For a diamond anniversary event, it was apt that the Tel Aviv University Trust's auction and champagne cocktails reception at Christie's was sponsored by leading jewellery firm de Grisogono.

It also marked the launch of a student scholarship campaign, which university president Professor Joseph Klafter promoted to more than 250 guests. He said the institution excelled in areas such as brain studies, nanotechnology and renewable energy and that Oxford and Cambridge were among its prestigious research partners around the world.

Some £35,000 was raised from an auction conducted by Christie's international director Anke Adler-Slottke, and the lots included jewellery and invitations to a Cannes Film Festival party. Also under the hammer were university-related experiences such as a week's internship in the nanomedicine laboratory of prominent cancer researcher Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro and a place on an archaeological dig led by internationally renowned Professor Israel Finkelstein at the World Heritage Site, Megiddo.