KAUST announces academic excellence alliance partnership with Imperial College London

London (March 10, 2008) — King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Imperial College London today announced their partnership in KAUST’s Academic Excellence Alliance (AEA), designed to establish joint research, collaborate in the design of the academic curriculum, and identify and nominate the founding faculty in chemical engineering and materials science and engineering for the new University.

KAUST is a new international, graduate-level research university opening in Saudi Arabia in 2009. The innovative new approach to institutional partnership and faculty nomination will enable KAUST to build its academic foundation during the University’s first several years of operation.

The partnership will push forward research in a range of areas including carbon capture, hydrogen-rich fuels, membranes, materials for high-stress environments, structural ceramics including fuel cell materials, energy engineering, process systems engineering, materials for clean power generation, fluid mechanics, and biomaterials.

KAUST President-designate Choon Fong Shih said, “Imperial College is a renowned international institution with a stellar record for the development of world-class research and academic development. KAUST and Imperial will work together to develop the tools and faculty we need to build our intellectual capital and to establish our institution as one of the finest in the world.”

Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial and member of KAUST’s International Advisory Council, welcomed the agreement, saying:

“High-quality scientific research and teaching knows no borders – it is a global aspiration and has the potential to improve quality of life worldwide. Because of that, we are delighted to partner Saudi Arabia in this exciting new venture, which I hope will create a hub of research excellence that can play its part in tackling the challenges of the 21st century, which science and technology will be vital to solving.”

KAUST will work with Imperial College to:

• Jointly organize the graduate course curriculum and monitor performance
• Create and conduct joint research projects at Imperial College and at KAUST
• Collaborate in setting the requirements for the M.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. degrees at KAUST
• Collaborate in the nomination of the initial group of KAUST faculty
• Collaborate in joint thesis advisory committees for Ph.D. candidates at KAUST
• Collaborate in joint programs to host visiting fellows, conduct seminars, and participate in technical symposia
• Collaborate on the design and acquisition of research equipment and facilities