To explore or to research, in Hebrew, is לחקור, a simple verb.
For example:
היא חקרה את הנושא והגיעה למסקנות מעניינות.
She researched the topic and arrived at interesting conclusions.
Likewise, research is מחקר:
הוא מתעסק במחקר אקדמי.
He works (deals in) in academic research.
While to open is the simple verb לפתוח, to develop (to cause something to open up conceptually) is the פיעל verb לפתח.
For example:
מי פיתח את האפליקציה הזאת?
Who developed this app?
Likewise, development of something is פיתוח, so that we have מחקר ופיתוח – research and development, as in:
היא ראש צוות המחקר והפיתוח בחברה.
She’s the head of the research and development team in the company.
What about development in the sense of “child development”? That’s התפתחות.
