Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Natural Sciences

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was established in 1969 with the aim to bring development to the Negev, a desert area comprising more than sixty percent of the country. The University was inspired by the vision of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, who believed that the future of the country lay in this region.

Today an internationally-recognized leader in innovative technologies and cutting-edge academic investigation, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is a major Israeli center for teaching and research, with campuses in Beer-Sheva, including the Marcus Family Campus, as well as in Eilat and Sde Boqer.

More than 19,000 students are currently enrolled in the different faculties of the university.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences offers thesis programs leading to Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Ph.D. degrees.
The Faculty encourages the enrollment of students from outside Israel. B.Sc. graduates are invited to apply for M.Sc. studies in the relevant department and experience research work as a part of the degree requirements. Ph.D. candidates should contact potential advisors directly.

Ph.D. and M.Sc. candidates are given the opportunity to work under the supervision of top-flight scientists using advanced laboratory equipment. As part of the degree requirements, candidates can perform various types of research, asking theoretical or empirical questions to answer pure or applied scientific problems.

The M.Sc. degree requires two years of full-time study, and Ph.D. degree requires four years.  Outstanding students may join the combined M.Sc.-Ph.D. track during the 2nd year of the M.Sc. studies. Students in this track join the Ph.D. program without submitting M.Sc. thesis. They will submit a single thesis, and will be awarded both

M.Sc. and Ph.D. Students devote their time to research and advanced courses, which are all offered in English. They are also invited to participate in seminars in the departments of the Faculty. Towards the end of their studies, the student is required to submit a final thesis and orally defend their research findings. Scholarships are available for excellent students.

M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies are offered by each of the six departments of the Faculty:

Department of Mathematics - With over 30 faculty members and a large body of postdoctoral fellows from around the world, the Department of Mathematics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev provides its students with an active and lively research environment with a distinct international character. Students benefit from participation in international conferences and a highly distinguished lecture series sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in Mathematics. Areas of specialization: Algebra, Algebraic Geometry, Representation Theory and Number Theory; Ergodic Theory and Probability; Functional Analysis, Operator Theory and Operator Algebras; Global Analysis and Differential Equations; Complex Analysis; Topology and Geometry; Logic, Set Theory and Model Theory; Combinatorics; Applied Mathematics.

Department of Computer Science - The Department of Computer Science at Ben-Gurion University is young, dynamic, and fast growing. It was established in 2000 after having split from the department of Mathematics. Since then it has grown from 15 faculty members to 32, where more than half of its department members joined the department in the last seven years. As a result, the department enjoys a vigorous and exciting research atmosphere in most of the main areas of computer science, while taking pride in maintaining a spirit of congeniality and collegiality. Already at its young age, the department has a leading role in research among CS departments in Israel in diverse fields, such as privacy & security; artificial intelligence; distributed computing; bio-informatics; computational geometry; and more. In recent years CS faculty members in the above areas have chaired and served on program committees of the best international conferences in their respective fields and together with their graduate students have won many prestigious paper awards in them.

Department of Physics - In the Department of Physics, high quality academic training is combined with the exciting scientific research. The winning combination of experience,  energy and scientific ambitions, fruitful cross-discipline ties, and collegiality allows to conduct cutting edge programs in the major areas of modern physics: Condensed matter, Lasers and quantum optics, Atomic and molecular physics, Biophysics, Elementary particles and field theory, Astrophysics and cosmology. In particular, experimental research includes superconductivity, a wide spectrum of nanoscience of materials, cold atoms, single cell and DNA physics. Theoretical research covers virtually all scales, from the Plank scale toward nano-scales and further to the Universe as a whole, and combines fundamental and applied studies as well.

Department of Chemistry - The strengths of the Department of Chemistry are both academic as well as scientific. Over the years, the department has acquired a reputation for combining rigorous academic training for its students, with an accommodating atmosphere and personal attitudes towards them. Scientifically, the department is on a clear and dramatic upward route, following the generational transformation that has occurred over the past 5 years (and continuing in the present). The department was arguably the first chemistry department in Israel to fully realize and anticipate the current spectacular upsurge in research activities in new emerging disciplines such as Nanochemistry, Chemical Biology, Peptide Chemistry, Systems Chemistry, Renewable Energies Chemistry and modern Biophysics which largely explains the unusual success of its recruiting program.

Department of Life Sciences - The Department of Life Sciences comprises a team of investigators conducting cutting edge research in numerous realms of modern biology. Topics being addressed in departmental laboratories span the entire size range of biology, beginning with the determination of protein structures at atom-level resolution, continuing to the examination of single-celled organisms and multi-cellular systems and reaching the study of whole animals and communities. In tackling questions related to protein science, microbiology, development, physiology, neurobiology, genomics, structural biology, ecology and other fields, Department of Life Sciences researchers rely on a wide variety of experimental systems, including Bacteria, Archaea, Yeast, Plants, Insects, Fish and other forms of marine life,  and mammals, to unravel the mystery of life at the gene, protein, cell, system and organism levels. As such, the on-going basic research efforts of department scientists are helping to provide solutions to problems related to the molecular basis of disease, cellular architecture, aging, life in extremes and wildlife conservation. At the same time, others are helping to advance aquaculture, to create enzymes capable of performing novel functions, to make biofuels and to develop an artificial visual system.

Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences - The disciplines studied in this department enable a deeper understanding of the processes operating on and beneath the surface of the Earth. Study and research facilities in earth dynamics, geochemistry, micropaleontology, engineering geology, and field measurements are up-to-date, and there are opportunities for student employment in research laboratories during the course of studies. Students train on modern software releases with internet access to data bases around the world. As our department is relatively small, a close relationship develops between staff and students, strengthened by time spent together in the field. In fact, the close proximity of Beer-Sheva to many fine geological features allows hands-on demonstration of field methods and direct observation of rocks and structures during course-time. These are supplemented by regional excursions to study Israel geology during semester breaks. Opportunities for graduate students and staff to participate in field excursions abroad, usually to neighboring countries, are offered every few years.