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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 24, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>New Saudi university woos students with science and scholarships
Multi-billion-dollar venture inaugurated by King, headed by ex-NUS chief
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(CAIRO) King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia yesterday inaugurated a new postgraduate research university, a multi-billion-dollar co-ed venture built on the promise of scientific freedom in a region better known for its conservatism.
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</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Postgraduate research campus: Kaust boasts state-of-the-art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer, and one of the biggest endowments worldwide</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The eponymous King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) - complete with state-of-the- art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer and one of the biggest endowments worldwide - is staffed largely with foreign academics and headed by former president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Shih Choon Fong.
The university has such a large endowment - US$10 billion from its namesake alone - that not only will all students receive full scholarships to offset the US$60,000 to US$70,000 per annum school fee, they will also receive a generous stipend. Some have even had their last year of university elsewhere paid for.
But Kaust, whether its founders intend it or not, has the potential to represent one of the clearest fault lines in a battle between conservatives and modernisers in the kingdom.
In a rare challenge to the clerical establishment in a country, Kaust will focus exclusively on producing world-class scientists and engineers instead of religion. And for the first time ever, women will be allowed to study alongside men - no mean feat in a country where women are still not allowed to drive.
But for now, its commitment towards transforming itself into a global scientific hub is obvious.
It struck partnerships last year with the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University in the US, and Imperial College London and Cambridge in the UK to help it hire teaching staff and design its curriculum. The 71 faculty members include 14 from the US, seven from Germany and six from Canada.
So far, Kaust has enrolled 817 students representing 61 countries, of whom 314 begin classes this month, while the rest are scheduled to enrol in the beginning of 2010. The aim is to expand to 2,000 students within eight to 10 years.
Of that total, 15 per cent are Saudi, say university officials. Of the Saudis, about a quarter are women.
'We recruit the very best in the world ... and we give them the freedom to pursue their scientific interests,' said university president Shih, a mechanical engineer by training who headed the NUS for nine years.
With research institutions, cash is king, and Kaust, thanks to Saudi's oil wealth, has plenty.
It has tossed generous salary packages to prospective hires, some of whom were offered US$90,000 in annual salaries tax-free plus all expenses for themselves and their families; and boasts cutting-edge equipment including a fully immersive, six-sided virtual reality facility called Cornea that officials say, for example, can allow researchers to visualise earthquakes on a planetary scale.
The sprawling 36 sq km campus, nestled along the Red Sea coast about 80 km north of the commercial centre of Jeddah, is a key part of the oil-rich Gulf region's efforts to diversify its economic base.
Saudi officials have said they are committed to spending US$400 billion over the next five years on various development and infrastructure projects, and the kingdom set a 2009 budget that ran a deficit for the first time in years specifically to sustain spending on such ventures.
With Kaust's inauguration, 'we see the beginning of a community that is unique' in Saudi Arabia, said Prof Shih. 'This is a bold vision of the King to build a university from scratch, free of legacy, baggage and stricture.' - AP, Bloomberg, AFP
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 24, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>New Saudi university woos students with science and scholarships
Multi-billion-dollar venture inaugurated by King, headed by ex-NUS chief
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(CAIRO) King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia yesterday inaugurated a new postgraduate research university, a multi-billion-dollar co-ed venture built on the promise of scientific freedom in a region better known for its conservatism.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Postgraduate research campus: Kaust boasts state-of-the-art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer, and one of the biggest endowments worldwide</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The eponymous King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) - complete with state-of-the- art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer and one of the biggest endowments worldwide - is staffed largely with foreign academics and headed by former president of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Shih Choon Fong.The university has such a large endowment - US$10 billion from its namesake alone - that not only will all students receive full scholarships to offset the US$60,000 to US$70,000 per annum school fee, they will also receive a generous stipend. Some have even had their last year of university elsewhere paid for.
But Kaust, whether its founders intend it or not, has the potential to represent one of the clearest fault lines in a battle between conservatives and modernisers in the kingdom.
In a rare challenge to the clerical establishment in a country, Kaust will focus exclusively on producing world-class scientists and engineers instead of religion. And for the first time ever, women will be allowed to study alongside men - no mean feat in a country where women are still not allowed to drive.
But for now, its commitment towards transforming itself into a global scientific hub is obvious.
It struck partnerships last year with the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University in the US, and Imperial College London and Cambridge in the UK to help it hire teaching staff and design its curriculum. The 71 faculty members include 14 from the US, seven from Germany and six from Canada.
So far, Kaust has enrolled 817 students representing 61 countries, of whom 314 begin classes this month, while the rest are scheduled to enrol in the beginning of 2010. The aim is to expand to 2,000 students within eight to 10 years.
Of that total, 15 per cent are Saudi, say university officials. Of the Saudis, about a quarter are women.
'We recruit the very best in the world ... and we give them the freedom to pursue their scientific interests,' said university president Shih, a mechanical engineer by training who headed the NUS for nine years.
With research institutions, cash is king, and Kaust, thanks to Saudi's oil wealth, has plenty.
It has tossed generous salary packages to prospective hires, some of whom were offered US$90,000 in annual salaries tax-free plus all expenses for themselves and their families; and boasts cutting-edge equipment including a fully immersive, six-sided virtual reality facility called Cornea that officials say, for example, can allow researchers to visualise earthquakes on a planetary scale.
The sprawling 36 sq km campus, nestled along the Red Sea coast about 80 km north of the commercial centre of Jeddah, is a key part of the oil-rich Gulf region's efforts to diversify its economic base.
Saudi officials have said they are committed to spending US$400 billion over the next five years on various development and infrastructure projects, and the kingdom set a 2009 budget that ran a deficit for the first time in years specifically to sustain spending on such ventures.
With Kaust's inauguration, 'we see the beginning of a community that is unique' in Saudi Arabia, said Prof Shih. 'This is a bold vision of the King to build a university from scratch, free of legacy, baggage and stricture.' - AP, Bloomberg, AFP
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