The chairperson of the teaching committee is: Prof. Osnat Gillor.
Environmental and Aquatic Microbiology Academic Program
The M.Sc. program is a two-year program.
Academic Program for students who began from October 2022
The track is open for students who has started the Desert Studies program starting 2022-2023 academic year.
Students are required to complete the following courses during the two-year program:
| Subject | Credits |
A. Mandatory course B. Core courses C. Departmental and student seminars D. Limited choice E. Electives courses F. General courses | 30 |
| Thesis Writing | 12 |
| Total | 42 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0153 | Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Christopher J. Arnusch | Writing a Scientific Paper | 2 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3021 | Prof. Itamar Giladi | Biostatistics (can be completed during the program) | 3 |
| 001-2-5011 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Environmental Microbiology | 3 |
*The course was offered until 2024 | Dr. Max Kolton | Practical microbial bioinformatics | 3 |
Students are required to attend 4 Departmental Seminars (one seminar per semester).
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2222* | Please check the university course file | French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar* | 0 |
| 001-2-5555* | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research Seminar* | 0 |
| 001-2-6666* | Please check the university course file | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0 |
* Students will take the seminars at their home institutes.
Students are required to present two seminars (one student seminar per year).
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2666 | Please check the university course file | French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 001-2-2667 | Please check the university course file | French Associate Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands Seminar* | 0.5 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9995 | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 001-2-9996 | Please check the university course file | Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research Seminar* | 0.5 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 205-2-2521 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2522 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2523 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
| 205-2-2524 | Prof. Itamar Giladi & Prof. Yaron Ziv | Marco and Louise Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology Seminar* | 0.5 |
* Students will take the seminars at their home institutes.
In the third and fourth semesters, students must register for Thesis Writing.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9991 | Third semester | Thesis Writing A | 6 |
| 002-2-9992 | Fourth semester | Thesis Writing B | 6 |
Students who have completed the above Thesis Writing courses and who continue their studies for a fifth semester must register for the following course:
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1000 | Thesis Writing – Continuation | 0 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-2015 | Prof. Dina Zilberg & Prof. Amit Gross | Introduction to Desert Aquaculture | 3 |
| 001-2-3086 | Dr. Hadas Hawlena | Microbial Ecology from the Ecologist point of view | 3 |
| 001-2-5005 | Prof. Amit Gross & Prof. Zeev Ronen | Laboratory Methods for Environmental Studies | 3 |
| 001-2-5010 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Groundwater Microbiology | 2 |
| 001-2-5012 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Biodegradation Process of Synthetic Organic Compound in Water soil | 2 |
| 001-2-5059 | Prof. Osnat Gillor | Water Microbiology | 3 |
| 001-2-5062 | Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev | Microbial Sociology: From a Single Bacterium to Biofilm and Biofouling | 3 |
| 001-2-5063 | Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev | Lab-course: New Methods in Biofilm Characterization | 2 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0009 | Prof. Avraham Be'er | Physics of Bacterial Communities | 3 |
| 001-2-0022 | Dr. Anat Bernstein | Stable Isotope Application in Contaminant Hydrology | 2 |
| 001-2-1103 | Dr. Hadas Hawlana | Introduction to Dryland Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-2021 | Prof. Dina Zilberg | Aquatic Animal Health | 3 |
| Prof. Dina Zilberg | Practical Fish Diagnosis (A/B/C) (prerequisite: Theoretical fish diseases course) | 1 | |
| 001-2-2036 | Prof. Gideon Grafi | Molecular Biology and Epigenetics | 2 |
| 001-2-2038 | Prof. Naftali Lazarovich | Soil Physics | 2 |
| 001-2-2040 | Prof. Gideon Grafi | Lab Course in Epigenetetics - A Concentrated course | 3 |
| 001-2-2046 | Prof. Aaron Fait | Analysis of Biological Networks | 2.5 |
| 001-2-2070 | Dr. Inna Khozin-Goldberg (Coordinator) | Biology and Biotechnology of Microalga | 3 |
| 001-2-2076 | Dr. Nina Kamennaya | Practical Environmental Cytometry | 2..5 |
| 001-2-2080 | Dr. Nina Kamennaya | Physiology of aquatic microbes | 3 |
| 001-2-2290 | Prof. Dina Zilberg | Aquatic Animal Health - Guided Reading Course | 2 |
| 001-2-3035 | Prof. Berry Pinshow, Prof. Nurit Agam, Prof. Scott Turner & Dr. Eugene Marais | Biophysical Ecology in the Namib Desert: Online Course and Field Workshop | 4 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-3047 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Global changes and the biodiversity crisis | 2 |
| 001-2-3079 | Prof. Ariel Novoplansky | Scientific Presentation | 2 |
| 001-2-3080 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Evolution of Life Histories | 3 |
| 001-2-3082 | Prof. Itamar Giladi | Ecology and Evolution of Dispersal | 3 |
| 001-2-3083 | Prof. Merav Seifan | Community Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-3084 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-3094 | Dr. Uri Roll | Macro ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3333 | Prof. Boris Krasnov | Guided Reading on the Ecology of Parasites and Parasitism | 2 |
| 001-2-3344 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Guided Reading on Molecular Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-3355 | Dr. Hadas Hawlena | Guided Reading on Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-5028 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Microbial Biofilms in Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes | 2 |
| 001-2-5060 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Biological Processes in Wastewater Treatment | 2 |
| 001-2-5072 | Dr. Max Kolton | Discussions in microbial ecology | 1 |
| 001-2-5074 | Dr. Elad Levintal | Envirotech - do it yourself sensors for environmental research | 3 |
| 001-2-5075 Fall 001-2-5076 Spring | Dr. Elad Levintal | Do-it-yourself sensors for environmental research - advanced course | 3 |
| 205-2-2123 | Prof. Itzik Mizrahi | Microbical Ecology | 4 |
This is a partial list. The student is allowed to select other courses that are related to the area of his/her research with the approval of the supervisor.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1200 | Prof. Simon Barak & Dr. Buzi Raviv | BGU Radio Academy – Podcast production course | 2 |
| 001-2-2069 | Prof. Inna Khozin-Goldberg | Lipid Biochemistry of Microalgae and Plants | 3 |
| 001-2-5029 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod | Rural Water Development | 2 |
| 001-2-5036 | Dr. Avner Ronen | Environmental micropollutants & emerging contaminants | 2 |
| 001-2-5037 | Dr. Michal Adler Sela | Organic micropollutant identification and quantification in the lab | 1 |
| 001-2-5069 | Prof. Amit Gross | Water & the Environment: Current challenges and solutions | 3 |
| 001-2-5129 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod | Rural Water Development (field trip) Prerequisite: Course # 001-2-5029 | 2 |
| 205-2-1601 | Prof. Ofer Ovadia | Ecology of Populations | 3 |
| 205-2-1609 | Dr. Shai Pilosoph | Networks in Biology and Ecology | 3 |
| 205-2-4162 | Prof. Michal Segoli | Insect Ecology | 3 |
| 369-2-3171 | Prof. Ariel Kushmaro | Microbiology in films, literature, and art | 1 |
| 369-2-6451 | Kushmaro | Molecular approaches to microbial ecology and biotechnology | 3 |
| 372-2-5331 | Dr. Assaf Zaritsky | Data science in cell imaging | 3 |
| IUI* | Dr. Moshe Kiflawi & Prof. Roi Holzman | Statistical Methods in Marine Ecology | 3 |
| IUI* | Prof. Ilana Berman-Frank, Prof. Dan Tchernov & Prof. Nir Keren | Marine photosynthesis | 3 |
| IUI | Prof. Daniel Sher, Dr. David Morgenstern, Dr. Tal Luzzatto Knaan | Marine Venoms and Defense Systems | 3 |
* Please refer to the following link http://iui-eilat.ac.il/Courses/Courses.aspx
Academic Program for students who began up until March 2022
Students are required to complete the following courses during the two-year program:
| Subject | Credits |
Courses within the track of study A. Mandatory course (2 credit points) B. Core courses (12 credit points) C. Departmental and student seminars (1 credit point) D. Elective courses I (8 credit points) E. Elective courses II (3 credit points) | 26 |
| General courses | 4 |
| Thesis Writing | 12 |
| Total | 42 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0153 | Dr. Scott Hansen and Dr. Christopher J. Arnusch | Writing a Scientific Paper | 2 |
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-3021 | Prof. Itamar Giladi | Biostatistics | 3 |
| 001-2-5005 | Prof. Amit Gross, Prof. Zeev Ronen | Laboratory Methods for Environmental Studies | 3 |
| 001-2-5011 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Environmental Microbiology | 3 |
| 001-2-5059 | Prof. Osnat Gillor | Water Microbiology* | 3 |
* Nonmicrobiologists may take the course: | |||
| 001-2-5159 | Prof. Osnat Gillor | Introduction to Microbiologists | 1 |
Students are required to attend 4 Departmental Seminars (one seminar per semester).
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-5555 | Please check the university course file | Departmental Seminar | 0 |
Students are required to present two seminars (one student seminar per year).
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9995 | Please check the university course file | Student Seminar (first year) | 0.5 |
| 001-2-9996 | | Student Seminar (second year) | 0.5 |
In the third and fourth semesters, students must register for Thesis Writing.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-9991 | Thesis Writing A | 6 | |
| 002-2-9992 | Thesis Writing B | 6 |
Students who have completed the above Thesis Writing courses and who continue their studies for a fifth semester must register for the following course:
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-1000 | Thesis Writing – Continuation | 0 |
This is a partial list. The student is allowed to select other courses that are related to his/her area of research with the approval of the supervisor.
Students are required to complete at least 8 credits.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0004 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod | Vadose Zone Hydrology | 2.5 |
| 001-2-0009 | Prof. Avraham Be'er | Physics of Bacterial Communities | 2 |
| 001-2-0022 | Dr. Anat Bernstein | Stable Isotope Application in Contaminant Hydrology | 2 |
| 001-2-2015 | Prof. Dina Zilberg and Prof. Amit Gross | Introduction to Desert Aquaculture | 3 |
| 001-2-2017 | Prof. Simon Barak | Plant Perception, Transduction and Response to Environmental Signals | 2 |
| 001-2-2021 | Prof. Dina Zilberg | Aquatic Animal Health | 3 |
| Prof. Dina Zilberg | Practical Fish Disease Diagnosis (A/B/C) (prerequisite: Theoretical fish diseases course) | 1 | |
| 001-2-2036 | Prof. Gideon Grafi | Molecular Biology and Epigenetics | 2 |
| 001-2-2038 | Prof. Naftali Lazarovich | Soil Physics | 3 |
| 001-2-2040 | Prof. Gideon Grafi | Lab Course in Epigenetics - A Concentrated course | 3 |
| 001-2-2046 | Prof. Aaron Fait | Analysis of Biological Networks | 22.5 |
| 001-2-2290 | Prof. Dina Zilberg | Aquatic Animal Health - Guided Reading Course | 2 |
| 001-2-3086 | Prof. Hadas Hawlana | Microbial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-5010 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Groundwater Microbiology | 2 |
| 001-2-5012 | Prof. Zeev Ronen | Biodegradation Process of Synthetic Organic Compound in Water Soil | 22 |
| 001-2-5026 | Prof. Ali Nejidat | Nitrogen Transformations and Environmental Quality | 2 |
| 001-2-5028 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Microbial Biofilms in Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes (prerequisite: Introduction to Microbiology) | 2 |
| 001-2-5029 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod | Rural Water Development | 2 |
| 001-2-5031 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Physiology of Bacterial Biofilms (prerequisite: Introduction to Microbiology) | 2 |
| 001-2-5038 | Prof. Amit Gross | Water Sanitation | 2 |
| 001-2-5040 | Dr. Eli Zaady | Soil Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-5044 | Prof. Shai Arnon | Biogeochemical Processes in Surface Water Systems | 3 |
| 001-2-5060 | Prof. Moshe Herzberg | Biological Processes in Wastewater Treatment | 2 |
| 001-2-5065 | Prof. Shai Arnon | Transport Processes in Streams: Theory and Practice | 2 |
| 001-2-5066 | Dr. Scott K. Hansen | Introduction to Scientific Computing with Python | 3 |
| 001-2-5067 | Dr. Scott K. Hansen | Introduction to Contaminant Hydrology | 3 |
| 001-2-5070 | Dr. Scott K. Hansen | Practical Data Science and Machine Learning | 3 |
| 001-2-5129 | Prof. Noam Weisbrod | Rural Water Development (field trip) – Prerequisite: Course # 001-2-5029 | 2 |
| 001-2-5041 | Dr. Menachem Sklartz | Practical Bioinformatics for Environmental Studies - A and B (a two-semester course) | 3 |
| 001-2-7007 | Prof. Amos Zemel | Statistical Methods | 3 |
| 001-2-5021 | Dr. Moshe Kiflawi | Quantitative Methods in Ecology | 3 |
This is a partial list. The student is allowed to select other courses that are related to his/her area of research with the approval of the supervisor.
Students are required to complete at least 3 credits.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0016 | Prof. Roy Bernstein | Physicochemical Technologies for Water Treatment | 2 |
| 001-2-1103 | Prof. Hadas Hawlana | Introduction to Dryland Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-3344 | Prof. Hadas Hawlana | Guided Reading in Microbial Ecology | 2 |
| 001-2-4022 | Prof. Ehud Meron | Pattern Formation and Spatial Ecology | 3 |
| 001-2-4028 | Prof. Arnon Karnieli | Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Rangeland and Forestry | 3 |
| 001-2-5034 | Prof. Yoram Oren | Environmental Oriented Electrochemistry | 2 |
| 001-2-5042 | Prof. Roni Kasher | Amino Acids and Peptides: Chemistry and Biology | 2 |
| 001-2-5100 | Dr. Genadi Carmi | Introduction to Surface Hydrology | 2 |
| 001-2-7010 | Dr. Menachem Sklartz | Hands-on Introduction to R: Programming, Graphing and Statistical Exploration | 2 |
| 001-2-5024 | Prof. Shaul Sorek | Introduction to Modeling Transport Phenomena for Aquifer Remediation | 3 |
| 001-2-5062 | Prof. Edo Bar-Zeev | Microbial Sociology: From a Single Bacterium to Biofilm and Biofouling | 3 |
| 001-2-5068 | Prof. Oded Nir | Aqueous Chemistry Modeling with PHREEQC | 2 |
| 001-2-5075 Fall 001-2-5076 Spring | Dr. Elad Levintal | Do-it-yourself sensors for environmental research - advanced course | 3 |
Students are required to complete up to 4 credits.
| Course # | Lecturer | Subject | Credits |
| 001-2-0012 | Prof. Daniel Ronen | Selected Issues Related to Groundwater Hydrology: Quality & Quantity | 2 |
| 001-2-1103 | Prof. Hadas Hawlena | Introduction to Dryland Ecology | 4 |
| 001-2-1200 | Prof. Simon Barak & Dr. Buzi Raviv | BGU Radio Academy – Podcast production course | 2 |
| 001-2-3045 | Dr. Shirli Bar-David | Conservation Genetics | 3 |
| 001-2-4016 | Dr. Leah Orlofsky | Geography of Desertification | 2 |
| 001-2-4029 | Prof. Yosef Ashkenazi | Introduction to Statistics and Probability | 3 |
| 001-2-6002 | Dr. Aviva Peeters | Theory and Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | 3 |
