Prof. Uriel Simonson

Head of the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies

Uriel Simonsohn is a Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Haifa and the founding director of the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies (HLRS). He earned his B.A. and M.A. in Islamic and Jewish history from Tel Aviv University and completed his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University in 2008.

Over the years, he has held prestigious fellowships at institutions such as the University of Konstanz (2016), the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (2017), the University of Oxford (2019), the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies (2020–2021), and the University of Münster (2024).

As the founding director of the HLRS, Simonsohn spearheads efforts to bridge academic research with practical applications, focusing on promoting religious pluralism and fostering interfaith dialogue. His work aims to integrate religious studies with actionable strategies that encourage peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding.