Nearly 20,000 students are enrolled in academic programs at BGU’s campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer, and Eilat. In annual surveys conducted by the Israeli Council for Higher Education and, most recently, by the National Union of Israeli Students, BGU continues to be the number one choice of Israeli undergraduate students. This success is a result of the University’s commitment to academic excellence, meaningful interaction with faculty, and a dynamic campus life - Beer-Sheva is, after all, Israel’s one and only college town.
David Ben-Gurion’s vision continues today at BGU, a thriving academic community of students, faculty, staff, and researchers who share Ben-Gurion’s drive to develop the Negev and make the desert bloom for the benefit of all of Israel. Students both recognize and value BGU’s pioneering spirit as the University attracts those students who want more than the standard experience of classroom and laboratory and strive to have a positive impact on the world around them. Our students invest themselves in their studies and in the community by participating in programs such as the Perach Big Brother/Big Sister program which pairs BGU students with local children and provides them with companionship, friendship, and tutoring.
Scholarships
BGU students come from every sector of Israeli society, and the University provides undergraduates with need-based scholarships, often provided to new immigrants and residents of Israel’s disadvantaged peripheral areas. Many of these students are the first in their families to attend university. Undergraduate scholarships make the dream of higher education a reality for those who might otherwise be deprived of this life-changing opportunity.
Scholarship recipients at BGU have community service responsibilities, and this contributes to a unique dynamic - as BGU students serve the community, they become a part of the broader Beer-Sheva community, serving as role models with broadened horizons, knowledge, and skills that only higher education can provide. Students serve in this capacity and give of themselves as they live in Beer-Sheva’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods in apartments provided by the Lillian and Larry Goodman Open Apartments Program (web page is in Hebrew).
Fellowships
BGU’s diverse research activities are fueled by the University’s cadre of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows participate in every stage of research, and they can be found in every University department, center, institute, laboratory, and classroom. Their dedication and energy is evident in the new ideas they bring to their work, the skills they bring to the table, and their drive to learn and to teach. These junior faculty members, as they are known, are indispensable members of our academic community.
Fellowships support graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, the core resource of any research institution. The pool of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is limited, and BGU faces intense competition with other academic institutions for the best and the brightest. Merit-based fellowships are a crucial tool in attracting top graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to BGU.
In addition, like other Israeli universities, BGU faces the “brain drain.” To combat this challenge, graduate student and post-doctoral fellow recruitment efforts stretch beyond Israel’s borders. Academic expatriates must be convinced that BGU can provide a research environment designed to help them pursue their research and excel in their chosen scientific fields. BGU makes every effort to provide recruitment packages (primarily composed of fellowships) that match or surpass what other universities can offer.
Your support opens the doors of BGU to students in Israel and throughout the world.