Tel Aviv University (TAU) has announced the launch of a groundbreaking new leadership gap-year program. Led by renowned diplomat and the most recent Israeli Ambassador to Canada Dr. Ronen Hoffman, Exploration, Leadership and Innovation (ELI) is the first gap-year program in Israel to offer Jewish youth from around the world an opportunity to enrich their identity and leadership skills through an ambitious and immersive college-preparatory approach that centers engagement with Judaism, Jewish culture and the Startup Nation, alongside world-class academic training, extracurricular activities and mentorship opportunities with key Israeli public figures.
ELI, which will be run in English and offered through The Lowy International School at TAU, draws on Israel’s and TAU’s global leadership across a diversity of sectors, in addition to the country’s rich Jewish history and present. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in the program for either five months or ten months, and will choose for-credit classes from across five areas of study: Israel and the Middle East; Jewish Peoplehood; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Environment and Sustainability; and The Best of Science and Human Thought.
The ELI program combines classroom instruction with immersive learning and visits to key sites; networking opportunities within Israel’s Startup Nation; workshops focused on areas of excellence at TAU, such as cyber security and artificial intelligence; meaningful service-learning projects; Hebrew learning at TAU’s multi-level Ulpan; leadership learning from experts in fields such as politics, entrepreneurship, media and technology; and extracurricular and group bonding activities, including through field trips across Israel.
The first cohort of ELI students will join TAU in August 2024. Plans are also in the works for the ELI program to offer a study abroad component in Florence, Italy.
To learn more about the ELI program, visit https://international.tau.ac.il/eli-gap-year
