King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a public research university at Thuwal on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, founded in 2009 and named after King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who ruled the kingdom from 2005 to 2015.阿卜杜拉国王科技大学（KAUST）是沙特阿拉伯红海沿岸图沃的一所公立研究型大学，建于 2009 年，以 2005 年至 2015 年在位的国王阿卜杜拉·本·阿卜杜勒阿齐兹命名。

It provides research and graduate training programmes taught in English, admits only postgraduate students, and was the first mixed-gender university campus in Saudi Arabia.学校以英语授课，提供研究与研究生培养项目，只招收研究生，并且是沙特阿拉伯第一座男女同校的大学校园。

KAUST was placed in the 201-300 band of the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026 and 103rd in the U.S. News global ranking for 2026-2027.学校在 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名中位列第 201 至 300 名区间，在 2026 至 2027 年度 U.S. News 全球大学排名中位列第 103 位。

History

• Planning began in 2006, when Ali Al-Naimi chaired a Saudi Aramco team charged with building and planning the academic institution, and Nadhmi Al-Nasr was chosen to lead the project.规划始于 2006 年，阿里·纳伊米主持沙特阿美的一支团队负责建设与规划这所院校，纳迪米·纳赛尔被选定领导该项目。
• The Washington Advisory Group's Frank H. T. Rhodes and Frank Press designed the academic structure, SRI International developed the four research institutes, and the architectural firm HOK produced the campus master plan with wind towers and solar panels.华盛顿咨询集团的弗兰克·罗兹与弗兰克·普雷斯设计了学术架构，斯坦福国际研究院筹建了四个研究所，建筑事务所 HOK 制定了包含风塔与太阳能板的校园总体规划。
• The Thuwal site covers 16.4 square kilometres of land and 19.6 square kilometres of marine sanctuary offshore, ground was broken in October 2007, and 178 scholarships were awarded in January 2008.图沃校址占地 16.4 平方公里，另有 19.6 平方公里的近海海洋保护区，2007 年 10 月破土动工，2008 年 1 月颁发了 178 份奖学金。
• The inauguration ceremony took place on 23 September 2009, when King Abdullah said that institutions which embrace all people are the first line of defence against extremists.落成典礼于 2009 年 9 月 23 日举行，阿卜杜拉国王在典礼上表示，包容所有人的机构是抵御极端分子的第一道防线。
• The university opened with a $10 billion endowment, admitted 400 students from more than 60 countries and employed 70 faculty members.学校创办时获得 100 亿美元捐赠基金，招收了来自 60 多个国家的 400 名学生，并聘有 70 名教师。
• At its opening KAUST became the first mixed-gender university campus in the kingdom, the religious police did not operate there, and women were permitted to mix freely with men and were not required to wear veils in coeducational classes.建校之初，KAUST 成为沙特第一座男女同校的大学校园，宗教警察不在校内执勤，女性可以与男性自由交往，在男女同堂的课堂上无须佩戴面纱。
• Saudi authorities regarded the mixed-gender campus as a potential catalyst for broader social change in the kingdom, at a time when such practices were unusual.沙特当局把这所男女同校的校园视为推动王国更广泛社会变革的潜在催化剂，当时此类做法在沙特并不常见。
• The campus houses Shaheen, which was the fastest supercomputer in the Middle East when it was commissioned.校园内配置了“沙欣”超级计算机，它在启用时是中东地区最快的超级计算机。
• In 2013 the university was listed among the 500 fastest-growing research and citation records in the world.2013 年，学校跻身全球研究和引用记录增长最快的 500 家机构之列。
• In the 2016 Nature Index Rising Stars table, KAUST ranked 19th in the world among the fastest-rising universities for high-quality research output.在 2016 年《自然》指数“新星”榜单中，KAUST 在高被引科研产出增长最快的大学中位列世界第 19 位。
• In 2019 KAUST was ranked the 8th fastest-rising young university, aged 50 and under, for research output since 2015 as measured by fractional count.2019 年，按分数计数衡量，KAUST 在 2015 年以来科研产出增长最快的 50 岁及以下年轻大学中排名第 8。
• In September 2018 the university signed a five-year research and development partnership agreement with McLaren.2018 年 9 月，学校与迈凯伦签署了一项为期五年的研发合作协议。
• In 2025 KAUST was ranked first among Arab universities for the third consecutive year by Times Higher Education.2025 年，KAUST 连续第三年被泰晤士高等教育评为阿拉伯国家第一高校。
• In the 2025 Nature Index of Research Leaders, KAUST ranked second among academic institutions in Western Asia by share of high-quality natural and health science output, behind only the Weizmann Institute of Science.在 2025 年《自然》指数研究领导者榜单中，按高质量自然科学与健康科学产出份额计算，KAUST 在西亚学术机构中位列第二，仅次于魏茨曼科学研究所。
• Choon Fong Shih, formerly president of the National University of Singapore, was appointed the first president on 13 January 2008 and completed his five-year term on 30 June 2013.曾任新加坡国立大学校长的施春风于 2008 年 1 月 13 日被任命为首任校长，并于 2013 年 6 月 30 日结束五年任期。
• Jean-Lou Chameau, previously president of the California Institute of Technology, succeeded him, and Tony Chan, formerly president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, became the third president on 1 September 2018.曾任加州理工学院校长的让-卢·沙莫随后接任，曾任香港科技大学校长的陈繁昌于 2018 年 9 月 1 日出任第三任校长。
• Tony Chan left in 2024 and was succeeded by the Australian neuroscientist Sir Edward Byrne, the university's fourth president, who took office in September 2024.陈繁昌于 2024 年离任，由澳大利亚神经科学家爱德华·伯恩爵士接任，他是学校第四任校长，于 2024 年 9 月就职。
• The university published its first graduate course catalogue in October 2008, setting out degree requirements and course descriptions ahead of the first intake.学校于 2008 年 10 月发布首份研究生课程指南，在首批学生入学前明确了学位要求与课程说明。
• At founding KAUST ran an exploration scholarship that covered tuition, textbooks, laptops and living costs for recipients even while they studied at other universities, and the programme was discontinued in 2011.建校时学校设有探索奖学金，为获奖者支付学费、课本、笔记本电脑和生活费，即使他们当时在其他大学就读也可获得资助，该计划于 2011 年停止。

Academics

• Research is organised across three academic divisions, 12 research centres and individual faculty laboratories, with programmes grouped around food and health, water, energy, the environment and the digital domain.研究分布在三个学术学部、12 个研究中心和教师个人实验室，项目围绕食品与健康、水、能源、环境与数字领域展开。
• The Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division works through six focal areas, namely environmental systems, epigenetics, functional biology, genomics, imaging and structural biology, and marine science.生物与环境科学与工程学部围绕六个重点领域开展工作，即环境系统、表观遗传学、功能生物学、基因组学、成像与结构生物学以及海洋科学。
• The Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division clusters its work into electrical engineering, mathematical analysis, computer science and big data, and statistics and data science.计算机、电气与数学科学与工程学部的研究集中在电气工程、数学分析、计算机科学与大数据，以及统计学与数据科学四个方向。
• The Physical Sciences and Engineering Division covers theoretical physics and physical chemistry, catalysis and bioengineering, polymers and composites, energy production and storage, water purification, novel materials, earth sciences and geomechanics.物理科学与工程学部涵盖理论物理与物理化学、催化与生物工程、聚合物与复合材料、能源生产与储存、水净化、新材料、地球科学与地质力学。
• Master of Science programmes are offered in applied mathematics and computational science, bioengineering, bioscience, chemical engineering, chemistry, computer science, earth systems science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering and environmental science and engineering.理学硕士项目包括应用数学与计算科学、生物工程、生物科学、化学工程、化学、计算机科学、地球系统科学与工程、电气与计算机工程以及环境科学与工程。
• Further master's and doctoral tracks cover marine science, materials science and engineering and applied physics, mechanical engineering, plant science and statistics, giving 14 degree-granting programmes in total.其他硕士与博士方向包括海洋科学、材料科学与工程及应用物理、机械工程、植物科学与统计学，全校共有 13 个可授予学位的项目。
• The Master of Science degree is expected to take 18 months and may be completed with or without a thesis component.理学硕士学位通常需要 18 个月完成，可以选择提交论文或不提交论文。
• The Doctor of Philosophy programme typically takes three to four years, and applicants must have completed a master's degree in a relevant science or engineering field.哲学博士项目通常需要三至四年，申请者必须已完成相关科学或工程领域的硕士学位。
• The M.S./Ph.D. track allows graduates to apply for doctoral study directly after a bachelor's degree and typically takes four to five years to complete.硕博连读项目允许本科毕业生直接申请博士学习，通常需要四至五年完成。
• KAUST also offers a one-year postgraduate diploma in Digital Industrial Design, Physical Science and Engineering and Bioscience, each combining soft-skill, experimental, theoretical and entrepreneurship courses with a capstone experience.学校还提供为期一年的数字工业设计、物理科学与工程以及生物科学研究生文凭项目，每个项目都结合软技能、实验、理论与创业课程以及毕业设计。
• Admission sets no minimum grade threshold, and applicants are assessed on their academic record and research interests and must meet English language requirements unless exempt.招生不设最低成绩门槛，申请者依据学业记录与研究兴趣接受评估，除获豁免者外必须达到英语语言要求。
• Every admitted student receives the KAUST Fellowship, which covers tuition, accommodation, health insurance and relocation costs and provides a monthly stipend.每位被录取的学生都能获得 KAUST 奖学金，覆盖学费、住宿、医疗保险和搬迁费用，并提供每月生活津贴。
• The Visiting Student Research Program is a three-to-six-month internship in which third- and fourth-year undergraduates or master's students work under KAUST faculty mentors on a current research project.访问学生研究项目是为期三至六个月的实习，三、四年级本科生或硕士生在 KAUST 教师指导下参与在研项目。
• Participants in the Visiting Student Research Program receive a monthly stipend, accommodation, health insurance and travel costs, while the more flexible Visiting Student arrangement allows stays from a few days to several months on comparable terms.访问学生研究项目参与者可获得每月津贴、住宿、医疗保险和旅费，更灵活的访问学生安排则允许从数天到数月的短期停留，待遇相近。
• In September 2024 the university launched four Centers of Excellence aligned with Saudi Arabia's research, development and innovation priorities: renewable energy and storage, smart health, generative AI and sustainable food security.2024 年 9 月，学校围绕沙特研究、开发与创新优先方向成立四个卓越中心，分别聚焦可再生能源与储能、智慧医疗、生成式人工智能和可持续粮食安全。
• Husam Alshareef chairs the renewable energy centre with Zhiping Lai as co-chair, Imed Gallouzi chairs smart health with Xin Gao as co-chair, and Bernard Ghanem chairs generative AI with Jürgen Schmidhuber as co-chair.可再生能源中心由胡萨姆·阿尔沙里夫任主任、赖志平任副主任，智慧医疗中心由伊梅德·加卢齐任主任、高欣任副主任，生成式人工智能中心由伯纳德·加尼姆任主任、于尔根·施密德胡伯任副主任。
• Mark Tester chairs the sustainable food security centre, with Peiying Hong and Brande Wulff as co-chairs, and the four centres prototype and commercialise technologies for deployment in the kingdom.可持续粮食安全中心由马克·特斯特任主任，洪佩英与布兰德·伍尔夫任副主任，四个中心负责技术原型开发与商业化，以便在沙特部署。
• Fifteen KAUST professors appeared on Clarivate's 2025 list of Highly Cited Researchers, including Stefaan De Wolf for engineering and materials science, Carlos Duarte for environment and plant science, and Mohamed Eddaoudi for chemistry.15 名 KAUST 教授入选科睿唯安 2025 年高被引科学家名单，其中包括在工程与材料科学领域入选的斯特凡·德沃尔夫、在环境与植物科学领域入选的卡洛斯·杜阿尔特，以及在化学领域入选的穆罕默德·埃达乌迪。
• The original academic architecture designed by the Washington Advisory Group was built around four research institutes developed by SRI International, formerly the Stanford Research Institute, a structure that preceded today's three divisions and 12 research centres.华盛顿咨询集团设计的原初学术架构以斯坦福国际研究院筹建的四个研究所为基础，这一结构早于今天的三大学部与 12 个研究中心。

Campus

• The core campus lies on the Red Sea at Thuwal, about 80 kilometres north of Jeddah, and combines the main academic site with a protected coral reef and marine sanctuary used for research.主校区位于红海之滨的图沃，距吉达以北约 80 公里，由主教学区与用于研究的受保护珊瑚礁和海洋保护区组成。
• The master plan by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum incorporated wind towers and solar panels, and the design and construction process took about two and a half years.赫尔穆特·奥巴塔与卡萨鲍姆事务所的总体规划融入了风塔与太阳能板，设计与建造过程历时约两年半。
• KAUST was Saudi Arabia's first LEED-certified project and is described as the world's largest LEED Platinum campus.KAUST 是沙特阿拉伯首个获得 LEED 认证的项目，并被称为世界上最大的 LEED 白金级校园。
• The American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment selected the campus as one of its 2010 Top Ten Green Projects.美国建筑师协会环境委员会将校园评为 2010 年十大绿色项目之一。
• The university library received the 2011 AIA/ALA Library Building Award for accomplishments in library architecture.大学图书馆因在图书馆建筑方面的成就获得 2011 年美国建筑师协会与美国图书馆协会联合颁发的图书馆建筑奖。
• The campus operates its own seawater desalination plant to secure water supply, an essential system on the arid Red Sea coast.校园自建海水淡化厂以保障供水，这在干旱的红海沿岸是必不可少的设施。
• Three gymnasiums, a golf course and a Red Sea diving club are available free of charge to students, faculty and staff.校园内设三座体育馆、一座高尔夫球场和一个红海潜水俱乐部，供学生、教师与员工免费使用。
• At maturity the campus is designed to accommodate about 2,000 people, and the first phase concentrated academic buildings, laboratories and residential facilities on a compact core.校园在设计上可容纳约 2000 人，首期工程把教学楼、实验室与住宿设施集中在紧凑的核心区域。
• The marine sanctuary offshore supports research in coral reef ecology and marine science, one of the six focal areas of the biological and environmental division.近海海洋保护区支撑珊瑚礁生态与海洋科学研究，这是生物与环境学部六个重点领域之一。
• The core academic site occupies about 0.511 square kilometres within the wider 36-square-kilometre reservation, and design and construction took roughly two and a half years to complete.核心教学区占地约 0.511 平方公里，位于 36 平方公里的整体预留用地之内，设计与建造历时约两年半。

Reputation

• In the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities, KAUST is placed in the 201-300 band, the joint interval covering the 201st to 300th positions.在 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名中，KAUST 位列第 201 至 300 名区间，即覆盖第 201 位至第 300 位的并列区间。
• The university did not enter the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027.学校未进入 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名。
• KAUST ranked 103rd in the U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings for 2026-2027, its strongest position among the major global tables.KAUST 在 2026 至 2027 年度 U.S. News 全球最佳大学排名中位列第 103 位，这是其在主要全球榜单中的最好位置。
• The university did not enter the QS World University Rankings 2027.学校未进入 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名。
• Times Higher Education ranked KAUST first among Arab universities in 2025 for the third consecutive year.泰晤士高等教育在 2025 年连续第三年将 KAUST 列为阿拉伯国家第一高校。
• In the 2025 Nature Index of Research Leaders, KAUST stood second among academic institutions in Western Asia by share of high-quality natural and health science output, behind the Weizmann Institute of Science.在 2025 年《自然》指数研究领导者榜单中，按高质量自然科学与健康科学产出份额计算，KAUST 在西亚学术机构中排名第二，仅次于魏茨曼科学研究所。
• KAUST ranked 19th in the 2016 Nature Index Rising Stars table of universities with the fastest-growing high-quality research output.KAUST 在 2016 年《自然》指数“新星”榜单中位列第 19，该榜单衡量高质量科研产出增长最快的大学。
• In 2019 it was ranked the 8th fastest-rising young university for research output since 2015 as measured by fractional count.2019 年，按分数计数衡量，学校在 2015 年以来科研产出增长最快的年轻大学中排名第 8。
• According to QS citation metrics reported in Chinese sources, KAUST led the world in citations per faculty for five consecutive years from 2016 to 2020.据中文资料引述的 QS 引用指标，KAUST 从 2016 年到 2020 年连续五年在师均引用数上位居世界第一。
• In 2013 the university was among the 500 institutions with the fastest-growing research and citation records worldwide.2013 年，学校位列全球研究与引用记录增长最快的 500 家机构之一。

Student life

• All students are postgraduates, and English is the official language of instruction and research on campus.全校学生均为研究生，英语是校园教学与研究的官方语言。
• The first cohort numbered 400 students from more than 60 countries, taught by 70 faculty members, a ratio that reflects the university's small, research-intensive model.首批学生共 400 人，来自 60 多个国家，由 70 名教师授课，这一比例体现了学校规模小而研究密集的模式。
• Every admitted student receives the KAUST Fellowship, which removes tuition and accommodation costs and adds a monthly stipend.每位被录取的学生都获得 KAUST 奖学金，免除学费与住宿费用，并额外提供每月生活津贴。
• The mixed-gender campus allowed women to study alongside men without veils in coeducational classes, and the religious police did not patrol the site.男女同校的校园允许女性在男女同堂的课堂上不戴面纱与男性共同学习，宗教警察不在校园巡逻。
• Undergraduates in their third or fourth year and master's students can join the Visiting Student Research Program for three to six months and work on a faculty research project.三、四年级本科生与硕士生可参加为期三至六个月的访问学生研究项目，参与教师的研究课题。
• The shorter Visiting Student arrangement lets external students work with KAUST faculty for periods ranging from a few days to several months.较短的访问学生安排允许校外学生与 KAUST 教师合作数天至数月。
• Campus life includes three free gymnasiums, a golf course and a Red Sea diving club, available to all students, faculty and staff.校园生活包括三座免费体育馆、一座高尔夫球场和一个红海潜水俱乐部，向所有学生、教师与员工开放。
• The residential campus is planned for about 2,000 people at maturity, with accommodation provided to fellowship holders.这座住宿型校园在设计成熟期可容纳约 2000 人，奖学金获得者可使用学校提供的住宿。
• In 2008, before teaching began, the university awarded 178 scholarships to prospective students and scholars from around 70 countries.2008 年开学之前，学校向来自约 70 个国家的准学生与学者颁发了 178 份奖学金。

Notable people

• King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, ruler of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015, founded the university and gave it its name.阿卜杜拉·本·阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王是 2005 年至 2015 年间的沙特统治者，他创办了这所大学并以其名命名。
• Ali Al-Naimi, the long-serving Saudi oil minister, chaired the Saudi Aramco team that planned and built the institution, and Nadhmi Al-Nasr was chosen to lead the project and oversaw the building of the campus.长期担任沙特石油部长的阿里·纳伊米主持了负责规划与建设该校的沙特阿美团队，纳迪米·纳赛尔则被选定领导该项目，并监督了校园的建设。
• Frank H. T. Rhodes and Frank Press of the Washington Advisory Group designed the academic structure, and the architectural firm HOK produced the campus master plan.华盛顿咨询集团的弗兰克·罗兹与弗兰克·普雷斯设计了学术架构，建筑事务所 HOK 制定了校园总体规划。
• Choon Fong Shih, the first president, came from the National University of Singapore and served from 2008 to 2013.首任校长施春风来自新加坡国立大学，任期为 2008 年至 2013 年。
• Jean-Lou Chameau, the second president, had previously led the California Institute of Technology.第二任校长让-卢·沙莫此前执掌加州理工学院。
• Tony Chan, the third president, was formerly president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and served from 2018 to 2024.第三任校长陈繁昌曾任香港科技大学校长，任期为 2018 年至 2024 年。
• Sir Edward Byrne, a neuroscientist, became the fourth president in September 2024.神经科学家爱德华·伯恩爵士于 2024 年 9 月成为第四任校长。
• Jürgen Schmidhuber, a computer scientist known for work on artificial neural networks, is co-chair of the Center of Excellence for Generative AI.以人工神经网络研究闻名的计算机科学家于尔根·施密德胡伯担任生成式人工智能卓越中心副主任。
• Carlos Duarte, a marine ecologist listed among Clarivate's Highly Cited Researchers, works on Red Sea ecosystems and blue carbon.海洋生态学家卡洛斯·杜阿尔特入选科睿唯安高被引科学家名单，研究红海生态系统与蓝碳。
• Mohamed Eddaoudi, a chemist on the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list, is known for work on metal-organic frameworks and reticular chemistry.化学家穆罕默德·埃达乌迪入选 2025 年高被引科学家名单，以金属有机框架与网状化学研究著称。
• Mark Tester, chair of the sustainable food security centre, researches salt-tolerant crops and plant science for arid environments.可持续粮食安全中心主任马克·特斯特研究耐盐作物与适用于干旱环境的植物科学。
• Osman Bakr in materials science, Derya Baran in cross-field citations and Thomas Crowther in environment and ecology are among the other KAUST professors on Clarivate's 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list.在材料科学领域入选的奥斯曼·巴克尔、在跨领域引用入选的德丽娅·巴兰，以及在环境与生态领域入选的托马斯·克劳瑟，是科睿唯安 2025 年高被引名单上的其他 KAUST 教授。