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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel’s most dynamic – and most comprehensive – university, is flourishing and fulfilling David Ben-Gurion’s prophetic words, “The future of Israel lies in the Negev.”

With a student body numbering 20,000, five campuses, six faculties, 130,000 alumni and students from more than 40 countries, BGU has proven to be an oasis of innovation, recognized for innumerable achievements in the fields of cybersecurity, robotics, medicine, biotechnology, energy, nanotechnology and desert studies.

Notably, David Ben-Gurion’s archives are housed in the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, located near his home in Sde Boqer, Israel. The Centre for Israel Studies, a gift of the Azrieli Foundation, was recently established at the institute.

Adjoining the Beersheba campus is the Advanced Technologies Park, which provides a unique entrepreneurial and research ecosystem, and brings an ever-growing number of jobs and economic opportunities to the region, with BGU at its centre. This partnership places the university in the centre of Israel’s “Silicon Wadi.” Given the IDF’s decision to move 32,000 soldiers to Israel’s south by 2022, BGU will play an even greater role in the Negev’s future.

Recently, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) decided to invest $2 million in BGU’s Cybersecurity Research Centre for the development of adversarial artificial intelligence, including machine learning-based cyber mitigation techniques. Facing the increasingly threatening landscape, RBC has chosen BGU to support its cyber-defence effort.

Since its inception, one of BGU’s primary goals has been to establish a more equitable society for the people of the Negev region, many of whom are underprivileged. A third of BGU students are actively engaged in community service. Hundreds of Bedouin students attend BGU, and more than half of them are women.

BGU president Rivka Carmi, the first woman to head any university in Israel, will retire at the end of 2018, after an extraordinary 12 years of service. Her legacy is the North Campus, a new endeavour that will double the size of the existing campus. Not only will BGU benefit from new classrooms, dorms, labs, a conference centre and an art gallery, but Beersheba and the Negev region will also benefit from rapid and sustainable growth. “Vision 2020 – Counting up to 50” is the title of BGU’s campaign to raise half a billion dollars for this exciting project.

Since 1973, Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (CABGU) has played a vital role in sustaining David  Ben-Gurion’s vision of creating a world-class institution for education and research in the Israeli desert. CABGU fulfils its mission by raising funds and awareness for the university across Canada, and promotes the pioneering spirit of Israel’s founders, which continues to flourish in the Negev.