Emergent Science City: KAUST, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

• Population: 3,855,912
• GDP Per Capita (PPP): $23,200
• Type of Government: Monarchy

Gender segregation is the law in Saudi Arabia, where women who aspire to higher education must be taught by closed-circuit television, sequestered from their male professors. But this will change for some with the 2009 opening of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST). The university, being built on the coast 80 kilometers north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's second largest city, will meet a growing demand: As Saudi women have gravitated toward scientific and technical disciplines in recent years, companies have increased their hiring of female researchers. In a city already known as the liberal bastion of Saudi Arabia, the university will also bring a thoroughly Western touch, with the mixed-gender science courses all taught in English.

How Kaust's Endowment Stacks Up

King Abdullah bankrolled KAUST with a $10 billion gift, instantly making it the sixth-richest university in the world. It took Harvard, which has the world's largest endowment at more than $35 billion, 350-plus years to accumulate $10 billion.

Higher education is not the only area of scientific growth. This summer, high school girls participated in a month-long workshop on green technology and sustainable design. At the end of the "Natural Treasures" program, the girls—whose proposals included a natural mosquito repellant extracted from the Neem tree and a method for purifying and reusing Jeddah's sewer water—were taught how to register their inventions for patents. Also this year, Jeddah announced plans to build a new nanotechnology center, financed with $3.2 million from King Abdullah. As Saudi Arabia transitions from a petroleum-based country to one based on research and innovation, the scientific culture now taking root in Jeddah will be one to emulate. —Abbie Morgan

Emergent Science City: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Posted November 20, 2008
Originally appeared in Seed 19

From Seed Magazine: http://seedmagazine.com/stateofscience/sos_emergent_city_jeddah.html