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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is an institution of higher education and research with a mission like no other.

The only Israeli university created by government mandate, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) was established in 1969 with a mission to be an engine for the development of Israel’s Negev region.

BGU was inspired by the vision of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who believed that the future of Israel lay in the Negev region, a desert area comprising more than 60 percent of the country.

Today, BGU is a world-renowned institution of research and higher learning that has transcended the boundaries of academia to create a new model of education and research that impacts people’s lives in the Negev region, throughout Israel and around the world.

With some 20,000 students and campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sde Boker and Eilat, BGU is truly an oasis of innovation, leading research in cyber and homeland security; alternative energy; desert and water research; global health; medical technologies; Israel studies, culture and Jewish thought; and high-tech and robotics.

Click on the image below to learn more about Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

BGU is the Number One Choice of Israeli Undergraduate Students

Year after year, BGU is voted the number one choice of Israeli undergraduate students.

Unlike other Israeli universities, where students continue to live at home with their families during their studies, many of BGU’s some 20,000 students leave home from different parts of Israel to “go away to school” in the Negev.

What they find is a university with a warm, friendly atmosphere, a thriving campus filled with social activities and volunteer opportunities, a challenging academic environment that encourages students to become original thinkers, develop a social conscious and achieve their highest goals.

More than one-third of BGU’s students are pursuing advance degrees. This reflects the University’s commitment to increase its graduate and post-graduate student population to 50 percent of the total student body within the next 10 years and position BGU as a world-class center of research.

The Negev Is Now: The Realization of David Ben-Gurion’s Vision

BGU is playing a critical role in transforming Beer-Sheva into Israel’s next high-tech center.

Beer-Sheva’s Advanced Technologies Park (ATP), adjacent to BGU’s Marcus Family Campus, is open for business.

Multi-national high-tech companies, such as EMC, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and Deutsche Telekom, are leveraging the research and development prowess of BGU and taking up residence in the ATP.

The Israeli government is also establishing a new national cyber security hub in Beer-Sheva called CyberSpark, which is a joint venture between BGU, private industry and the government.

With the planned moved of the IDF’s strategic intelligence units to a high-technology campus steps away from the ATP and the BGU campus, the Negev is truly becoming Israel’s Silicon Wadi.