Tel Aviv University International students volunteering and support group

 This month again (for the N time, where N is a number bigger than 1) the Ministry of Interior changed again its modus operandi , creating a new situation for the offices. The idea behind this is to advantage the Israeli population in the renewal of their passports, which was delayed and inefficient for several months. To understand more, follow this link on The Jerusalem Post . This inevitably affects the visa process again, especially for those whose visas and licenses were set to end by 30.9.23 . The following visas are automatically extended for 6 months period: a1 (eligible under the right of return) (a2)students/trainees/interns (a3)Clergy a4 (companion to a3 a2 ) (a5)temporary resident (b1) working visa permits for temporary stay in Israel for Palestinians (for family reunion and humanitarian reasons) Here's the link of the official website of the Government. A nice article has been written on this page , especially as far as the international couples are concerned. Around M...

 Segel representative asked us to spread the word. Here's their message! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following our protests, the university's administration agreed to the demand to update the scholarships, according to its commitment. The university promised a partial compensation for the CPI rise, which was paid in a lump sum in May - but because of the technical mechanism the university chose for the payment, it ended up not paying the scholarship receiving students the full amount of the compensation. Furthermore, the university did not provide adequate responses to students who asked questions about issues with the payment. We, scholarship receiving students in Tel Aviv University, demand: 1) Specific answers to our questions about the calculation of compensation 2) That the university upholds its commitment: full payment of the compensation to all those entitled to it, as soon as possible. ------------------------------------...

Dormitories around the university: Broshim and Einstein NOTE: the company that used to run Milman, Brodetzky and Ra'anana Dorms has sold out its properties, therefore the information you can find on their website can be outdated. Additionally, we have been reported that Brodetzky dorms no longer accept foreign tenants. Broshim enrollment To add your name in the Broshim waiting list:  https://forms.monday.com/forms/8a08dde9b3f31642670c466546e7ee24?r=use1 Please note: there is a waiting list active all over the year and tenant initiatives are not considered, which means no subletting and no swapping of rooms. Only the Housing team can deal with these things. When you need replacement, the TAU housing office will deal with that. Please note: the rental contract requires the tenant to renew the contract every year. If a tenant has to leave before the end of the contract, they need to find a substitution. This is true for ALL of the dorms. You can also contact the TAU office for housi...

Today 21.05.23 various post docs were present (via Zoom or in person) to the meeting we scheduled for progressing in our campaign for the Post-doc working and financial conditions. At the meeting there was present also a reference person from TRFO Segel, who helped us clarifying doubts and concepts. In particular, we focused - as said before- to these points. 1. University could (or should) hire Post docs as workers?!     the common opinion (more than 6 people in favor, 3 against) is that possessing a working visa would be advantageous for the post docs for a series of reasons: better pay, more welfare, account for pension years, easier visa management (renewal etc...). This has the disadvantage to put the post doc in a compromising situation with their supervisor, which would be the most affected person financially speaking. Hiring a worker is a higher cost that the PI has to cover (considering that in average, 100% of the scholarship is paid by the PI and 50% by the faculty)...

 Here below we report the summary of the meeting we had on 14.05.23 with the post docs and Segel (Teaching and Research Faculty Organization) and the conclusions we came to. The meeting was attended by 18 people, mostly Postdocs, from the schools of management, medicine, zoology, astrophysics, engineering, history, plant science, among others. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abbreviations:  Postdoc (Pd), principal investigator (PI), Tel Aviv university (TAU), Segel (Teaching and research faculty organization), CPI (Consumer price index) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT HAPPENED First point: an introduction by representative of the Segel was given to all of the participants. Here the most important points: The 2023 started with a +5% increase of CPI, while scholarships of post docs were no...

 In these days we are keeping on eye on a controversial situation happening on campus: the university "promised" to refund the Scholars (Master and PhD students) with a one-time bonus in April (obtained in May), excluding the post-doc. This action was made to compensate TAU (Israeli and International) students for the sharp 5% increase in the CPI (Consumer Price Index) in Israel. What happened is: post-doc are not entitled to receive the compensation and they will have to wait till next academic year, where the university promised to adjust the scholarships of all of the researchers (from master student to post docs) by increasing them roughly 5%. Many international PhD students did not receive the "promised" amount of compensation, namely the one that one can calculate with the formula that was given. A minority of international PhD students did not receive the bonus at all, and another minority got exactly the expected amount. (See our previous post on this matter...

 This story begins in January 2023, after the establishment of the new government led by Netanyahu and some "far right" folks. The government proposed a series of changes that will affect the judicial system and therefore the balance of powers withing the state. The proposal comes especially from Yariv Levin (Minister of Justice) and Simcha Rothman (Chair of the knesset's constitution, law and justice committee. According to Wikipedia , the idea is to limit the Supreme Court's power  when exercising judicial review, and to appoint judges suggested by the government.  If adopted, the reform would grant the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court rulings that deem legislation passed by the Knesset as unconstitutional, by reintroducing the legislation and approving it with a majority of Knesset members. The reform would additionally diminish the ability of courts to conduct judicial review of the  Basic Laws  and change the makeup of the  Judicial Selectio...

Back in January, the Segel (TRFO) published an announcement on the ongoing struggle to adjust the scholarships to the cost of life. Let's remind what they said. Scholarship amounts will increase by at least 5% for the 2023-24 academic year, for all scholarship recipients, including postdoctoral fellows - whose scholarship amounts have not changed over the past several years. The maximum scholarship amount that research students may receive will be raised from 200% to 220%, or from 250% to 275% with the rector’s approval. Graduate students studying towards a master’s or doctoral degree will receive a one-time compensation for the current academic year, 2022-23. This compensation will amount to approximately 3% of the yearly scholarship amount, the equivalent of 2/3 of the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year.  Today as of  2nd May 2023, a representative of Segel (TRFO) announced that the all the PhD students should have receiv...