King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
| King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | |
|---|---|
| جامعة الملك عبد الله للعلوم والتقنية | |
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| Motto | "Through Inspiration, Discovery" |
| Established | September 5, 2009 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | US$10 billion[1] |
| President | Shih Choon Fong |
| Undergraduates | none |
| Postgraduates | 800 |
| Location | Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia Coordinates: 22°18′45″N 39°06′38″E / 22.312602°N 39.11047°E |
| Campus | 3,600 hectares (8,900 acres) |
| Colours | green yellow orange blue |
| Website | www.kaust.edu.sa |
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (Arabic: جامعة الملك عبد الله للعلوم و التقنية - كاوست ǧāmiʿat al-malik ʿabd al-Lāh li-l-ʿulūm wa-t-teqniyya - KAUST) is a public research university located in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. KAUST was built and operated for the first three years by Saudi Aramco.
KAUST was founded in 2009 and focuses exclusively on graduate education and research, using English as the official language of instruction. It offers programs in life Sciences, engineering, computer Sciences, and physical sciences.
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[edit] History
KAUST officially opened on September 23, 2009, in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud invited more than 3,000 distinguished Saudis and international guests, including heads of state and Nobel laureates, to join him for the KAUST Inauguration Ceremony on Saudi National Day. During the inauguration, HRH King Abdullah awarded the senior management staff the highest rank of King Abdulaziz's medal of honor and appreciation, the minister of petroleum getting the platinum. Although Saudi authorities did not mention the financial side of the honor, it is widely known that the king awarded them a great cash bonus and many valuable gifts, as this is the tradition in Saudi Arabia.[2]
The university launched an inauguration website to allow people from around the world to participate in the event. This website featured a live event webcast, and information about the university's research agenda, lab facilities, faculty, students, and community.[2]
[edit] Campus
KAUST’s core campus, located on the Red Sea at Thuwal, is sited on more than 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi), encompassing a marine sanctuary and research facility.[3]
KAUST is the first mixed-gender university campus in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities hope the mixed-gender center will help modernise the kingdom's deeply conservative society.[4] The religious police do not operate on-site. Women are allowed to mix freely with men and to drive on campus, and they are not required to wear veils in the coeducational classes.[5]
There are many hubs of community activity, including Discovery Square, multiple gym facilities, libraries, and many coffee shops. Discovery Square features a modern movie theater, a grocery store, and several restaurants (offering traditional Middle Eastern food, American fast food, and Pakistani/Indian food). The gym facilities include exercise equipment, free weights, racquet sports, bowling, and rock climbing, among other things. The campus is still under development in early 2011, with new stores and restaurants opening periodically.
KAUST is Saudi Arabia's first and the world's largest LEED-certified project.[6] It was also chosen by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) as one of the 2010 Top Ten Green Projects.[7]
[edit] Laboratories
Cutting-edge laboratories will enable researchers to make major scientific breakthroughs at KAUST. Other research institutions in the Kingdom and the region will link to the university’s supercomputer and other laboratory facilities through the 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) Saudi Arabian Advanced Research and Education Network (SAREN).[8]
- Supercomputer: Shaheen—the Arabic word for peregrine falcon—is the fastest supercomputer in the Middle East and one of the most powerful in the world. Developed by IBM, it is capable of 222 teraflops, or 222 trillion floating point operations per second.
- Visualization: CORNEA is a fully immersive, six-sided virtual reality facility that gives students and researchers the ability to turn data into 3D structures that they can interact with and examine. It was built in partnership with the University of California, San Diego.
- Nanofabrication, Imaging, and Characterization: A clean-room environment equipped with leading-edge tools to support research in advanced materials, biotechnology, electronics and photonics, and MEMS/NEMS. The Imaging and Characterization Labs include a suite of 10 advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers and facilities for scanning, transmission, confocal, and Raman Spectroscopy, magnetic and thermal measurements, allowing scientists to examine nanostructure devices and surfaces down to the level of individual atoms.
- Coastal and Marine Resources: Located next to the Red Sea, the Coastal and Marine Resources Lab facilitates marine research. The facility builds and deploys modern oceanographic instrumentation and provides operational services to support research vessels for marine exploration, diving, and sampling. Indoor and outdoor seawater facilities allow researchers to culture marine organisms.
- Analytical Core: These labs boast highly skilled staff focusing on spectroscopy, chromatography and mass spectrometry, trace metals analysis, wet chemistry, and surface analysis.
- Biosciences and Bioengineering: These facilities include genomic and proteomic labs essential to the study of cellular molecules for DNA sequencing and genetic analysis, as well as the investigation of cellular processes. The genomics facility is equipped with robots and laboratory automation.[8]
[edit] Academics and research
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) organizes interdisciplinary collaborative research teams of faculty and students, without regard to disciplinary boundaries, across three academic divisions: (1) Chemical and Life Sciences and Engineering; (2) Mathematical and Computer Sciences and Engineering; and (3) Physical Sciences and Engineering. KAUST offers two graduate programs in the various fields: a Master of Science degree (18 months) and a Ph.D. program (3-4 years involving original research that culminates in a dissertation.[9]
Degrees are offered in 11 fields of study:
- Applied Mathematics and Computational Science (AMCS)
- Bioscience (B)
- Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE)
- Chemical Science (ChemS)
- Computer Science (CS)
- Earth Science and Engineering (ErSE)
- Electrical Engineering (EE)
- Environmental Science and Engineering (EnSE)
- Marine Science (MarSE)
- Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
- Mechanical Engineering (ME)
KAUST focuses on research that applies science and technology to problems of human need, social advancement, and economic development.[8] Four strategic research thrusts build KAUST’s research agenda: Resources, Energy and Environment; Biosciences and Bioengineering; Materials Science and Engineering; Applied Mathematics and Computational Science.[8]
To support these thrusts, KAUST established multidisciplinary Research Centers focused on catalysis, clean combustion, computational bioscience, geometric modeling and scientific visualization, membranes, plant stress genomics and technology, Red Sea science and engineering, solar and alternative energy science and engineering, and water desalination and reuse.[8]
[edit] Organisation and administration
Saudi ARAMCO is currently operating all the non-academic aspects of KAUST, i.e. the Facilities and Community Services Department. Saudi ARAMCO plans to be phased out of KAUST operations by June 2010. The previous university Executive Director of Facilities and Community Services was Mr.Waleed Al-Bedaiwi. Above HE.ENG. Ali Al-Naimi Minister of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.
The board of trustees, under the leadership of its chairman, H.E. Minister Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, comprises international leaders in academia, science, finance, industry, and public life.[10]
In accordance with the university’s charter, members of this fully independent, self-perpetuating body oversee the university’s activities and monitor its progress and development. The 20-member board appoints the president of KAUST and approves the appointment of senior administrators and faculty members. It is responsible for approving rules that regulate academic, financial, and administrative affairs at the University, and for providing support to the officers who manage day-to-day operations.[10]
[edit] People
[edit] Students
KAUST currently has between 650 and 700 students. The majority of these students are enrolled in Masters programs, but the PhD student population is growing steadily as of 2011. The student population comes from over 60 different nationalities from all continents. The largest single national representation is from China with Mexico in second place. Saudi Arabia is the third most prevalent nationality of the student make up.
MS students admitted on the Discovery Scholarship receive free housing and health care, as well as a standard stipend of US $20,000 annually. The stipend for PhD studies is higher, and top students may receive additional awards in the range of US $6,000 above and beyond their base stipend in the form of the KAUST Provost Award. Currently students are eligible for repatriation flights to their home country once per year as an additional benefit.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Tamar Lewin, U.S. Universities Join Saudis in Partnerships, The New York Times, March 6, 2008.
- ^ a b "KAUST Inauguration Ceremony Looping Feed". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. http://inauguration.kaust.edu.sa/.
- ^ "KAUST General FAQ's". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/kaustfaq.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ Slackman, Michael. "A Saudi Gamble to See if Seeds of Change Will Grow," New York Times. November 20, 2009.
- ^ BBC - Saudis open hi-tech science oasis
- ^ World's largest LEED-Platinum project finds place in Top Ten Green Projects
- ^ AIA’s Top Ten Green Architecture Projects of 2010
- ^ a b c d e "KAUST Research". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. http://www.kaust.edu.sa/research/research.html.
- ^ "KAUST Academics". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. http://www.kaust.edu.sa/academics/academics.html.
- ^ a b "KAUST Board of Trustees". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/bot/boardtrustee.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
[edit] Further reading
- "Saudi King Tries to Grow Modern Ideas in Desert" article by Thanassis Cambnis in the New York Times October 26, 2007
- Saudi king breaks ground for new coed university, Intl Herald Tribune, 10/21/07.
- Saudi Arabia's plans for science education take shape, Wagdy Sawahel, 7 August 2006, SciDev.Net.
- Arabian Brainpower, by Charles Choi, Scientific American, Feb.2008.
- "KAUST seeks to close gap with west" article by Zaki Safar in the Collegian November 27, 2007
[edit] External links
- Official site of KAUST
- Official YouTube channel of KAUST
- Mathematical and Computer Sciences and Engineering Division
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Division
- Chemical and Life Sciences and Engineering Division
- Museum of Science and Technology in Islam at KAUST
- KAUST: A Sustainable Campus in Saudi Arabia Via Carboun
