The stated mission of the BIDR is to combat desertification and to explore global challenges by bringing together water, food, energy, and environmental research.

In 1972, the Council for Higher Education in Israel recommended the establishment of a research institute to conduct scientific investigations of the country's southern Negev Desert.

This recommendation was authorized by the Israeli government in 1973 and made manifest in 1974 with the founding of the Institute for Desert Research in Midreshet Ben-Gurion, located near Kibbutz Sede Boqer and approximately 50 kilometers south of Beersheva.

The FAAB also hosts the Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory whose researchers focus on microalgae as a reservoir of valuable bioactive compounds with numerous applications.

Their program includes master's degrees in 1. desert studies, 2. hydrology and water quality, 3. ecology and nature conservation, and 4. environmental physics and solar energy.