Labs, institutes and research centers

The Center for Cyber, Law and Policy (CCLP) aims to foster critical discussions and promote interdisciplinary research that addresses emerging challenges facing law, technology and the market in cyberspace. The Center was established by the University of Haifa in collaboration with the Israeli National Cyber Directorate.
The CCLP is integrating legal research, computer science, data science, social science and new technologies to develop a set of innovative “toolkits” for policymaking that balance governance considerations, national security, innovation, competition, and civil rights in the digital ecosystem.

The Center focuses on advancing research in the following areas:

• Cyber technology (offense, defense and surveillance): data security; privacy protection; biometrics; cryptography; big data, AI & machine learning; robotics, the Internet of Things
  
  
• Cyber and the State: regulatory designs and powers of state agencies in addressing cyber challenges; securing critical cyber networks; evaluating and responding to emergency situations; the need to regulate emerging technologies while simultaneously using new technologies to regulate a changing technological landscape; modalities of co-exercise of cyber regulatory and executive powers by private entities.
  
  
• Cyber at the international and global levels: developing international cybersecurity norms, standards and protocols (on defense, surveillance and offense); transnational and international governance mechanisms, institutions and norms for cyber-related commerce and transfer of data, knowledge and value; international and transnational law perspective on cybernetics military conflicts, terrorism and systemic hacking.
  
  
• Cyber and the protection of constitutional and statutory rights: the impact of activities in cyberspace on democratic resilience and political activities; human dignity, freedoms of speech, equality, freedom of conscience, association and religion, freedom of vocation; public vs. private legal rights and the public-private interface.
  
  
• The impact of cyber on society and the economy: property and contractual rights in the cybernetic ecosystem; competition and antitrust law; technology transfer; cyber exports, consumer protection; monetizing cyber projects; surveillance capitalism and the control and manipulation of media, news (including fake-news) and echo-chambers.

What Makes the Center Unique?

• The Center for Cyber Law and Policy promotes innovative interdisciplinary research in the fields of law, policy and cyber technology, bringing together researchers from the University of Haifa's Faculty of Law, and Departments of Computer Science and Data Sciences. This approach incorporates knowledge, critical thinking skills and innovative perspectives from multiple disciplines that results in a richer understanding of the issues being examined. The impact of the Center's academic research on legal and policy developments is driven by its strategic partnerships with governmental agencies, the business sector and the academic community.
  
  
• Being situated in Haifa – the unofficial "capital" of northern Israel offers tremendous advantages. Our researchers, located a healthy distance from Israel's high-tech sector and government agencies that are found primarily in the center of the country, are able to provide a distinctive perspective on the relationship between the "center" and the rest of the country while providing unmediated access to nearby innovation hubs and others scattered throughout the country. We bring a unique spirit of multicultural diversity and high academic standards to our research activities. (We are members of the Network of Centers, which include top-tier research centers in the field of law and technology).
  
  

The CCLP is currently addressing a host of highly pertinent issues:

• Regulation of import and export of cyber technologies of dual-use
• Approaching the question of patents (and other IP rights) in cyber weapons - used for defense or offense
• Establishing an Israeli blockchain policy
• Governing AI-driven content moderation, combatting fake news
• Regulation of data-monopolies, and weighing the benefits and risks of Big Data
• Contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic -- How can AI be harnessed to help us achieve better regulation? How should we approach hacking campaigns which target potential vaccines?
• Exploring issues related to human enhancement technologies (HET)

Academic Leadership

Prof. Amnon Reichman is head of the Center for Cyber, Law and Policy, and Associate Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law. He is also co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions at the University of Haifa. In 2016, Prof. Reichman served as the President of the Israeli Law and Society Association. He specializes in public law (constitutional law and administrative law), and his areas of expertise include models of regulation, neo-institutionalism, separation of powers, theories of judicial review, human rights, and comparative constitutional and administrative law. He is the founder and chair of the Research Forum on the Rule of Law (Faculty of Law), and heads the graduate program (LL.M.) that specializes in civil and administrative law. He taught and developed the syllabus for the legal segment of the graduate program in Emergency and Disaster Management (Department of Geography).

Professor Reichman is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Israeli Science Foundation (ISF). He is a member of the European Group of Public Law, and has taught in several leading institutions, including UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Yeshiva University (Cardozo School of Law) and the Center for Judicial Studies (University of Reno, Nevada). He holds an LLB (Cum Laude) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1994), an LL.M. from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) (1996) and an S.J.D from the University of Toronto (2000). He completed his post-graduate studies at the Center for Ethics and the Professions at Harvard University (2001). Prior to his graduate studies, Prof. Reichman clerked for the Hon. Justice Aharon Barak at the Supreme Court of Israel (1995).

Prof. Orr Dunkelman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on cryptanalysis, cryptography, security, and privacy, especially in the context of biometric data. Orr's work in symmetric-key cryptanalysis includes analyzing many ciphers and the introduction of several new cryptanalytic techniques.
Orr has worked on many of the most widely deployed ciphers such as the AES, KASUMI (used in 3G mobile networks), A5/1 (used in GSM networks), and IDEA. He has published over 80 publications in international venues, including the best paper awards from FSE 2012 and CRYTPO 2012. He has also served on more than 80 program committees, five times as a program chair, is the general chair of EUROCRYPT 2018, and has served on several boards and steering committees (e.g., the IACR board).
Orr earned his Ph.D. in computer science in 2006 from the Technion and a B.A. in computer science in 2000 from the Technion.

Prof. Tal Zarsky is a Professor of Law at the University of Haifa's Faculty of Law. His research focuses on Information Privacy, Cyber-Security, Internet Policy, Social Networks, Telecommunications Law, Online Commerce, Reputation and Trust. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in the U.S., Europe and Israel. His work is often cited in a variety of contexts related to law in the digital age.

Prof. Michal Gal (LL.B., LL.M., S.J.D.) is Professor and Director of the Forum on Law and Markets at the Faculty of Law, Haifa University, Israel. She held research and visiting positions at NYU, Columbia, Georgetown, Melbourne, SciencesPo and Lisbon. Prof. Gal is the author of several books, including Competition Policy for Small Market Economies (Harvard University Press, 2003). She has published numerous scholarly articles on competition law issues and has won prizes for her research and for her teaching. She was chosen as one of the ten most promising young legal scholars in Israel (Globes, 2007) and as one of the leading women in competition law around the world (Global Competition Review, 2013).

ABOUT

The Center for Cyber, Law and Policy (CCLP), promotes interdisciplinary research addressing the challenges of activities in cyberspace. The Center was established by the University of Haifa in collaboration with the Israeli National Cyber Directorate.

The CCLP integrates legal research, computer science, data science, social science and emerging technologies, to developing innovating toolkits for policymaking, mindful of governance considerations, national security, innovation, competition and civil rights in the digital ecosystem.

The impact of the CCLP’s work on legal and policy developments is a product of its rigorous and cutting-edge research, strategic partnerships across sectors and institutions, and the unique multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach that the University of Haifa embodies.

המרכז לסייבר, משפט ומדיניות (CCLP) עוסק בפיתוח המחקר האקדמי הדרוש בכדי לסייע למדיניות הציבורית המכוונת להתמודדות עם אתגרי הפעילות במרחב הסייבר. המרכז הוקם על ידי אוניברסיטת חיפה בשיתוף עם מערך הסייבר הלאומי בישראל.
CCLP נוקטת בגישה בין תחומית ומשלבת מחקר משפטי, מדעי המחשב, מדעי הנתונים, מדעי החברה וטכנולוגיות חדשניות, לפיתוח "ערכת כלים" חדשה לקביעת מדיניות אשר מתייחסת למשילות, ביטחון לאומי, חדשנות, תחרות וזכויות יסוד במערכת האקולוגית הדיגיטלית.

CCLP מתמקד בקידום המחקר בתחומים הבאים: 

• טכנולוגיית סייבר (מתקפה, מגננה ומעקב): אבטחת נתונים; הגנת פרטיות; ביומטריה; קריפטוגרפיה; נתוני-עתק (BIG DATA), למידת מכונה ואינטליגנציה מלאכותית (AI); רובוטיקה, האינטרנט של הדברים.
• סייבר והמדינה: סמכויות רשויות רגולציה וביצוע במרחב הסייבר; אבטחת רשתות סייבר; הערכה ומענה למצבי חירום; רגולציה של תחום החדשנות ובעזרת חדשנות בנוף טכנולוגי משתנה; רגולציה וסמכויות ביצוע קיברנטיות באמצעות או בשיתוף גופים פרטיים.
• סייבר בזירה הבינלאומית והעולמית: פיתוח נורמות, תקנים ופרוטוקולים בינלאומיים לאבטחת סייבר; נורמות, מוסדות ומנגנוני ממשל למסחר קיברנטי וחילופי מידע, ידע וערך. נקודות מבט על המשפט הבינלאומי בתחום סכסוכים הסייבר הצבאיים; טרור קיברנטי ופריצות מערכתיות.
• סייבר והגנה על זכויות חוקתיות וחוקיות: השפעת הפעילות בסייבר על קיימות דמוקרטית וזכויות יסוד; כבוד האדם, חופש הביטוי; שוויון, חופש הדת, המצפון וההתאגדות, חופש העיסוק; אבטחת הסייבר על פעילויות כלכליות ופוליטיות; זכויות משפטיות ציבוריות לעומת פרטיות והממשק שבין הפרטי לציבורי.
• השפעת הסייבר על החברה והכלכלה: דיני תחרות והגבלים עסקיים, העברת טכנולוגיה; יצוא סייבר, הגנה על הצרכן; ייצור רווחים ממוצרים, שירותים ופרויקטים בתחום הסייבר; קפיטליזם מעקבי (Surveillance Capitalism) ושליטה ומניפולציה במדיה (כולל חדשות-כזב), בחדשות ובמרחבי ההדהוד (echo-chambers).

ההשפעה של פעילות ה-CCLP על התפתחויות משפטיות ומדיניות נובעת מהחידוש שבמחקרי המרכז, המצויים בחזית המדע בתחומי הממשק שבין משפט, מדיניות וטכנולוגיה, השותפויות האסטרטגיות בין מגזרים ומוסדות, והגישה הרב-תחומית והרב-תרבותית הייחודית שמאפיינת את אוניברסיטת חיפה.

Welcome to the website of the Language Laboratory. Our lab is affiliated with the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa and is headed by Dr. Anat Prior. It is part of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities and the Department of Learning Disabilities.

We investigate high-level human cognitive functions using experimental psychology, educational research, and electrophysiological approaches (Event-Related Potential Technique - ERP).

Our main courses of research:

• Cognitive consequences of bilingualism
• Second and foreign language learning
• Interactions between first and second language systems
• Minority students' literacy performance
• Reading comprehension in first and second language.
• Individual differences in language learning
• Domain general vs. specific bases of language processing

Our aim is to better characterize and understand the interactions between two languages (or more) in a single neural and cognitive system, and to contribute to the effort to identify the underlying mechanisms leading to individual differences in language learning and processing. Our goal is for this research to foster the development of effective instruction and intervention programs in the domain of foreign language, and programs targeted at minority language students in mainstream education.

The Interdisciplinary Clinical Center (ICC), under the sponsorship of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, was established with the aim of providing diagnosis and treatment services in the areas of physical and mental health from an interdisciplinary perspective.
The clinical work combines student instruction, treatment, counseling, and research, emphasizing the interaction between practice and applied research. Projects initiated by the ICC will incorporate therapists who specialize in specific fields alongside Faculty members. Treatment is offered at the individual, family, group, and organizational levels.

Institutes:

Psychotherapy and Consulting Unit

This Institute offers consultation and psychotherapeutic treatment services to people dealing with situations of emotional stress. The emotional and mental difficulties treated at the Institute include depression, anxiety, conflict, dilemmas related to work or intimate relationships, adolescents in distress, individuals dealing with loss or trauma and parents with child-rearing difficulties. Therapy is available to individuals, couples, families and groups. The Institute also treats special-need populations. It offers a variety of different treatment options including psychotherapy, play therapy and art therapy. The Institute is staffed by psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists and creative art therapists with extensive training and experience in clinical, educational and rehabilitative psychology. Professional training is also provided to therapists from a range of specialties. The Institute for Consultation and the Treatment of Emotions is directed by Ella Wagner, a clinical psychologists and professional trainer.

Institute for Occupational Therapy

image6Under the direction of Sausan Habib, a leading occupational therapist, the Institute for Occupational Therapy offers diagnosis and therapeutic services to infants, children, and adolescents with developmental and functional difficulties. The Institute identifies and treats developmental delays and disorders, sensor-motor and cognitive difficulties, physical disabilities, congenital defects, genetic diseases, emotional difficulties, and learning and attention disorders. Therapy is available on an individual or group basis and includes innovative and diverse treatment methods, such as the use of virtual reality.

The Audiology and Neurophysiological Institute for Hearing Diagnosis and Rehabilitation

image5Hearing impairment is thought to be one of the most prevalent medical issues affecting infants and children today. Early detection and diagnosis is absolutely crucial in the prevention of delays or problems in future speech and language development.

The University of Haifa, in response to the pressing need for innovation and advancement in the field of hearing impairments, established an Audiology and Neurophysiological Institute for Hearing Diagnosis and Rehabilitation as part of the Interdisciplinary Clinic. The Institute, one of the leading institutes in the world, offers a variety of examinations to provide comprehensive audiological assessments including hearing tests and audiological diagnosis for all ages, rehabilitation therapies (hearing training and lip-reading), audiological consultations and hearing aids fittings.

The Audiology and Neurophysiological Institute is equipped with the latest, most advanced technology, acoustic cells and diagnostic labs. The Institute's team of experts consists of leading clinicians in communication disorders and audiology as well as specialists in hearing disabilities and experienced clinicians, among them Professor Joseph Attias, a world-renowned expert on prevention and detection strategies for the hearing impaired, Professor Shimon Sapir, specializing in the physiology and rehabilitation of voice and speech disorders, and Dr. Rafi Shemesh, the Director of the Institute, whose expertise is the diagnosis and rehabilitation of the hearing-impaired.

The Institute's team conducts clinical research in collaboration with other internationally acclaimed research centers and universities. The focus of the research is on reaching a better understanding of the development of hearing and to making improvements in the detection and diagnosis of children and adults. The Institute's researchers are making advances in the development of advanced technologies through biological mechanisms.

The Institute for Communication, Language, and Speech Disorders

Communication disorders are impairments in the ability to process and understand concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems. A communication disorder may appear in hearing, language ability, and/or speech processes. Communication disorders are either developmental or acquired.

The Institute for Communication, Language, and Speech Disorders at the Interdisciplinary Clinical Center provides diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation services in the fields of communication, language, and speech development, language-learning disorders, articulation and phonological disorders, eating and swallowing disorders, speech motor disorders, voice and resonance disorders and fluency disorders such as stuttering. The Institute offers therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. It provides treatment to children from infancy and accompanies them through development stages and their integration into the educational system.

The Institute implements the latest research findings to design programs to meet individual needs. Therapy is offered individually or in a group setting according to the needs of each client. A senior speech-language pathologist, Ruth Reiner, heads the Institute and its staff of expert speech-language pathologists, most of whom belong to the academic faculty of the Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Haifa.

Website: icc.haifa.ac.il/en

Mickey Kosloff's lab at the Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, The University of Haifa. 

Our goals:

We focus on understanding how the �wiring together� of protein interaction networks drives cellular communication in health and disease. This is a fundamental challenge in studying and manipulating cellular signal transduction and in rational drug design ï¿½ we would like to decipher how protein structure encodes interaction specificity, thereby determining how signaling proteins precisely recognize their interaction partners. To achieve these goals, our lab combines computational and experimental approaches in a multi-disciplinary strategy. 

Our main research activities:

1) Understanding the molecular basis for protein-protein interaction specificity among large protein families. 

2) Redesigning and engineering proteins as tools to perturb and modulate signaling networks in vivo. 

3) Leveraging these insights and tools to address a critical need in drug design � pinpoint drug binding sites that take family-level specificity into account � thereby leading to more specific drugs with reduced side effects for diseases such as hypertension, arrhythmias, neurological disorders, and cancer.

To achieve these goals, we combine complementary computational and experimental approaches in a multi-disciplinary strategy. By combining the accuracy of experiments with the mechanistic insights and scalability of computations, we can extend our analysis to the level of whole families and eventually to rewiring of signaling networks at the cellular level. 

Current Research projects:

1) Develop computational and experimental approaches to decipher the determinants of protein-protein interaction specificity at the family level.

2) Characterize the molecular basis for the function and modulation of molecular switches in G-protein coupled signaling networks by the RGS family. 

3) Characterize the structural basis for specific protein-protein interactions between Receptor Tyrosine Kinases and their protein ligands.

4) Analyze the determinants of specificity in ligand binding sites.

5) Determine how interactions with membranes further modulate protein-protein interaction specificity.

6) Design custom-made signaling proteins to investigate and engineer how specificity wires signal transduction networks in vivo. 

7) Structure-based drug design at the family-level and beyond. 

8) Develop and apply a structure-based approach to search for pathogenic proteins that are novel and specific targets for next generation anti-pathogenic drugs. 

More in-depth Background (not for the faint of heart):

The challenge of deciphering interaction specificity among signaling protein families:

For signaling cascades to function correctly, their components must be �wired� together accurately. This requirement presents a challenge for living cells, as similar components are used again and again in both parallel and intersecting cascades within the same cell. Signaling therefore requires that particular protein-protein interactions be tailored to each signaling cascade with either broad or narrow specificity. Understanding the basis for such selectivity is a major goal in biology, as well as in drug design. Yet, beyond single representative examples, little is known of how specificity is determined in the interactions between members of large protein families, including those involved in signal transduction.

Elucidating what determines the shared interactions or distinct specificities among large protein families is a formidable task. It is very common for a cell to contain many different members of large families that can co-localize and potentially interact with one another. Yet, while the number of potential combinations is very large in theory, because of interaction specificity the number of combinations that actually occur in vivo is surprisingly small. However, which interactions do occur and what determines the specificity of these interactions on the structural level is unclear. To complicate matters, considerable sequence diversity is common in many large protein families. Such low sequence identity increases the difficulty of pinpointing which residues determine similar interactions, and which residues contribute to selectivity. 

Currently, computational methods are not up to the task of predicting either protein-protein or protein-membrane binding affinities, although such methods can provide residue-level structural insights and are easily scalable. On the other hand, while quantitative experimental comparisons offer superior accuracy, expanding such a comparative approach to the entire family level can be a daunting task, and will usually fail to yield mechanistic insights at the resolution of individual residues. Our solution to this conundrum is to combine the strengths of computations and experiments into a multidisciplinary approach. 

RGS-G-proteins interactions - a model system to study interaction specificity:

The challenge of deciphering protein-protein interaction specificity is particularly relevant to the interactions of heterotrimeric (alpha-beta-gamma) G-proteins with Regulators of G-protein Signaling (RGSs). G-proteins are ubiquitous molecular switches that are essential for normal communication within and between cells (see the 1994 Nobel prize in Physiology or medicine and the 2012 Nobel prize in Chemistry). RGS proteins are the negative regulators of G-alpha subunits, functioning as GTPase Activating Proteins (GAPs). Namely, the RGS domain of ~120 amino acids, present in all RGS proteins, can bind specifically to certain GTP-associated G-alpha subunits and accelerate their intrinsic GTPase activity allosterically. Thereby, RGS proteins turn G-proteins �off� and determine the lifetime of the activated G-protein switch.

G-proteins and RGS proteins mediate countless cellular functions, including sensory transduction, hormonal action, proliferation and differentiation, cytoskeletal changes, and synaptic function. These large protein families have been implicated in a wide range of human pathologies, including hypertension, arrhythmias, schizophrenia, drug abuse, and cancer. Indeed, the G-protein and RGS families are promising drug targets, both as primary targets and as complements to drugs that target other components in G-protein signaling (such as G-protein Coupled Receptors). Many different members of the G-protein/RGS families are usually co-expressed in a given cell and are commonly co-localized at the cytosolic periphery of cellular membranes. In fact, often only a single family member (out of many co-expressed members) mediates a given biological function. 

Importantly, which RGS�G-protein interactions do occur and which residues encode the specificity of these interactions is mostly unclear - partially due to the low sequence identity among human G-alpha subunits and RGS domains � 40% and 30%, respectively (indeed, high diversity is common to many signaling protein families). Such low sequence identity increases the difficulty of pinpointing which residues contribute to similar interactions, and which residues determine interaction selectivity. Therefore, identifying the specificity determinants of G-protein recognition by RGS proteins is essential for understanding these signaling pathways and for manipulating them with drugs. 

Lab website

Exploring Marine Biology in Mediterranean Depths

The Deep Med Lab, headed by Dr. Dan Tchernov at the University of Haifa’s Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, is home to the Deep Med Research Group (established in 2009), focusing on marine biology research in the easternmost Mediterranean.

Deep Sea Survey and Lab Services

The Deep Med Lab offers the most advanced marine biology research equipment, as well as deep sea survey services with an established and well-trained underwater surveyor team. The surveyor team has full technical diving abilities, including closed circuit rebreathers (ideal for fish surveys).

Survey resources include:

• Full technical CCR gear and ability
• Fully operational diving center, with professional equipment and field labs (Caesarea)
•  A survey vessel (on retainer)
• Professional documentation tools

Lab facilities include:

• Cold room and dark room
• Tissue and cell culture rooms, with laminar-flow hoods; an inverted microscope; CO2 incubators; and 15°C- 350°C incubator 
• Molecular biology and microscopy equipment
• Equipment for processing tissues for histological work
• Cryostat
• Microtome
• Fluorescent microscope
• Membrane inlet mass spectrometer
• Pulse amplitude modulation fluorometer (PAM)
• Dual PAM (Waltz)
• Image PAM (Waltz)
• Controlled aquaria for both coral and foraminifera
• Fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC)
• GCMS IRMS (Thermo Fisher Scientific)
• FIRe (Satlantic)
• Microsensor Multimeter (Unisense)
• PCR and Real time PCR machines
• ELISA plate reader
• Deep freezers, refrigerators and centrifuges

Lab website

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Main Researcher: Dr. Roee Diamant

The underwater acoustic and navigation laboratory (ANL) is part of the newly established Department of Marine Technology, as part of the School of Marine Sciences in the University of Haifa. Our facilities are located in the newly established center of marine technology in the building of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) in Shiknoma, Haifa. The ANL is active in the fields of underwater acoustic communication, underwater signal detection, object classification, underwater localization, and underwater navigation. Our research interests include channel modeling, design of algorithms and protocols, analysis, development of simulation tools, and the performing of sea experiments. We focus on applied research and develop tools for problems like underwater mine detection, navigation without GPS, communication between divers and autonomous vehicles, classification and characterisation of marine mammals and fish, tracking the motion of marine animals, and long range acoustic communication.

The equipment in the lab includes an hydroacoustic chamber, amplifiers, transducers and hydrophones for various frequency bands, deep water AUV, shallow water AUV, an ROV, several testing vessels. We are also able to perform tests directly from the lab in a testing pool and in the Shikmona reef.

Below is a brief outline of the activities in the ANL.

Hydroacoustic research:

• Underwater Acoustic Communication (mid range 1-5km): focus on robust medium range communication to allow transmission of text, voice, pictures, and video. The main goal is to achieve robustness to various sea conditions. Activities include:

o Doppler shift estimation and compensation.
o Channel estimation.
o Fast communication using OFDM and turbo-equalizers.
o Spatial reuse using MIMO.
o Spatial focusing using time-reversal.
o Channel coding.
o Communication for low probability of detection.
o Experiments.

• Underwater Acoustic Communication (long range >50km): the focus will be on robust long range communication to allow robust low rate communication. Activities include:

o Channel modeling.
o Channel estimation.
o Develop of unique modulation schemes.
o Experiments

• Underwater Networks: development of entire stack layer for network supporting both unicast and broadcast transmissions for any (unknown) network topology. Activities include:

o Topology estimation.
o Development of spatial and time-reuse scheduling schemes.
o Routing protocols under a time-varying topology.
o Hybrid ARQ schemes for retransmission of lost packets.
o Smart packet segmentation.
o Time-synchronization between network nodes.
o Multimodel switch for acoustic and optic communication.
o Experiments.

• Detection of signals: development of detectors for signals of known and unknown structure to handle target detection and false alarm probabilities. Activities include:

o Robust detection schemes to handle multipath, transients, time-varying noise.
o Blind classification of signals for ‘noise’ or ‘signal’.
o Extraction of signal features from detected signals.
o Experiments.

• Underwater Image compression: Due to the low bit rate of underwater acoustic communication, the focus here will be to find unique image (pictures and video) compression techniques for the underwater environment.

• Object Detection and Classification: the objective is to detect and classify in real-time an object of interest in picture or sonar data of an AUV. The activities will include:

o Modeling of objects of interest.
o Collection of data from AUVs.
o Deep-learning based classification.
o Development of real-time detectors and classifiers.
o Experiments.

• Acoustic Measurements:

o Extraction of noise characteristics (pdf).
o Estimation of power attenuation.
o Estimation of target strength.
o Experiments.

Underwater navigation research:

• Observability analysis: the goal in this study is to learn what are the navigation features that can be updated given a set of measurements and a certain type of maneuvering.
• Navigation in shallow water: the focus here is to compensate for fast time-varying pitch and roll angles due to surface waves. Activities include:

o Estimation of time-varying pitch angles using only acceleration measurements.
o Dead-reckoning in shallow water.
o Tracking motion under pitch and roll uncertainties.
o Experiments.

• Online calibration of sensors.
• Self localization: the focus here is to estimate the geographical location of a sensors given transmissions from anchor nodes. Activities include:

o Range estimation in multipath.
o Localization under sound speed uncertainties.
o Tracking location while utilizing knowledge of the drift motion of anchors.
o Experiments.

Lab website

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Related pages

Roee Diamant, Dr. researcher page

Testing Platform for Pharmacological Compounds that Target Glutamate Transmission

The Molecular Basis for Psychopathology Lab, headed by Dr. Inna Gaisler-Salomon in the University of Haifa’s Department of Psychology, uses animal models and a combination of genetic, molecular and behavior tools to address specific questions related to the etiology, symptomatology and treatment of schizophrenia and stress-related behavior.

Animal Models and Targets for Pharmacological Testing
Backed by its research upholding glutamate transmission as a novel treatment target for symptoms of schizophrenia, the Gaisler-Salomon Lab is able to provide a novel animal model testing platform for pharmacological compounds that target glutamate transmission. A unique battery of behavioral assays (some of which are commonly used and others developed in-house) is capable of detecting deficits in central aspects of schizophrenia-related symptomatology, such as deficits in salience attribution and attentional set shifting.

Lab website

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Related Pages 

Inna Gaisler- Salomon, Dr. - Researcher page

Advancing Treatment for Schizophrenia

Enriching Experiences and Insights in Computer and Live Environments

The Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization Lab, headed by Dr. Joel Lanir at the University of Haifa, deals with a wide variety of research areas in the broader field of human-computer interaction. The lab focuses on researching the design, implementation and evaluation of novel technologies, as well as on the study and understanding of how technologies affect human behavior.

Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization Lab Services

The laboratory can provide services for website and software evaluation, as well as other research related to Human-Computer Interaction and Information Visualization.

Lab's website

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Related pages

Joel Lanir, Dr. researcher page

You and Your Surroundings: Enriching Experiences and Insights in Computer and Live Environments

New Animal Models and Pre-Clinical Screening Methodology for Psychiatric Drug Development

The University of Haifa's Gal Laboratory headed by Prof. Gal Richter-Levin has developed novel, predictive preclinical models and more reliable complex screening methodologies which overcome shortcoming of previous animal models. These advanced tools are offered to pharmaceutical companies in the field both as drug-screening platforms that are able to reliably identify properties of drugs relevant to human symptomology, and as an effective platform for identifying relevant novel candidates.

The Brain and Behavior Laboratory Services

• Established novel and unique behavioral animal models for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
  - For effective drug screening
  - For identifying novel candidates for drug development
• A multidisciplinary approach for designing the preclinical models suitable to the most relevant symptoms of a specific disorder, including classical electrophysiological parameters, behavioral parameters and unique data analysis methods.
• Biochemical and electrophysiological measurements and analysis power.
• A committed scientific team with the relevant experience and expertise to develop and set up relevant rodent models.

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Related Pages

Gal Richter - Levin, Prof.

New Animal Models and Pre-Clinical Screening Methodology for Psychiatric Drug Development