Israel's Council for Higher Education has begun a new programme to recruit seven new nuclear scientists. A budget of ILS7m ($1.8m) has been set aside to find the candidates, who will be chosen from outstanding physics graduate students, IsraelNationalNews.com reported. Those selected will receive generous scholarships and will become university faculty members within three years. According to the Council, two will be picked next year, followed by another two in 2018 and the final three in 2019. Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home), who also heads the Council for Higher Education, has commented: "These grants join a series of scholarships that we give to advance excellence in research in various fields. Promoting achievements in physics is a national need no less than an academic need. The field of physics, in addition to being essential research, will help developments in numerous fields that are better left unsaid." Israel built two nuclear reactors in the 1960s, a research reactor in Nahal Sorek and the second in Dimona, widely believed to be a plutonium production reactor for military purposes.
