Dr. Renard Gluzman, this year’s post-doctoral fellow at the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History at the University of Haifa, has won the Ugo Tucci Prize granted by Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Venice, one of the most prestigious Italian Academies. The prize is granted every second year for original unpublished work (mainly doctoral) on the theme “The Mediterranean between Medieval and Modern Times”. The Italian Academy has recognized the contribution of Renard’s PhD dissertation on the subject of “Private Shipping in Renaissance Venice, 1480-1550” to the history of the Maritime Republic. In this study Gluzman endeavours to provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of Venetian shipping that coincides with the major geographical discoveries of the period, the rise of the Ottoman Empire as a leading power in the Mediterranean, and the convulsive struggle among the major powers for political and economic hegemony in Europe. The study was conducted in the archives of Venice and Tel-Aviv University under the supervision of Professor Benjamin Arbel.