KAUST, now being built on the Red Sea, plans to open in 2009.

The mechanical engineering faculty and several campus governance bodies early this year approved an agreement to help develop Saudi Arabia’s first graduate research university, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). In exchange for a substantial gift, the department will help build KAUST’s faculty and academic curriculum.

“The agreement will allow us to improve our facilities here in California, and fund a stream of graduate students, without taxing our existing infrastructure,” said Professor Albert P. Pisano, department chair. “We’re going to work on projects that are good for the Middle East and for California, like energy sources beyond petroleum, improved water desalination and solar energy in the desert.” 

While some faculty criticized the agreement, KAUST says there will be no discrimination or limits to academic freedom on its campus.

Go to http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/03/04_kaust.shtml.