The Mandel Scholion Center was founded in 2002, on the initiative of the former president of the Hebrew University, Prof. Menachem Magidor, and with the generous support of the Mandel Foundation. Its original aim was to encourage interdisciplinary research paths that will place Jewish studies at the heart of cultural discourse in Israel and abroad and also secure the Hebrew University’s position as the leading institution in the field; with the beginning of its second decade its mandate was expanded to the full gamut of the humanities. Having now settled into our new home, the second floor of the Mandel Building, we look forward to creating, together with our partners in the Mandel School, a new kind of academic community in the humanities: one that is multi-aged, interdisciplinary, lively and vibrant, and which fosters productive and friendly discourse.

The center supports two main projects: Three concurrent research groups, each dealing with a particular topic in  the fields of Humanities and Jewish Studies. A new research group is selected once a year for a three-year term at the center, and comprises four senior  members from the Hebrew University faculty, as well as four doctoral students . Scholars from outside the Hebrew University are also invited to participate. The  group as a whole explores its topic, making the most of the diverse  methodologies and perspectives that each member brings from his/her discipline. Each group is entitled to a generous budget, scholarships for the students and  partial exemption from study duties for the senior members. The Mandel Scholars  program offers two post-doctoral positions per annum to young, outstanding  Ph.D.s in the Humanities and Jewish Studies. The positions are offered to  researchers from Israel and abroad who have recently received their doctorates  after having conducted distinctive and extraordinary research. The Mandel  scholars are then afforded a three-year term in the Hebrew University for research and teaching at the various departments, along with a research budget.