On September 23, 2009, KAUST, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology opened, establishing the first mixed gender university campus in Saudi Arabia. In the decade since, the graduate research university has proven itself to be a world-class institution, made up of over 1100 students and 155 faculty members from over 100 nations worldwide. Resting on a $20 billion endowment, all students receive a fellowship that covers full tuition, a monthly living allowance, and financial support for relocation and travel. Founded by the late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the private graduate institution strives to ‘serve as a beacon of knowledge that bridges people and cultures for the betterment of humanity’. This commitment to collaboration and innovation is reflected in the structural organisation of the university that replaces traditional departments and faculties with divisions, facilitating and encouraging cutting edge technological research in the areas of energy, the environment and water and food security. Made up of eleven research centres with nine core laboratories, the campus also houses the Shaheen supercomputer ranked among the top ten in the world and the fastest supercomputer in Asia.

Importantly, this prestigious university is also a fundamental part of the Saudi Vision 2030 project, a development plan to reduce the Kingdom’s dependency on oil, and develop the public service sector. The commitment to these changes is reflected in the 3600-hectare campus, located 100km north of the Kingdom’s commercial capital Jeddah. KAUST’s commitment to renewable energy infrastructure has seen it earn a platinum rating by the U.S Green Building Council, and reflects the institution’s commitment to environmental sustainability. When it opened, the campus was home to one of only two cinemas in the entire country, and it has since grown to include a golf course, schools for the children of staff and an offshore marine sanctuary. The campus also appears to embrace a more liberal approach to clothing and social relations, accelerating the changing laws and social customs that have been sweeping across the kingdom.

While the university’s success is unparalleled, and its research and facilities world leading, it’s immense wealth have been both a blessing and a curse. The institution has been accused of poaching the best and brightest academics and students from around the world through their generous financial packages and research facilities; its graduate focus allows it to channel all its resources into its innovative research without spending on undergraduate teaching. There have also been criticisms of KAUST’s links with corporations, such as its industrial collaboration with Lockheed Martin, the aerospace defense and security company, whose aircraft and weapons have been used to power the Saudi Arabian Army; the Kingdom’s involvement in Yemen has seen more than 24 million people displaced and according to UN estimates some 70,000 are believed to have died. Criticism has also come from within the Kingdom; most notably from Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In a 2014 interview with the Times Higher Education, the businesswoman called the university a place for the ‘elite of the elite of the elite of the elite, not even of Saudi Arabia.’ She also called on the government to embrace mass higher education rather than the bringing in of western scholars to educate a privileged elite. Despite the university’s attempts to increase the Saudi presence, the majority of academic staff at KAUST remains European and North American and the highly selective private institution appears to do little to address the economic and social inequality seen across the Kingdom.

Furthermore, criticism of the Saudi government’s tight political grip and its influence on KAUST have also been raised. Political scholar Ziauddin Sardar questioned the university’s integrity by claiming the ‘police state will buy the best scientific equipment but cannot provide the atmosphere of criticism and openness that scientific research needs to flourish.’ This sentiment was echoed by Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, three months before his alleged murder at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. In an interview with the Economist, he called out the Kingdom’s silencing of dissenting opinions, that are necessary to encourage truly innovative and sustainable transformations. Some may argue that until all opinions are welcome and encouraged, collaboration and innovation will be held back or influenced by political ideology.

While KAUST is undoubtedly a world-class institution and is facilitating groundbreaking and much needed research, it also serves as a lesson to us all that education is worth more than money alone. While the $20 billion endowment will continue to provide opportunities for the worlds gifted, it must do more to break down the barriers of economic constraint, and realize the potential that exists outside the educated and privileged elite. As an integral part of Vision 2030, The Crown Prince and the Kingdom must continue their path towards innovation and collaboration, remembering that it is education, and not money, that must be the beacon for peace, hope and reconciliation.

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BA European Politics, King's College London

I came on the Gateway Programme to experience and witness life in Saudi Arabia, without being influenced or misguided by the preconceptions and biases that western media and education can often exhibit. Having studied the international relations and political economy of the Middle East, this programme was an opportunity to witness the social and economic transformations that the Kingdom have been undergoing.