King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: Difference between revisions
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KAUST 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 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. |
KAUST 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 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. |
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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 US $25,000 annually before passing the qualification and $30,000 annually after qualification, 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]]. Students are eligible for repatriation flights to their home country once per year as an additional benefit. |
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 US $25,000 annually before passing the qualification and $30,000 annually after qualification, 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]]. Students are eligible for repatriation flights to their home country once per year as an additional benefit. unicorns live hear |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 19:30, 11 July 2013
جامعة الملك عبد الله للعلوم والتقنية | |
 | |
| Motto | "Through Inspiration, Discovery" |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Established | 5 September 2009 |
| Endowment | US$20 billion[1] |
| President | Jean-Lou Chameau |
| Undergraduates | None |
| Postgraduates | 800 |
| Location | , , 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 Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering; Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering; and Physical Sciences and Engineering.
History
KAUST officially opened on 23 September 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]
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]
Hubs of community activity, include Discovery Square, multiple gym facilities, libraries, and coffee shops. Discovery Square features a movie theater, a grocery store, and several restaurants (offering Middle Eastern food, American fast food, and Pakistani/Indian food). The gym facilities include exercise equipment, free weights, racquet sports, bowling, and rock climbing. The campus is still under development at 2011.
KAUST was Saudi Arabia's first LEED certified project and is the world's largest LEED Platinum campus.[6] Designed by international architecture firm HOK, 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]
Laboratories
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 tools to support research in advanced materials, biotechnology, electronics and photonics, and MEMS/NEMS. The Imaging and Characterization Labs include a suite of 10 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 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 focus 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]
Academics and research
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) organizes interdisciplinary collaborative research teams of faculty and students, across three academic divisions Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering; Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering; and Physical Sciences and Engineering. KAUST offers two graduate programs: 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, desert agriculture, Red Sea science and engineering, solar and alternative energy science and engineering, and water desalination and reuse.[8]
Admissions
Master's Program
General Degree Requirements
The M.S. degree at KAUST is a 36-credit program that is designed such that most students who enter the program with suitable prior training will finish in three semesters plus the intervening summer. Degree requirements are divided into three sections: (1) Core Curriculum; (2) Elective Curriculum; and (3) Research/Capstone Experience.
Core Curriculum (9-15 credits): This portion of the degree program is designed to provide a student with the background needed to establish a solid foundation in the discipline over and above undergraduate studies. Elective Curriculum (9-15 credits): This portion of the degree program is designed to allow each student to tailor his/her educational experience to meet individual research and educational objectives. Depending upon the program and the objectives, this may be met by added coursework or by additional research experience. Research/Capstone Experience (12 credits): The details of this portion of the degree program are also uniquely determined by the student and his/her advisor and will involve a combination of research and other capstone experiences that build on the knowledge gained in coursework. At least thirty-six (36) degree credits must be completed in graduate-level courses and research projects. These courses should be 200-level or above and must be approved by the program advisor.
Thesis Requirements
Thesis: The M.S. thesis reports on original research conducted under the supervision an affiliated faculty member within the chosen degree program. A list of affiliated faculty for each degree program can be found at http://www.kaust.edu.sa/academics/faculty-affiliations.html. Thesis format requirements are described in the KAUST Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines.
Committee: Each student must form a thesis committee, which is tasked with reading and evaluating the results of the thesis research. In addition to the faculty member supervising the research, who will be the committee chair, the committee must have at least two additional members. The choice of those members should be made in consultation with the student's supervisor. Committee members need not be from within the student's degree program, but at least two of the three members must be full-time KAUST faculty members. Once a committee has been proposed, the student is required to complete the Thesis Committee Form and submit it to the Program Chair and Dean for approval. At the discretion of the degree program, students may be required to present a public seminar discussing their research as part of the evaluation process. For a list of eligible faculty advisors, see: http://www.kaust.edu.sa/academics/faculty-affiliations.html.
Students may select a KAUST faculty member from another program to act as a research advisor (for either thesis or directed research), but must provide a one- page description of the research and an explanation of how such research would be relevant to the degree program. Upon approval by the program and the Dean, the faculty member would be allowed to act as an affiliated faculty member and advisor for the student.
PhD Program
General Degree Requirements
Qualification and advancement to candidacy are contingent upon: (i) passing Ph.D. coursework, (ii) designating a research advisor, and (iii) writing and orally defending a research proposal. Individual degree programs may, at their discretion, also require a comprehensive examination (probing coursework and knowledge of other relevant subject areas). Possible outcomes include pass, failure with complete retake, failures with partial retake, and failure with no retake. The maximum allotted time for advancement to candidacy for a student entering with an MS degree is two years; three years for the B.S. degree entry option.
Organization and administration
The previous university executive director of facilities and community services was Waleed Al-Bedaiwi. Above Ali Al-Naimi Minister of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.
The board of trustees, under the leadership of its chairman, Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi 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]
The first president of the university was Choon Fong Shih.[11] On 16 February 2013, the executive committee of the board of trustees at KAUST voted unanimously to appoint Jean-Lou Chameau, the former president of California Institute of Technology, as the new President of KAUST.[12]
Since KAUST was opened for students coming from across the world, it has establish various self-directed organizations.Due to the diversity of the community,different cultures are mixed and merged. Its graduate student council was established in 2009, aiming at promoting the voice and interests of KAUST graduate students to university administration, faculty, staff, community, and industry. Under the council there are four sub Committees: Academic and Research Committee, Graduate Life Committee, International Business Relations Committee and University Relations Committee.[13]
People
Students
KAUST 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 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 US $25,000 annually before passing the qualification and $30,000 annually after qualification, 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. Students are eligible for repatriation flights to their home country once per year as an additional benefit. unicorns live hear
References
- ^ Sciencemag, [http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/02/kaust-names-jean-lou-chameau-as-.html
- ^ a b "KAUST Inauguration Ceremony Looping Feed". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "KAUST general FAQs". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ Slackman, Michael (18 November 2009). "A Saudi Gamble to See if Seeds of Change Will Grow". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "KAUST Academics". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
- ^ a b "KAUST Board of Trustees". King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ Selingo, Jeff (22 April 2011). "Saudi Arabia's Elite New University Pursues 'High-Risk Research for a High Return'". The Chronicle. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ "KAUST appoints new president". Asharq Alawsat. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ http://www.kaust.edu.sa/student_services/graduateservices/council.html?submenuheader=0