Avivim Program

Welcome to the product management revolution in the information era!

The elite Avivim program – a track within the IDF’s academic reserve – trains the future generation of managers for products based on artificial intelligence (AI) in the technological units of the IDF and the defense system.

In the present era in which the IDF contends with the phenomenon of information overflow as well as the development of technological projects and products based on machine learning algorithmics and data science, it needs quality personnel who will lead the implementation of products and projects to the highest standards.

Therefore Unit 8200 (the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps), ATAL (the Technological and Logistics Directorate) and the Technion have teamed up to establish the Avivim program which emphasizes exposure to the worlds of data science and product management with the aim of leading the product management revolution in the information age.

• The Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences offers a wide variety of in-depth courses in Industrial Engineering and Management, Information Systems Engineering and Data and Information Engineering, such as the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
• In addition to the challenge and the high level of studies, there are significant benefits to studies in the program:
• Individual attention and IDF follow-up
• Personal academic support of a Technion faculty member who oversees the Avivim program academically
• A grant worth NIS 5000 per year in addition to the IDF academic reserve grant
• Entitlement to a dormitory place (for payment) for the entire period of studies.
• A tuition scholarship and a subsistence scholarship during the master’s degree
• Placement in prestigious positions in the IDF, taking into account your personal preferences

The track includes a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. (with a thesis) in Industrial Engineering and Management in the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences at the Technion. In the first three years of the four-and-a-half-year program, the students complete a B.Sc. and the remaining year and a half are dedicated to a research-oriented M.Sc.

The Avivim program is managed by Unit 8200 (the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps) and ATAL (the Technological and Logistics Directorate).

• Admission to the program depends on military and academic acceptance
• The Sekem threshold (see the Technion website) for the program will be higher than for the regular industrial engineering and management track at the Technion
• The acceptance threshold for the screening process is a psychometric score of 660
• Candidates must rank the program as one of their first three preferences in the IDF academic reserve
• Candidates must register for the Industrial Engineering and Management track at the Technion
• There will be a personal interview in the army for suitable candidates
• Registering for the Avivim program does not adversely affect IDF selection procedures
• The program is intended for both male and female candidates.

Graduates who join the track will acquire a set of tools and skills that will enable them to lead the information revolution in the army, and fill core positions in Israeli high-tech in the future.

• The track includes academic courses and military training. During studies, students are exposed to the technological units in the IDF and the challenges of product management in these units. This includes:
• Basic training in the first summer of studies.
• Personal research projects in the second summer of studies
• Summer internship in IDF units in the third summer of studies
• Teambuilding activity, experiential trips, volunteering days

Participation in an officers’ course immediately upon returning to

Graduates of the track will serve in core positions in technological units as managers of a product based on data science principles.