Ben Gurion University of The Negev

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, with its main campus in Beer Sheva, Israel, was created in 1969 and named after David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister. From its inception, BGU has been dedicated to community improvement and education, as well as fulfilling Ben-Gurion’s charismatic vision of making the desert bloom with agriculture, science, technology, and primarily with innovation.
Today, some 40 years later, BGU has more than 20,000 students spread over 3 campuses in Beer Sheva, 1 in Sde Boqer, and 1 in Eilat. It has Faculties in Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Health Sciences, and Business and Management; Schools of International Health, and Desert Studies. This year, BGU is granting over 5,400 degrees, including Ph.D., M.D., M.B.A., M.H.A., M.Sc., M.Med.Sc., M.N., M.P.T., M.A., B.Sc., B.A., B.S.W., B.Med.Sc., B.N., B.P.T., B.Med.Lab.Sc., and one of the few places in the world granting a B.EMS, Bachelor’s in Emergency Medicine Services.
The student body – as well as the faculty body – is diverse, hailing from all parts of Israel and including all ethnicities, merging together Jews, Christians, and Moslems, native Jewish, Bedouin, and Arab Israelis, immigrants from Western World countries, Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, and other countries.
The programs offered are also highly diversified, from the traditional integral disciplines, to a whole plethora of multidisciplinary programs which often involve different faculties as well as different departments from within the same faculty or school.
These diversities, plus a comfortable climate, convenient transportation to all parts of the country, affordable housing, and many social outlets for leisure time, from animal rescue to community outreach projects to well-equipped sports center to disco, may be factors in a recent national poll conducted among over 280,000 currently studying in Israel showing Ben-Gurion University as the number one undergraduate student choice for satisfaction with the university ambience and personal approach.
There is a wide range of programs conducted in the English language, including the Medical School of International Health, the Albert Katz School of Desert Sciences, the Honors MBA program, the Masters of Arts Program in Middle East Studies, and the department of Foreign Literatures and Languages.
BGU is consistently ranked highly in “Life Sciences and Biomedicine” and yet remains true to its founding purpose by actively promoting studies and research in high-technology, sustainability in desert conditions, water resource management, alternative energy, international health issues, regional disaster management, and community service and education, while also building bridges of peace with regional neighbors through joint initiatives in science, health, research, and development.

Keynoted for its ever-youthful spirit of innovation, dedication to multidisciplinary studies as well as research, and exceptional devotion to the community, it has been said that everyone with a dream, with initiative, and a willingness to work can find a place and succeed at Ben-Gurion University.