MTA conducts pioneering research in a variety of fields through its Applied Research Centers and research by the College’s faculty.
Herbal Treatment for Anxiety and Depression (funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology)
Dr. Ravid Doron / School of Behavioural Sciences
Dr. Doron's research examines the anti-depression and anti-anxiety effect of a new herbal mixture of four edible plants. Tested on mice, the combination proved as effective as conventional medication (such as SSRIs) but devoid of its negative side effects, according to both biological and behavioral measures.
Inter-Group Assistance: Between Altruism and Control (funded by ISF)
Dr. Samer Halabi / School of Behavioral Sciences
The research explores the ways in which relations of help and support can be used as indirect means of control in which dominant groups maintain and strengthen their superiority over minority groups, and cause resistance among minority groups.
Three’s Company: The Roles of Attachment Orientation, Emotion Regulation,
and Mentalizing in the Transition to Parenthood (funded by ISF)
Dr. Dana Shai, School of Behavioral Sciences
The research examined couples' adjustment to parenthood while focusing on three concepts that are highly significant for personal adjustment and interpersonal relationships: attachment orientation, emotion regulation abilities, and mentalizing capacities, specifically via the co-parenting relationship (i.e., the relationship occurring between two adults as they work together to rear a child).
Skills Demand and Supply Forecast in Israel (funded by Joint Israel)
Sani Ziv / School of Management and Economics
The Skills Forecasting Model is developed to understand better and anticipate labour market needs in the short and middle term horizons and to define and measure future skills imbalances. The proposed framework is known as the Manpower Requirements Approach (MRA). This framework allows comparing demand and supply of labour by occupations or other classifications used by planners. The model is being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and TEVET Organization (The JOINT) and supported by UNESCO.
Efficient Reasoning with Inconsistent Information (funded by ISF)
Prof. Ofer Arieli / School of Computer Science
The research will complete the work of surveying, unifying, and further developing the theory of effective propositional paraconsistent logics. It will cover all the main approaches to reasoning with inconsistent data: truth functionality, non-determinism, constructivity, fuzziness, and relevance. Particular emphasis will be put on providing proof systems that can serve as the basis of associated automated deduction systems, as well as concrete semantics that can be used for decision problems to different logics. Properties such as maximality and minimality will also be further investigated.
Minorities in the Precarious Labor Market of Cultural Industries: The Case of Palestinian-Israelis (funded by ISF)
Dr. Noa Lavie / School of Government and Society
The research focuses on the experience of ethnic and national minorities in the cultural industries, utilizing the Palestinian-Israeli actors and actresses to explore such a phenomenon. The study's main objective is to examine the experiences and self-perceptions of Palestinian-Israeli television actors and actresses as part of a precarious, yet prestigious, labor environment. It seeks to understand how these cultural workers navigate the various pressures inflicted on them and how it intersects with expressions of their national and ethnic identities.
Pre and Post Intervention Functioning of High Risk Parent-Infant Dyads Undergoing Therapy in the Newly Established Jewish-Arab Center for Parent-Infant Psychotherapy Yaffo Israel
(funded by the Jewish-Arab Center for Parent-Infant Psychotherapy)
Dr. Dana Shai; Dr. Dafna Dolberg / the SEED Institute / School of Behavioral Sciences
Research at the SEED (Study of Early Emotional Development) Institute will empirically examine the effectiveness of the intervention provided by the Jaffa Jewish-Arab Center for Parent-Infant Psychotherapy's team. The newly established Jewish-Arab Center for parent-infant Psychotherapy offers, in collaboration with Wizo's day care units, culturally-sensitive, parent-infant interventions provided by highly trained clinicians who are experts in early 
interventions and infant mental health. By comparing functioning pre and post the intervention, as well as in comparison to a control group of infants attending the same daycare units but without the additional intervention of the Jaffa Jewish-Arab Center for Parent-Infant Psychotherapy's team, new contributions will be made in the field of early emotional developmental research.
Making Women's Invisible Work Visible: Removing Hidden Barriers to the Equitable Incorporation of Israeli Women into the Labor Market (funded by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute)
Dr. Amit Kaplan / School of Government and Society
This research focuses on policies for the equitable incorporation of women into the labor market in Israel. The research will fill the void of policies that have failed to address invisible work, which is perhaps the most powerful mechanism influencing the status of women in the country, by: 1) exposing the range of invisible work at home and in the workplace and the interpretations associated with this labor by diverse groups of women and men through a series of focus groups; 2) exploring whether and how invisible work is seen as an obstacle to the full and equal integration of women into the labor market; 3) identifying, quantitatively, the multiple facets of invisible labor in Israel in a survey conducted amongst a representative sample; and 4) formulating, on the basis of these findings, a set of policy recommendations.
Cognitive Reserves and Diagnosing Cognitive Decline
Dr. Odelia Elkana / School of Behavioral Sciences
Highly educated people have large 'cognitive reserves' that protect them from cognitive decline and postpone the symptoms of dementia. These individuals usually score results within the normal range in Screening Tests. A longitudinal research identifies tests that are sensitive to cognitive decline within this population group and demonstrates the phenomenon of 'cognitive reserves' and the importance of comprehensive neuropsychological diagnosis.
Sex, Ethnicity and Age Differences in Developing Osteophytes
in Cervical Spine Vertebrae
Dr. David Ezra / School of Nursing Science
The research seeks to explain the frequency of osteophytes' presence and degrees of severity, in vertebrae c3-c7, while comparing women and men of different ages and ethnic origin.
Autofagy and Mood Disorders
Prof. Haim Einat / School of Behavioral Sciences
The research looks at the connection between and mood-related conditions: bipolar disease and depression. Our findings show that damage to the gene related causes manic symptoms, and that treatment with pharmaceutic similar influences to those achieved with anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. The results support the possibility of as a therapeutic strategy for mood disorders.
The Influence of Obligation and Asset Gaps on Differences in Financial Institutions Valuations
Prof. Izhak Venezia / School of Management and Economics
The research examines the impact of stock sensitivity on duration mismatches, and shows that increases mismatches has a negative influence of stock exchange, without the stocks trade having any informative value - in other words it wastes resources. Such wasteful mismatches are results of banks using of complex financial mechanisms that are difficult for investors to understand.
The Sociological Contribution to a Bio-Ethical Regulation
Dr. Yael HaShiloni-Dolev /School of Government and Society
The research touches on questions of medical treatment in early life and near the end of life, focusing on: pregnancy management and choosing a fetus' sex, egg freezing and postponing fertility age, and post-mortem birthing.
Inter-Group Assistance: Between Altruism and Control
Dr. Samer Halabi / School of Behavioral Sciences
The research explores the ways in which relations of help and support can be used as indirect means of control in which dominant groups maintain and strengthen their superiority over minority groups, and cause resistance among minority groups.
Safe Computation on Networks
Dr. Adi Akavia / School of Computer Science
The research has developed a new protocol that allows for topology-hiding secure multi-party computation, such that protects the input and the network's structure for a network with any number of users, using techniques of transposition and concealment that were originally developed to allow electronic voting, and tools of random walks.
The Impact of Choice of Approaches and Methods in Psychotherapy
Dr. Sharon Ziv-Baimen / School of Behavioral Sciences
The research examines the effectivity of different therapeutic approaches to treatment at different stages of the psychotherapeutic process, and in particular the balance between integrative methods, both supportive and intervening, during the core stage of treatment.
The Role and Functioning of Different Organs in Corporate Governance:
The Israel Case
Dr. Omer Berkman /School of Computer Science, and Dr. Shlomit Zuta / School of Management and Economics
The research examines the structure and function of different 'gate keepers in supervising the corporate government in a company - the board of director, the internal auditor, the external auditor and the institutional investor, with the purpose of developing regulatory recommendations for Israel, and globally.
Stability, Democracy and Rule of Law: Post-Crisis Central Banking
Dr. Arie Krampf / School of Government and Society
The research looks at the tension between the expanded mandate of central banks, in the area of monetary and fiscal policy, following the financial crisis, and the norms of liberal democratic governance, including the principles of representation and rule of law.
Is there New Ethnicity?
Dr. Nurit HaShimshoni-Yaffe / School of Government and Society
Political reality in Africa is a 'social lab' for examining fundamental concepts in social and political sciences. The research examines the meaning of ethnic belonging and identity, and new forms of ethnicity, in independent African states in the 21st century.
