BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2026

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PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2026

Prof . MICHAL BAR-ASHER SIEGAL VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT

During the past year, the Vice President for Global Engagement, Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, went on strategic academic visits to leading universities across the United States, including Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Northeastern, and UNC Chapel Hill. These visits have already generated significant international collaborations and have advanced research partnerships. The visits contribute to BGU's global recognition and we have identified strong interest in establishing and expanding collaborations by partner universities. We believe that these engagements will lead to additional partnerships in the future, further strengthening BGU’s position as a leading global university. In January, the Vice President joined the President, Prof. Chamovitz, on a significant visit to India, where the delegation met with leaders of six prominent academic institutions. This visit played a key role in initiating and expanding international collaborations in India and significantly strengthening existing partnerships with academic institutions across the country. As part of advancing academic cooperation in Europe, Vice President Bar-Asher Siegal also visited the Israeli embassies in Berlin and Paris, the University of Regensburg and the University of Bonn, and participated in the Falling Walls Conference held in Berlin. We place great importance on broadening our partnerships across Europe and recognize that, despite the current challenging period for Israel, institutions in countries such as France and Germany remain interested in strengthening and expanding academic collaboration. Significant past efforts are now bearing fruit in advancing research collaborations with leading universities

worldwide. Through close cooperation with the Vice President and Dean for Research and Development, Prof. Raz Jelinek, we have successfully established seed money research agreements with leading universities such as Dartmouth College, University of Toronto, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, University of Alabama, UNC Chapel Hill, and University of Texas at Austin. These partnerships support research collaborations and significantly strengthen BGU’s international research profile. The number of international students pursuing their degrees at BGU demonstrates clear and sustained growth between 2013 and 2025, a trend evident across all graduate degree levels: Master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral fellows. Building on this momentum, we took part in recruitment fairs for Jewish high school graduates that were held in Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, publicizing BGU’s specialized English language programs for new Olim. While the number of students in short-term programs dropped during periods of security tensions and global crises such as Operation Protective Edge, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the events following October 7, the overall trajectory remains positive. Notably, the continued growth in the number of international students in recent years, despite ongoing conflict and international travel warnings, highlights BGU's strong global standing, the appeal of its academic programs, and its resilience in maintaining and expanding its international academic community. WELCOME CENTER We are concluding our second year of activity at the Welcome Center . Throughout this period, we provided continuous support to our international community in a