On Wednesday, December 12th, 87 academic scholarships were awarded to students studying at accredited research institutions throughout the Eilat-Eilot region. The scholarships were provided by the Morris P. Pulver fund and were allocated by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, UIAC and Partnership 2000. At the award ceremony, students received half of their scholarships. They will receive the second half at a special ceremony in May with visitors from Toronto on the "Prime Minister's Mission" and as part of the celebrations of Israel's 60^th.

This is the first time that scholarships for research have been specifically directed to residents (new and veteran) of Eilat and Eilot who study in the region. They are contingent upon each recipient's commitment to carry out community service in the region. Recipients included pre-degree, BA and MA students at Ben-Gurion University (BGU), BA students in informal education at Levinsky College, and research students at BGU, the Arava Institute (Ecology and alternative energy), IUI (Marine Biology), Bird Watching Center (Migration patterns). In addition, scholarships were awarded for a pre-academic course for single parents at BGU.

At the ceremony, Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevy spoke about the importance of brining more students to the region to encourage academic growth in Israel's southern periphery. He praised his colleague Udi Gat, mayor of the Eilot municipality, for the high degree of support and cooperation, and expressed his vision that the university continue to grow from 60 students in the past to 700 today and eventually reaching 5,000. Brian Shachter, outgoing chair of UJA Federation's Partnership 2000 committee, echoed Mayor Halevy's remarks, emphasizing that the Jewish community of Toronto invests in "three" critical fields: education, education and higher education. Hagit Shilo of the Jewish Agency and Yehudit Birenzweig of Eilot were also present for Wednesday's ceremony at Ben-Gurion University – Eilat campus.

"I would be studying here if it weren't for this scholarship," reported one of the recipients. "UJA Federation and the Morris P. Pulver fund are making my dream to study come true, and helping me become a part of the university community in Eilat."