The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat (IUI) evolved from the H. Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory established by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968. In 1985, the Council for Higher Education established the IUI as a national facility shared by all Israeli universities. Located on the shores of the Red Sea, the IUI is the only interuniversity teaching and research facility in Israel, providing research and teaching capabilities in all fields of marine science, including ecology, oceanography, coral reef biology, ichthyology, molecular biology, and marine biogeochemistry.