Dr. Lilach Lily Mondaka
Chair, Life Sciences Department
email: lilachf@sapir.ac.il

LifeSci@sapir.ac.il

The Life Sciences Department, specializing in Agrotech and Food Tech, was established in Sapir College in order to address the national-level challenges associated with food security, climate crisis and the necessity of developing cutting-edge agriculture in the Western Negev region. The department will spearhead the development of knowledge and innovative solutions and train professionals to work in the field, based on the understanding that the Western Negev is Israel’s -breadbasket and that the region faces population growth, diminishing arable land , a desert frontier and environmental challenges.

The department’s curriculum comprises life sciences and biotechnology, combining deep biological knowledge and practical applications, innovative agriculture and food technologies, environmental thinking, and tapping into the world of data.
The department takes part in making the regional sustainability innovation vision come true, withing the local ecosystem of smart greenhouses, localmunicipalities, food companies, and agricultural development institutions, working together to advance research and smart agriculture across the Western Negev.

As the leading academic institution in the region, Sapir College is a key knowledge and training hub for the human capital essential for this project. This is part of an original track, which has its focus on life science, with emphasis on agriculture and food, so as to allow graduates to integrate into existing and emerging employment opportunities in the region and help establish a knowledge center to promote the economy, Agrotech and Food Tech research in the Western Negev, and later in Israel at large.