The 2025-2026 academic year will begin on October 19 with the university’s traditional orientation week for new students. Approximately 8900 students will be studying at the university this year, including around 155 disabled IDF veterans, and about 2,300 students from 90 countries at the Raphael Recanati International School, who chose to study in Israel despite the war.
Of the total student body, about 3,400 are new students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral (Ph.D.) programs.
Reichman University will launch the 2025-2026 academic year marking its dedication to Zionism and excellence. The traditional orientation week for new students will begin on campus on October 19. Throughout the week, trained mentors will guide students through tours, workshops, and activities designed to ensure a smooth transition into academic life.
This year, approximately 155 wounded IDF veterans will be pursuing their studies at Reichman University — 124 in undergraduate degree programs and 16 in international programs. The university views the academic education of disabled IDF soldiers as both a societal and a moral mission, and is deeply committed to supporting them throughout their personal and social rehabilitation process. Their integration into campus reflects the university’s profound appreciation for their service and dedication to the country, and serves as an important pillar in strengthening the sense of community.
At the Raphael Recanati International School, which marks the 25th anniversary of its establishment this year, approximately 2,300 international students hailing from 90 countries around the world will be pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in English — more than at any other university in Israel. Most of these students are young Jews who came to Israel on their own to study, despite the war. About 70% of them make aliyah during or after their studies and establish their lives in Israel — an unprecedented figure that makes Reichman University the largest academic absorption center in the country. Approximately 350 of these students are lone soldiers who served in the reserves during the Iron Swords War.
Reichman University continues to lead the revolution in academia in the age of artificial intelligence. Over the coming year, AI courses will be offered across various disciplines, and advanced AI technologies will be integrated into teaching, research, and campus management — from the use of AI tools in classrooms, through joint projects involving students and researchers, to the development of innovative systems aimed at enhancing the student experience. The goal is to train the next generation of leaders, equipping them with the tools that will allow them to lead in a changing world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
This year also marks the commencement of the second cohort of students at the Dina Recanati School of Medicine, which was established with the mission of training a new generation of physicians who combine clinical excellence with social leadership and medical innovation. At the same time, the university continues to advance groundbreaking research through the Scojen Institute for Synthetic Biology - one of the most advanced institutes of its kind in the world - where researchers and students develop innovative medical and biological technologies with the potential to transform science, medicine, and industry in Israel and around the world.
Reichman University President, Prof. Boaz Ganor: “Reichman University is proud to open the academic year with approximately 155 wounded IDF veterans joining our student community. We view this as a national and social mission of the highest order - to provide the warriors who paid a heavy personal price in defense of the country with the opportunity to pursue higher education, rehabilitate, grow, and fulfill their dreams. The values of freedom and responsibility on which the university was founded are being realized this year more than ever. I have no doubt that those who demonstrated comradeship and unity on the battlefield, alongside creative talent in their studies, both deserve and have the ability to become the leaders of the future.”
The Reichman University community continues to hold in its heart the memory of its 18 fallen students and alumni, welcomes home the hostages who have been released, hopes for the prompt return of the remaining hostages for burial, and shares in the grief of all the families who have lost their loved ones.
What else is new this year at Reichman University?
Preparing academia for the age of artificial intelligence - an initiative led by Reichman University President Prof. Boaz Ganor
Reichman University is meeting this challenge through an innovative, multi-layered model founded on an academic vision that integrates disciplinary excellence, pedagogical innovation, and technological and ethical literacy. The university’s operating model is built around three domains, each of which constitutes an arena for significant institutional reform:
- Reform in curriculum content - adapting course content to the evolving needs of the job market and the nature of learning in the digital age. The focus is shifting from the transmission of knowledge to the cultivation of meta-skills and the development of foundational multidisciplinary courses on entrepreneurship, leadership, technology, society, and ethics.
- Reform in teaching methodologies - integrating AI-based tools into the teaching and assessment process, redesigning the learning environment, and promoting instruction that emphasizes interpretation, action, and critical thinking.
- Reform in the structure of academic programs - breaking down rigid degree and program frameworks and leading the transition to dynamic lifelong learning and a modular and flexible structure, which allows for both personalized and cross-disciplinary learning pathways.
Reichman University’s distinctiveness lies in its ability to foster deep integration between disciplines, build a new educational language, and provide all its students – across all schools – with a shared foundation of understanding, responsibility, and skills for a changing world.
DNA Courses - foundational courses designed to form a shared moral, intellectual, and practical foundation for all students
In the upcoming academic year, as part of the curriculum reforms led by the university’s president, Reichman University will introduce four university-wide foundational courses - two each semester - taught by leading lecturers in their fields.
“Reichman’s DNA courses” are designed to provide students from all disciplines with a common moral, intellectual, and practical foundation that will accompany them throughout their academic, professional, and personal journeys. The courses will be taught in a “master class” format by some of Israel’s top lecturers and researchers from both academia and practice.
Among those teaching in the first semester are Benny Begin, Dan Meridor, and Adina Bar Shalom. Each course will address one of four key themes: leadership and entrepreneurship, global challenges, technology, and modern Zionism.
The University of the Jewish People
In light of rising antisemitism across the globe, Reichman University has further strengthened its ties with Jewish communities in the Diaspora over the past year. In the coming year, it plans to expand international collaborations with universities in the United States that have demonstrated support for their Jewish students.
At the heart of this vision is the establishment of a world-class academic home in Israel - of the highest standard - for Jewish lecturers and students from around the world.
“Anti-Semitism must be answered with Zionism. There must be an academic institution in Israel where one can receive the best education, meet exceptional young Jews from all over the world, and feel a deep sense of belonging. A place that is not just a refuge, but a destination,” says Prof. Uriel Reichman, Founding President and Chairman of the Board, who is leading this vision and its implementation.
Continuing to lead in the global entrepreneurship index!
Reichman University is ranked 47th in the world in PitchBook’s prestigious 2025 Global University Rankings, thanks to 357 alumni entrepreneurs who have founded 303 companies, collectively raising $9 billion.
In the “small universities” category (institutions with up to 15,000 students), Reichman University was ranked 8th in the world (!), alongside elite universities such as Stanford, Harvard, and MIT.
The Pitchbook ranking identifies the world’s top universities for producing entrepreneurs. It is based on comprehensive research conducted in collaboration with approximately 150 of the world’s leading venture capital funds, mapping how many startups - and how many founders - have emerged from each university.
Reichman University continues to serve as a home for the entrepreneurs of the future, equipping them with the tools and skills to turn their ideas and aspirations into reality.
New appointments
- Prof. Iris Shai, Dean of the School of Sustainability
Prof. Iris Shai is a world-renowned researcher in public nutrition and a leading expert on the links between nutrition, the environment, and public health. She earned her degrees at Ben-Gurion University and completed her postdoctoral studies at Harvard University. She serves as an Adjunct Professor at Harvard and as an Honorary Professor at Leipzig University in Germany.
Prof. Shai’s research interests include food systems as a response to the climate crisis, environmental food contaminants, sustainable nutrition, plant-based protein technology, personalized nutrition, and the green Mediterranean diet. Her research approach is interdisciplinary and examines the connections between cardiometabolic risk, epigenetics, the microbiome, cognition, and aging. Her research, published in leading scientific journals, have helped shape international nutritional and medical guidelines.
- Prof. Yaniv Grinstein, Dean of the Tiomkin School of Economics
Prof. Yaniv Grinstein holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Technion in Haifa. His areas of research include corporate finance, executive compensation, and corporate governance, exploring how these areas intersect with financial decision-making and firm value. His research has been published in leading financial journals and have received international recognition.
Over the years, Prof. Grinstein has served as the head of the Master’s Degree Program in Financial Economics and as head of the undergraduate programs in finance at Reichman University. Before joining Reichman University, he served as an associate professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He is also a research fellow at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).
About Reichman University
Reichman University was founded in 1994 by Prof. Uriel Reichman to train the future leadership of the State of Israel. From the outset, the institution was modeled after the elite universities in the United States - it does not receive funding from the governmental budgetary system for higher education and is run as a public benefit corporation. Its expenses are funded exclusively by tuition and donations.
Reichman University students are educated in light of the motto “Freedom and Responsibility,” and alongside the emphasis placed on excellence in research and teaching, prominence is given to social responsibility and community involvement. Since its inception, about 38,000 graduates have earned their diplomas from Reichman University. There are currently 10 schools on campus, which offer degree tracks in law, business administration, computer science, government, diplomacy and strategy, communications, psychology, economics, sustainability, accounting, entrepreneurship, and medicine. In addition, the university houses dozens of laboratories and research institutes. The president of the university is Prof. Boaz Ganor, its provost is Prof. Amnon Lehavi, and its CEO is Dr. Ayelet Ben-Ezer Gelbard. Prof. Uriel Reichman, the university’s founder, serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.