We are proud of this remarkable achievement and of his important contribution to research, practice, and the advancement of culturally responsive mental health care.

The award was presented at the 18th Annual Muslim Mental Health Conference at Michigan State University @michiganstateu.bsky.social, in recognition of his ongoing scholarly and practical contributions to advancing culturally sensitive mental health approaches in Muslim contexts around the world.

Congratulations to Prof. Alean Al-Krenawi of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who was honored this week with an award for outstanding achievement in the field of mental health.

Sustainable ammonia recovery in electrochemical membranes: The critical role of electromigration Ammonia (NH3) is a vital chemical widely used in fertilizers, industry, and as a potential energy carrier. However, conventional ammonia production vi…

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Published in the Journal of Membrane Science, the team developed an electrochemical membrane system that captures up to 88% of ammonia, works on real municipal wastewater, and turns a major pollutant into a reusable fertilizer — supporting cleaner water and a circular economy.

A new study led by Prof. Avner Ronen (BGU) with Prof. Guy Ramon (Technion) and Prof. Wen Zhang ( @njit.bsky.social ) shows how ammonia can be recovered from wastewater using less energy than conventional methods.

Producing fertilizer usually takes huge amounts of energy, and wastewater treatment often wastes that same nutrient. What if both problems could be solved at once?

A Robot-Led Intervention for Emotion Regulation: from Expression to Reappraisal Emotion regulation (ER) is a crucial skill for managing emotions in everyday life, yet finding a constructive and accessible method to practice ER remains challenging due to cognitive demands. In this...

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Can a robot help you cope with emotional challenges? 🤖
New research led by Prof. Guy Laban (BGU) with collaborators at Cambridge shows that structured conversations with a social robot improved students’ emotional understanding, sense of control, and mood over time.

Understanding the current escalation therefore requires situating it within the broader landscape of Middle Eastern politics, where sectarian identities, geopolitical rivalries, and security calculations intersect in complex and often unpredictable ways.

Nevertheless, the Sunni–Shiʿi dimension should not be overstated as the primary explanatory factor. Many contemporary conflicts in the Middle East are driven primarily by strategic interests, power competition, and struggles over regional influence rather than theology alone.

balance of power and the broader framework within which these tensions unfold.

The United States, for its part, remains a key external actor shaping regional security dynamics. Through its military presence, diplomatic engagement, and strategic partnerships with states such as Israel and several Arab countries, Washington continues to influence the regional

Consequently, Israel has pursued a range of policies, both overt and covert, intended to constrain Iranian influence and prevent the consolidation of hostile military infrastructure near its borders.

Israel views Iran’s regional entrenchment and the development of advanced military capabilities—particularly in neighboring arenas such as Syria and Lebanon—as a direct strategic threat to its national security.

At the same time, many Sunni-majority states perceive Iran’s growing regional presence as a challenge to the existing balance of power. Within this strategic environment, both Israel and the United States play significant roles.

movements and militias across the region—including actors in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen—as part of a broader strategy aimed at expanding its regional influence and strategic depth.

Rather, it is embedded within deeper regional dynamics that have shaped the Middle East for decades. Iran portrays itself as a central actor within what is often described as the “Shiʿi axis,” supporting a network of allied

Perspectives on Iran by Professor Muhammad Al-Atawneh
The current confrontation involving Iran, the United States, and Israel cannot be understood solely as a military or geopolitical crisis.

An official announcement about the resumption of exams will be published as soon as conditions allow. In any case, exams will only be resumed with a week’s notice before the first exam, so that you will have ample time to prepare calmly and thoroughly.

Please take care of yourselves.

To the university community, shalom

Following the message sent on March 2, 2026 regarding the exams scheduled for next week, we would like to provide an additional update: In general, exams will not take place as long as there is no change in the guidelines issued by the Home Front Command.

It's not just about the number on the scale: The hidden value of so-called 'yo-yo dieting' So-called "yo-yo dieting" confers long-term health benefits, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers. "Yo-yo dieting" is a pattern in which individuals lose weight t...

highlighting that health success is not defined solely by the number on the scale.

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Led by Prof. Iris Shai and Hadar Klein, the MRI-based research was conducted with partners including @hsph.harvard.edu, @unileipzig.bsky.social, @tulaneu.bsky.social, and University, and Soroka University Medical Center,

Weight regain doesn’t erase progress.
A new Ben-Gurion University of the Negev study shows that even when weight is regained after dieting, repeated weight-loss efforts can deliver lasting health benefits, including reduced harmful abdominal fat and improved metabolic markers.

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Why it matters: mid-infrared light is central to gas sensing, thermal imaging, chemical detection, and security technologies. Better filtering means smaller, more accurate, and more efficient sensors.

Because of optimized critical coupling, the system achieves something that was previously considered out of reach:
🔹 extremely sharp optical selectivity
🔹 over 90% light transmission
🔹 stable performance across different angles
🔹 robustness to real-world fabrication limits

The researchers developed a two-layer plasmonic structure where:
• one layer efficiently captures incoming light
• a second layer performs ultra-sharp spectral filtering

In Mid-IR optics, you usually have to choose: sharp filtering OR high transmission. rarely both. ⚖️
A new study by Dr. Roy Avrahamy, Prof. Mark Auslender, and Prof. Amiel Ishaaya presents a simple design solution to this long-standing trade-off.

Micromechanics of stick-slip deformation across rough faults We investigate how the initial surface roughness of laboratory faults, generated in stiff diabase rocks, affects the micromechanics of stick-slip osci…

hazards, and induced seismicity from energy and water projects
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