Kingdom's new university open to all; Hong Kong students will have the opportunity to make history in the oil-rich country's prestigious science and t
A worldwide hunt for the best talent has been launched by a new university in Saudi Arabia and it hopes to draw the cream of the crop to form its first group of students.
Top Hong Kong undergraduates will have the opportunity to be team members and make history with the university's debut recruitment at today's Education and Careers Expo.
The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology will be the country's first public university to educate men and women under one roof.
The kingdom observes the Islamic lifestyle in which men and women are segregated in public places.
The university will offer Discovery Scholarships to all new recruits in order to attract top talent from around the globe.
The pre-enrolment offer caters to undergraduates attending first university or bachelor's degree programmes elsewhere.
After graduation, applicants will study at the university's master's degree programme for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Postgraduate studies are sponsored on a fully funded scholarship, covering tuition fees and living expenses.
The institution is governed by a board of trustees and supported by a multibillion-dollar endowment.
"The scholarship will probably be offered to new students for the first few academic years," said Maria Luk, assistant director, Institute of International Education/Hong Kong, a representative agent for King Abdullah University in Hong Kong.
"There may be other types of support in subsequent years to continue enrolling outstanding students to study its postgraduate courses."
To qualify for the scholarship, an applicant must provide a first-university or bachelor's university transcript stating the coursework taken and obtain the required academic achievements.
The degree programme the applicant studies must be related to those postgraduate courses offered by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
These include engineering, applied mathematics, science, environmental science and computer science.
Applicants must also prove their English language proficiency by obtaining scores required in TOEFL and IELTS assessment tests. In addition, they must demonstrate academic and research interest and possess leadership potential.
Ms Luk explained that a successful applicant would be required to sign a legal contract to commit to King Abdullah University's arrangement.
The university reserves the right to revoke the benefits if applicants fail to fulfil the conditions.
"There is no set quota for the intake from any one country or region," Ms Luk said. "King Abdullah University is committed to recruiting the most gifted students from Saudi Arabia and other countries to provide them with a challenging and rewarding study environment. It will be an international and independent university, and will not follow the traditional Saudi education structure."
She said to help successful students get used to university life in Saudi Arabia they would be invited to participate in sponsored enrichment activities such as scholarship award convocation events, global workshops at the university campus in Saudi Arabia and regional workshops.
Ms Luk believes the university's strong focus on research that applies science and technology to problems of human need, social advancement and economic development would appeal to young, ambitious people and would make them want to enrol.
To facilitate the research commitment, King Abdullah University is building a hotel and conference centre to accommodate international visitors and scientific meetings.
Other facilities on the campus will include collaborative research centres, an adjacent innovation centre and a research park to link the activities of the university with private-sector research and economic development.
The university will also seek substantial external research funding and organise collaborative educational programmes with leading institutions in areas related to its research work.
Early this month, the school signed a memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to enhance its international network of research collaborations, marking the university's seventh research agreement with a leading international university in the past eight months.
The two universities will collaborate on activities that will open new frontiers in marine genomic research and nanotechnology. HKUST is renowned for its pioneering work in these two areas.
To attract talented students, the Saudi institution has also initiated the Academic Excellence Alliance programme, seeking support from top departments at major institutions to help develop the university's curriculum and nominate the founding faculty in each field of study.
The campus, 80km north of Jeddah, will occupy 36 million square metres.
The campus is being built in a way that reduces environmental pollution with emphasis on saving energy and conserving historical artefacts found during construction.
Visit http://www.kaust.edu.sa/