A four-day workshop with podium presentations delivered by keynote and invited speakers, linking leading researchers in aquaculture water treatment with cutting-edge wastewater treatment technologies.
The workshop will include two days of scientific lectures and discussions to be held at the Sde Boker Campus of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (located at the Midreshet Ben Gurion). A professional tour will also be held for invited speakers.
The desired outcomes of the proposed workshop are:
Location: All Sessions will take place at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Sde Boker Campus
Tickets can be purchased to attend the lectures that will be held on Monday, 12 October and/or Sessions 3 and 4 on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. Ticket purchase will include admission to the dinner on Monday, 12 October.
Special Student Rate: 100NIS
Regular Rate: 150NIS
To purchase a ticket click on this link: REGISTRATION
Registration is free to invited speakers and students of The Jacob. Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research
Tickets are not available for the Professional Tour Day on, Wednesday, 14 October as space is limited and participation is restricted to invited speakers only
We are accepting abstracts for the Poster Session which will be held on Monday 12, 2026. To submit your abstract click here: Abstract Submission
Please see below for more information regarding the Poster Session.
Post workshop Grant Opportunity: There is a special BARD grant available only for people that attend a BARD workshop. The deadline to submit the grant is 3 months after the workshop date. For more information on how to submit your application click here: SEED GRANTS
RAS Workshop Tentative Program
Day 1: Sunday, October 11, 2026 | |
| from 15:00 | Hotel check-in |
| 14:30-16:00 | Tour of the facilities at Midreshet Ben Gurion including Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, and French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands |
| 16:00-17:30 | Cliff Walk |
| 18:30-20:30 | Evening Reception/Dinner for Invited Speakers |
| Day 2: Monday, October 12, 2026 | |
| 9:00-10:00 | Registration |
| 10:00-10:15 | Opening Remarks and Greetings |
| 10:015-11:40 | Session 1: From Waste to Resource in Recirculating Aquaculture |
| 11:40-13:00 | Tour of BIDR Aquaculture Labs |
| 12:30-14:30 | Lunch and Poster Session |
| 14:30-17:10 | Session 2: Novel Membrane Technologies for Water Treatment in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) |
| 17:10-17:50 | Special Plenary |
| 19:00-21:00 | Dinner (open to all those that registered) and Poster Winner Award |
| Day 3, Tuesday, October 13, 2026 | |
| 9:15-9:30 | Opening Remarks |
| 09:30-10:40 | Session 3: From Waste to Resource in RAS |
| 10:40-11:00 | Coffee Break |
| 11:00-12:30 | Session 4: Functional Materials for RAS Water Treatment and Sensing (Part I) |
| 12:30-13:30 | Tour of BIDR Aquaculture Labs |
| 13:00-14:30 | Lunch |
| 14:30-15:10 | Session 4: Functional Materials for RAS Water Treatment and Sensing (Part II) |
| 15:10-18:30 | Session 5: RAS Innovation Challenge and Group Competition |
| 19:00-22:00 | Dinner (for invited guests only) and Winner Announcement |
| Day 4, Wednesday, October 14, 2026 | |
| until 9:00 | Check-out from Hotel |
| 9:00-14:00 | Professional Tour Day: Aquaculture in the Desert: A visit to commercial aquaculture companies and an R&D center in the Negev Desert and in the Arava. |
| 14:00-15:00 | Roundtable Discussion at Arava R&D Center |
| 15:00 | Return To Sde Boker Campus |
Prof. Ronen is an Associate Professor at The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) of BGU. His research focuses on advanced membrane technologies for water treatment, with an emphasis on electrically conducting membranes for fouling mitigation, nutrient recovery, and PFAS removal. He is also involved in developing electrochemical water treatment solutions for RAS, aiming to enhance water quality, remove contaminants, and improve system sustainability through innovative filtration and disinfection technologies.
Dr. Arnusch is an Associate Professor at The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) of BGU. His research focuses applying advanced materials to water technology. He is particularly interested in Laser-induced graphene for environmental technology
Prof. Zilberg specializes in fish health in intensive aquaculture production. Her research focuses on the development of sustainable alternatives for fish production in recirculating aquaculture systems, such as use natural diseases treatment alternatives; immunostimulation through dietary manipulations; and sustainable fish feed formulations. She teaches at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR) of BGU.
Prof Wickramasinghe obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Melbourne in Chemical Engineering. He obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota, also in Chemical Engineering. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas in 2011 where he holds the Ross E Martin Chair in Emerging Technologies and was appointed an Arkansas Research Alliance Scholar. He is the current director of the Membrane Science, Engineering and Technology (MAST) Center, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. He is Executive Editor of Separation Science and Technology. His research interests are in membrane science and technology, and he focuses on synthetic membrane-based separation processes for purification of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, treatment and reuse of water and for the production of biofuels.
Prof. Qian is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA. She has a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from the George Washington University, USA and postdoctoral experience in Condensed Matter Theory at the Max-Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics, Germany. Her major research interests focus on investigating the fundamental processes involved in carbohydrate conversion, membrane and membrane processes for water purification and downstream bioprocessing using complementary experimental and theoretical tools. Recent efforts have been dedicated to developing membrane purification platform for viral vectors for gene therapy applications and vaccines. She is currently the director of NSF funded multi-campus Membranes for Virus Purification (MVP) center. Dr. Qian is the recipient of 2009 NSF CAREER award and has over 120 peer-reviewed journal publications, 10 book chapter publications and 4 patents.
The Poster Session will be held on Monday, October 12, 2026 From 13:00-15:00.
We welcome all submissions.
Please Note the following:
Post workshop Grant Opportunity: There is a special BARD grant available only for people that attend a BARD workshop. The deadline to submit the grant is 3 months after the workshop date. For more information on how to submit your application click here: SEED GRANTS