BGU's new Stein Faculty puts AI talent at the center of Israel's tech future
"There is an AI-first mentality among teenagers and new graduates." That observation from Canadian investor-philanthropist David Stein is the idea behind Ben-Gurion University's new Stein Faculty of Computer and Information Science - a unified home for computer science, software engineering, information systems engineering, and AI.
The goal is simple: train enough people, fast, to keep Israel's high-tech engine running in an era defined by data and algorithms. The faculty launched with backing from the Schulich Foundation in honor of Stein's work and leadership, positioning BGU as a national hub for AI research, education, and industry collaboration.
What the new faculty includes
The faculty expects around 80 academic staff members, about half focused on AI. It will serve roughly 2,200 undergrads, 400 master's students, and 170 PhD candidates.
BGU says it will host Israel's largest AI research center and will run multiple institutes across core AI theory, applied AI, software and security, interdisciplinary computational science, and computing theory. The design is intentional: fewer silos, tighter loops between the mathematicians who prove things and the engineers who ship code.
Location matters. The campus sits next to the Gav Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park, giving students and researchers direct access to startups and multinationals a short walk away.
Why Stein is doubling down on Israel
Stein is a founder-operator-turned-VC whose career lives where software quietly changes how organizations work. That carries into his philanthropy. The Schulich Foundation has committed more than $150 million to Israel since 2012, with a focus on education and science, including STEM scholarships across major universities.
Pressure at home hasn't changed that posture. Canadian public scrutiny of Israel-linked charities has grown. Some donors might slow down. Stein's view is the opposite: long-term educational infrastructure beats short-term noise.
AI, without the hype
In 2025, saying you're excited about AI is cheap. Stein prefers where AI delivers useful results. Think security systems that process mountains of telemetry to surface real threats, not bots replacing entire professions overnight.
Expect a long march: automation trims high-volume, low-value tasks first and frees people for work that is complex, relational, or creative. The advantage will go to teams that build AI into workflows from day one.
He also flags a cultural shift. Teenagers and graduates now ask, "How do I automate this? How do I learn faster with AI?" Prompt engineering - asking models better questions - will become a serious academic skill.
Can Israel train enough computer scientists?
The pipeline is growing, but uneven. According to the Council for Higher Education, 28% of Israel's undergrads studied engineering, computer science, math, or statistics in 2022/23 - roughly 58,000 students out of 211,000. A national program is pushing to lift high-tech enrollment by about 40% to meet industry demand. Source
Gaps persist. A 2025 report by the Israel Innovation Authority and the Aaron Institute found just 5.2% of 12th-grade girls took and passed the five-unit CS matriculation in 2023; in every district, more than 60% of CS matric grads were boys. That's progress and a warning at the same time. Source
Stein's bet is that a large, integrated faculty in Beersheba can widen the funnel - including students from the Negev - and build national resilience through a bigger, more diverse AI and CS cohort.
What makes this faculty different
It's not AI in a vacuum. The setup encourages AI to be used across cancer research, medicine, climate, and cyber. With thousands of students and dozens of senior researchers under one roof, you get the network effects researchers care about: dense collaboration, faster feedback cycles, and practical partners nearby.
BGU's adjacency to the Advanced Technologies Park adds a direct bridge to internships, joint projects, and shared infrastructure. Students can work on real problems and bring those insights back into labs and classrooms.
How success will be measured
- Healthy pipeline: steady growth in undergrad, master's, and PhD enrollment - and retention.
- Research output: high-quality publications, industry collaborations, and new research infrastructure drawn to Beersheba.
- Graduate outcomes: leadership roles in industry, new company formation in AI/cyber, and IP created in the Negev.
One gift builds a faculty; an ecosystem takes many actors. The expectation is that additional donors and companies will keep expanding the physical and research footprint.
Philanthropy under scrutiny in Canada
Canada's tax authority has tightened its review of Israel-linked charities. In 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency revoked the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada and the Ne'eman Foundation. Advocacy groups, including Just Peace Advocates and Independent Jewish Voices, have urged stricter oversight and accused some charities of supporting illegal activity.
Despite that pressure, Canadian charities still sent more than 276 million CAD to Israel in 2024, either directly or via US-based organizations. Community leaders warn of a chilling effect on support for mainstream universities, hospitals, and social programs. Stein's stance: stay the course and keep investing in education.
Values behind the checkbook
The Schulich Foundation doesn't position itself as a political actor. Its commitment is straightforward: "never again" and "we stand with Israel." For them, backing Israeli students and universities is part of that promise - building capabilities that keep the country secure, prosperous, and inventive.
Why this matters for researchers
- Cross-discipline work is the point, not a brochure line. Expect joint projects that pair AI with medicine, physics, and social sciences.
- Proximity to industry will reward researchers who translate ideas into deployable systems and data partnerships.
- Prompt fluency is becoming table stakes. The ability to query, critique, and chain models will separate good from great.
Build your prompt engineering skillset
If you're formalizing this capability for your team or lab, consider structured resources on prompt strategy and tooling. A practical starting point: Prompt Engineering. For curated learning paths by role, see AI Courses by Job.
Instead of adding to the noise, this move puts capital where it compounds: students, labs, and tight links to real problems. Beersheba isn't the edge anymore - it's a proving ground for how AI talent is trained at scale.
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