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Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

By Laurel Jorgensen,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 5, 2008 2:45 AM CST
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(Newser) – Berkeley and Stanford University will help choose faculty and develop curricula for a new university in Saudi Arabia, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The graduate-level King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, funded by a $10 billion gift from the king, will focus on fields like petrochemicals and nano-technology when it opens in September 2009. University of California administrators said they agreed to the deal only with assurances that women would be treated equally.

Stanford will be paid $25 million and Berkeley $28 million for their help. Although the new university will have an unparalleled level of independence, faculty and students will be subject to Saudi rules. Women must cover themselves in public and most public entertainment will be banned.  A Stanford engineering professor calls the project “extremely challenging” but said it has a "unique chance to succeed" because of support from the king and "outstanding, high-level Saudis."

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud gives a speech in this undated file photo. The king gave $10 billion to establish the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud gives a speech in this undated file photo. The king gave $10 billion to establish the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.   (Getty Images)
An unidentified Saudi doctor is seen in this Oct. 23, 2007, file photo taken in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hospital. Female students and faculty at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology will follow the country's social restrictions and cover themselves in public. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)
An unidentified Saudi doctor is seen in this Oct. 23, 2007, file photo taken in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hospital. Female students and faculty at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology will follow...   (Associated Press)
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud breaks ground on King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at a ceremony by the Red Sea in this file photo. (PRNewsFoto/King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Adnan Shubbar)
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud breaks ground on King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at a ceremony by the Red Sea in this file photo. (PRNewsFoto/King Abdullah University of...   (Associated Press)
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Related links

Background from Berkeley's student newspaper
Daily Californian

KAUST web site
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

World • US

 
Saudi Arabia • King Abdullah • higher education • Stanford University • UC Berkeley • nanotechnology • mathematics

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