The groundbreaking research carried out by the university has been recognized by prestigious national and international academic award committees and has benefitted countless people worldwide. One of TAU's top academic priorities is that of fostering interdisciplinary approaches across all fields of research, in the sciences, arts, and humanities. TAU has established centers dedicated to bringing researchers from different fields together and encouraging them to share their knowledge and develop new understandings and methodologies to benefit the environment and society. TAU has been at the forefront of the increasing global trend of combining rather than segregating disciplines.

The Department of Zoology was initially established in 1932 as the Biological-Pedagogical Institute, and was one of the first institutions that were later to form Tel-Aviv University. Over the years, the Department has become the largest academic center for zoological research in Israel, covering a broad spectrum of subjects, including among other topics:  Marine Biology, Biodiversity, Ecology, Physiology, Evolutionary Biology and Animal Behavior.

Yehuda (Hudi) Benayahu’s laboratory is involved in the BYEFOULING project. The research interests of the lab encompass a wide range of topics, including field (SCUBA) and laboratory studies on biology and ecology of the Red Sea coral reefs, Indo-Pacific octocorals, artificial reefs and fouling communities, invasive species (specific to the eastern Mediterranean Sea), symbiosis, and marine natural products. Benayahu has led and participated in scientific expeditions to the reefs of the Red Sea, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Guam, Ryukyu Archipelago (Japan), Taiwan, Fiji, Palau, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, etc. His laboratory has participated in a variety of national and international funded projects and yielded 42 M.Sc. and 12 Ph.D. dissertations and > 180 peer-reviewed publications.

Full name of the organization: Tel Aviv University
Short name of the organization: TAU
Address: Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
Contact person: Yehuda (Hudi) Benayahu
Telephone: 972-3-6409090
E-mail address:

Website - Tel Aviv University