University Services
What's it like to be a student at Ben-Gurion University?
Student Card
When you become a student at BGU, you will need to obtain a student ID card. Student ID cards are printed by the University and sent to your home, to the address you entered during registration to the University. If you need to print a new Student ID, you must go to the University's Security Department located in Building 26, 1st floor, Room 113, open every day between 9:00-15:00.
Until your ID is ready, you can print your Approval of Studies from the University site, and have it signed in the Student Union office in the Student Union Building (glass windows to the left when you enter the building). This form will act as a temporary replacement for your permanent Student ID.
Student Union Community and Events
The Student Union is the body representing the students of Ben-Gurion University and is, therefore, an inseparable component of university life. The Student Union invites you to take advantage of all its academic, cultural, and community-oriented services and activities and to make Ben-Gurion University your new home.
For all information about the Student Union’s activities, please visit their website.
Campus Libraries
Zalman Aranne Library
Ben-Gurion University has a huge library on the main campus called the Zalman Aranne Central Library. The Aranne Library is the closest building to the Aliyah Gate (on Ben-Gurion Street, just across from the Soroka Medical Center). There is an electronic library catalog as well as electronic databases that help you find books and journal articles for your research. Please ask the library staff if you need any help.
Some library resources require that you have a BGU IP address. You can do this by being on campus, or by using a proxy (which bounces your browser internet traffic off of a BGU computer to make it look like you are on campus).
The University has also licensed the citation program RefWorks. You can install the add-in to your Microsoft Office Word and use it to organize your bibliography.
Medical Library
Sde Boker Libraries
IT Services
Computer Access and University E-mail Address
As a registered student, you will receive your personal username and password when you arrive on campus. With this username and password, you can log into all of the BGU computer systems, including public computers, campus Wi-Fi and Moodle (the University’s learning platform). In order to log onto public computers around campus, you have to enter “bgu-users\USERNAME.”
You will receive an @post.bgu.ac.il email address. The University will only email you at this account, so make sure you access it frequently in order to stay updated on everything that is happening on campus. The University e-mail address is a Google Apps account and has the exact same interface as Gmail. If you need to change the language, click on settings (gear icon in the top right corner, first item on the menu), and the language drop-down box should be the top setting. You can also forward all emails to your personal e-mail address by setting an automatic forwarding system.
Campus Internet
The majority of the BGU campus and library have Wi-Fi that you can access. For Wi-Fi you can either access the WLAN Guest network using your smartphone, tablet or laptop, or you can use the BGU-WPA network. This network is much stronger, but you are required to register with your BGU username (it takes only a few simple steps that you will be guided through in English, once you have selected the network). Once this process has been completed, your settings will be saved.
