Action Learning

Israel Lab

Israel Lab student teams partner with Israeli host organizations to work on complex problems in critical areas with emphasis on early-stage ventures and their growth.

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Israel Lab

Welcome

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Action Learning

Israel Lab: The bridge of learning

For the past six years, Israel Lab has provided students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, while providing actionable insights to high-tech Israeli startups.

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15.248 Israel Lab: Startup Nation's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem 

Israel, like MIT, is a global leader and a center of innovation and entrepreneurship. For eight years now, our Israel Lab student teams have partnered with Israeli host organizations to work on complex problems in critical areas, including cybersecurity, life sciences, clean technology, analytics, and many more, with emphasis on early-stage ventures and their growth.

Check out our Israel Lab flyer

Dive deeper

Learn more about Israel Lab through our student blogs and from MISTI's MIT-Israel.

Israel Lab Student Blogs

MIT-Israel

WATCH: Senior associate dean Jacob Cohen on Israel Lab

Israel Lab

Projects

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Innovating in the Startup Nation 

Our students work with a variety of exciting Israeli start-up companies. From healthcare and agriculture, to analytics and artificial intelligence, our students are making an impact in Israel's start-up culture. 

Israel Lab Impact Stories

Israel Lab projects by industry

Agtech

AI, analytics, and big data

Cryptocurrency

Edtech

Enterprise tech, marketplace and platform tech, and SaaS

Healthtech

Infrastructure and shipping

Israel Lab

Info for students

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The class

Teams work for their host organizations on a semester-long project engagement.  The organizations collaborate with their student teams to define the project scope, develop work plans, and determine the deliverables the teams will create. Israel Lab teams deliver significant, concrete value to their host organizations. Equally important are the unprecedented opportunities for students to apply their leading-edge classroom learning to complex issues of innovation and entrepreneurship in real time. This course is offered in collaboration with MISTI's MIT-Israel Program. 

Student bidding process

Bidding for the Fall 2023 semester will take place starting in early May. All Sloan and other MIT graduate students are eligible to take this course. 

Are you an undergraduate interested in Israel Lab? Contact Scott Alessandro at salessan@mit.edu in order to apply. 

Student timeline

  • September

    Students form teams and are matched with projects. 

  • Late September - December

    Teams work remotely with companies to conduct project-related research, interviews, and analyses. 

  • January

    Teams travel to Israel and work on-site full time with host companies for two weeks.

  • Early February

    Course debrief and Israel Lab project presentations. 

Israel Lab

Info for hosts

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The benefits of becoming a host organization

Our enthusiastic Israel Lab teams deliver measurable impact to Israeli host companies in a wide variety of industries.

Israel Lab is a unique opportunity for Israeli startups:

  • to work with a team of skilled, business-savvy MIT students on specific issues startups are facing
  • to collaborate to find concrete, implementable solutions through research, analysis, and knowledge sharing
  • to gain insights and guidance from a student team with wide-ranging skills, work experiences, and cultural backgrounds
Project scope

When selecting their project scope, host companies can choose from a broad spectrum of business challenges, such as strategic growth, new market entry, pricing, marketing, benchmarking, VC and fundraising, and financial strategy.

Israel Lab strongly emphasizes concrete “leave-behinds” as a primary component of the teams’ project deliverables. For example, student teams may deliver tools such as financial models, potential customer/investor/partner pipelines and screens, and go-to-market roadmaps.

Student teams

Israel Lab teams are typically comprised of four MIT students representing a range of backgrounds and expertise, from management consulting and financial services to engineering, technology, and operations. Each team works with an Israel Lab mentor who meets with the team and oversees the team’s progress, both logistically and substantively. The team, however, is in charge of building and managing the relationship with their host company.

 

Host timeline

  • June - August

    Application and project scoping
    Companies submit applications to host an Israel Lab team.

    • Describe the scope of the challenges they are facing and the solutions they would like an Israel Lab team to deliver
    • Detail the skillsets and expertise they believe would be most useful for team members to possess
  • September

     Projects are matched with teams; team commences project work.

  • Late September - December

    Team collaborates with host company remotely from MIT's campus; team undertakes initial research.

  • Two consecutive weeks in January

    Team works full-time with host company. The majority of project work happens during this intensive onsite phase in January.

  • Final day of full-time phase in January

    Final team presentation to host company

  • Mid-February

    Host company receives final deliverables from team

  • February

    Feedback survey

The project calendar

Teams work for their host organizations on a semester-long project engagement. Potential host organizations submit online questionnaires through August, in which they describe the scope of the challenges they are facing and the solutions they would like an Israel Lab team to work on. We ask potential hosts to detail the skillsets and expertise they believe would be most useful for team members to possess. Israel Lab faculty and mentors are available to assist organizations in shaping and defining their project scope for the questionnaire.

In the fall, Israel Lab faculty match approved host organizations with the best-qualified teams. From September through December, the teams work with their hosts from campus to finalize the scope and agree on a work plan, and then undertake research, interviews, and analysis. Host organizations and teams build their working relationships through online collaboration and regular conference calls throughout this remote phase.

In January, when MIT classes are not in session, teams work full-time with their host for two consecutive weeks.** The teams’ final deliverables include a formal presentation and, more importantly, a concrete analysis that host organizations can begin to use immediately.

**We ask that you allow your team time away from work for cultural activities that MIT Sloan coordinates for the student group. The dates of these activities will be communicated to host companies in advance.

Host company obligations

Host organizations receive optimal results when the CEO or other senior managers are available to devote focused time and energy to the project and to working directly with the Israel Lab team, especially while teams are working full-time. Please make sure that the appropriate leaders will be available to work with and guide the student team.

Host companies should be comprised of at least 15 employees. Hosts should provide a clear project statement, strategic objectives, and access to people and data. 

In order to participate, companies will complete the Israel Lab new project questionnaire. If you are interested in becoming a host company for Israel Lab, please contact israel-lab@mit.edu with your questions or ideas.

Israel Lab

Faculty

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Teaching Faculty

Jake Cohen

Jake Cohen

Economics, Finance and Accounting

Senior Associate Dean; Senior Lecturer in Accounting, Ethics, and Law

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Israel Lab

News & media

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Action Learning

Lukas Kamphausen MFin '18 is helping to bring sustainable electricity to low-income families in Gaza with easy-to-install solar kits.

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Students from MIT—one of the world’s leading business schools—collaborate with local companies to learn about strategic growth, penetration of new markets and more

 Student teams from MIT’s Sloan School of Management worked with eight Israeli start-ups as part of the MIT Israel Lab.

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Gold Dome in Israel

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