that are shaping the future of science in Israel and to propose ways to strengthen it, especially in a period as complex as the one we are living through.

"The report identifies significant challenges, including a sustained decline in national investment in academic research, damage to international ties, and the deep implications of the war on research. Now, precisely when reality is undermining the foundations of scientific collaboration and the ability of early-career researchers to establish themselves, we must insist on increased budgets, on preserving international connections, and on an uncompromising defense of academic freedom.

"Israeli science is not a luxury, it is a central engine of economic growth, security, and national recovery. Without it, we cannot guarantee technological advantage, social resilience, or the capacity to confront future threats. A country seeking to recover from crisis and secure its future must regard investment in science and higher education as a first-order strategic priority."

State of the Sciences in Israel, 2025 Executive Summary (English)

State of the Sciences in Israel, 2025 Full Report (Hebrew)

Previous State of the Sciences in Israel reports Executive Summaries (English) (2022)

Previous State of the Sciences in Israel Full Reports (Hebrew) (2022, 2019, 2016, 2013)