By Farouk LuqmanFor any institution to achieve international acclaim as a world-class establishment takes considerable time. But, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), just five-years-old, can boast of virtually achieving the impossible, already being described as the Arab Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that is second only to the famous American institute except in terms of number of students.It is a huge institution, 60 km north of Jeddah with 700 students who are extremely well cared for under the guidance of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah himself, the inspiration and spirit behind the institution. He arranged to bankroll it practically without limitations since he wanted the world-class institution to be on par with the best, and he got it!
Those of us who have been to other universities in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and the West, Australia or Japan, will realize that KAUST, established in 2009, is the best as they read and hear about it as a fabulous place to learn, and will wish that someday, one of their sons or daughters will be blessed to find admission in it. For me and for others who have known about it is as a dream institution, it is the brainchild of King Abdullah personally who attracted some of the best academic brains in the Kingdom and abroad. Its progress has been such that it already has established a reputation for imparting the best education to men and women alike.
It may take a few more years before it rivals some of the great American, British, European, Japanese and Indian universities. But, the pace at which it is developing leaves none in doubt that it would soon carve its own niche at least in the East and certainly in the Arab World.
The setting up of KAUST itself was a rather low-key affair without the accompanying publicity blitzkrieg, and despite my being a newspaper editor for many years right here in the Kingdom, I hardly heard about the project. But those in the know were amazed by the magnitude of the project that was so close and so dear to the king’s heart who had nurtured it even while he was a crown prince during the time of his brother King Fahd.
In order to ensure the finest standards, he first had to gather some of the best academic brains here who in turn made contact with their counterparts abroad, studied their achievements and decided to improve on what they had read and heard. The king was there to approve of their ambitious ideas and go further, even if the project promised to go beyond everybody’s dreams. One should see it to believe it, noting that what they are seeing is not a topnotch Western university — Oxford, Cambridge or Tokyo. Only the famous rivers of the British universities are missing at the moment, and who knows, someday a few streams of water, even if desalinated, will be added to the site.
KAUST is a public research university located in Thuwaal, built and operated the first three years by Aramco, which is a fully owned Saudi company. It has the second largest endowment of any university in the world, second only to Harvard — at $20 billion, which is higher than the budget of many United Nations member states.
KAUST was founded in 2009 and focuses on graduate education and research using English as the medium of instruction. It offers programs in biological and environmental sciences and engineering, computer, electrical, mathematical and physical sciences.
The king extended invitations to 3,000 Saudi and international guests to attend the opening of the first mixed academic institution in the country. Senior members of the staff received the highest rank of King Abdul Aziz Medal of Honor.
The core campus is located in Thuwaal on a co-educational basis across 36 sqm with residential areas and campus laboratories. Men and women are allowed to drive on the campus. According to the university literature, hubs of community activity include Discovery Square, multiple gym facilities, libraries and coffee shops.
This ambitious project has envisaged not only present but future requirements to make it the Kingdom’s premier academic institution as also one of the most prestigious places of learning in the world.
Following these developments, research institutions in the Kingdom and the region will link to the university’s supercomputer and other laboratory facilities through Saudi Arabia’s advanced Research and Education Network-Saren which boasts of 10 gigabits per second. Supercomputer Shaheen, meaning falcon in Arabic and Persian, 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 terasflops or 222 trillion floating points operations per second.
The master’s degree is a 36-credit program that is designed to ensure that students who are accepted with prior training will complete the course in three semesters including the intervening summer having been prepared through a solid foundation in the discipline. The thesis reports on original research are conducted under the supervision of affiliated faculty members.
The doctorate requires that qualification and advancement depend on passing doctoral course work, designating a research adviser and writing and orally defending the proposed subject.
The idea and objective is to create a genuine educational environment unlike some of the weaker institutions or the fake ones which have been proliferating from second or third-rate establishments, which are readily available on payment in some countries including the US where they are known to be fraudulent. They advertise themselves even in respected newspapers till recently.
KAUST has between 600 and 700 students, majority of whom are enrolled in Master’s programs. The Ph.D. group is growing steadily, with researchers from 60 countries. The single largest group is from China with Mexico in second place. Saudi Arabia comes third. The students, admitted on the Discovery Scholarship, receive free housing and health care as well as standard stipend of $20,000 a year.
The stipend for doctoral students is $20,000 a year before qualification and $30,000 subsequently, with top students given even more. Details are of course available directly from the university which is run on a sound foundation that vies with the best universities anywhere in the world.
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, and is fully independent to oversee the activities and monitor its progress and development. Its 20 members appoint the president and approve the appointment of senior administrators and faculty members. It is also responsible for approving rules that regulate academic, financial and administrative affairs.
Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah.luqman@srpc.com – Arab News via Eurasia Review
