BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY | THE WAY FORWARD

to advancing the center’s work and impact. The new Duet Center for Early Childhood Therapy and Training will be grounded in Duet’s flagship evidence-based model for community-based group intervention, which will be extended for use in group, individual, and dyadic therapy. In addition to serving as an accessible regional hub for subsidized high-quality therapeutic services, the center will support professional development and research on early childhood mental health. It will also bridge the gap between academia and the community by offering integrated, reflective, evidence-based treatment supported by continuous data collection and analysis to monitor outcomes, further refine the Duet model, and ensure a high level of care. The center will also build therapeutic capacity in the region, training BGU’s clinical psychology doctoral students and early childhood therapists on the Duet model and the reflective approach. NEW EQUIPMENT AND IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE High-Performance Computing Services In the AI era, high-performance computing (HPC) services have become essential research infrastructure in many disciplines. BGU’s HPC services greatly enhance our researchers’ capabilities, providing the tools needed to make use of the massive amounts of data available to tackle new challenges and develop solutions for today’s global and local challenges. Investment in these vital services ensures that the University’s HPC services are continuously evolving to meet researchers’ needs and remain state of the art. Since 2020, we have increased our computing capacity, and BGU now boasts two HPC clusters supported by hundreds of CPU and GPU servers. These clusters accelerate AI/machine learning and other GPU-intensive workloads, enabling researchers to tackle complex computational challenges. They are equipped with technology that provides intelligent orchestration for scalable AI training and inference, fast data transfer for data-intensive applications and large-scale simulations, and robust batch processing for automated resource allocation, job management, monitoring, and failure recovery. In addition to supporting research,

this infrastructure, which is among the most advanced in Israel, underpins the establishment of new academic programs at BGU like the undergraduate degree program in AI described later in this report. Additional Infrastructure and Equipment Groundbreaking basic and applied research demands specialized expertise and tools, and donor support has put these tools in the hands of our researchers. New advanced imaging, molecular characterization, analytical, genomic, and quantum research technologies, instrumentation, and equipment are already contributing to discoveries in the life sciences (structural biology, molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, biochemistry, genomics, and proteomics), chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, physics, quantum science, environmental science, drug discovery, and precision medicine. Each piece of equipment is a building block in BGU’s growing research infrastructure, boosting the capabilities of our researchers, underpinning centers of excellence, and enabling research, findings, and solutions that were previously out of reach. Below we highlight two domains and provide an example demonstrating the vital role new equipment plays at BGU and the ripple effects of important acquisitions, which can lead to the construction of new labs, enhance BGU’s recruitment efforts, and spur collaboration. Materials Science Infrastructure Development BGU’s materials science research is reaching new heights through major investments in state-of the-art instrumentation, including advanced imaging and analysis systems, specialized tools for developing and studying new materials, and significant upgrades to the University’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center. The new systems enhance BGU’s capacity for cutting-edge materials research by enabling multi-modal characterization across structural, chemical, mechanical, and functional scales. The growing infrastructure has facilitated the recruitment of numerous researchers in recent years. The new transmission electron microscope for materials research and the diffractometer for high energy x-ray diffraction were essential to Dr. Yevgeny

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