King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
The King Abdullah Institution of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a Saudi Arabian private research university in Thuwal. The institution, which was founded in 2009, offers research and graduate training programs in English as the primary language of teaching.
KAUST is Saudi Arabia's first mixed-gender university campus. In 2013, the institution was ranked among the world's top 500 research and citation records. The institution was placed 19th in the world of the fastest emerging universities for high quality research output in the 2016 Nature Index Rising Stars. Since 2015, KAUST has been listed as the eighth fastest growing young university (aged 50 and under) in terms of research output, as evaluated by fractional count (FC).
KAUST is Saudi Arabia's first mixed-gender university campus. The Saudi government hopes that the mixed-gender institution will contribute to the modernization of the Kingdom's very traditional society. On-site religious police are not present. In coeducational sessions, women are not compelled to wear veils and are permitted to mix freely with males.
KAUST is the world's biggest LEED Platinum campus and Saudi Arabia's first LEED certified project. It was also named one of the 2010 Top Ten Green Projects by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE). It was designed by international architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum. For achievements in library architecture, the university library earned the 2011 AIA/ALA Library Building Award.
- Location: Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia
- Website: http://www.kaust.edu.sa/
