KAUST is an international graduate-level science and technology research university located on the shores of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. Home to world-class faculty, scientists, engineers and students from around the globe that perform goal-oriented research, focused on finding solutions to problems in areas related to water, food, energy and the environment. Students have the opportunity to access to state-of-the-art labs and our eminent faculty, while obtaining a diverse graduate study experience.
The goal of the Plant Science Program is to develop a thorough understanding of plant growth and function under challenging environmental conditions, such as those found in Saudi Arabia. The fundamental biology of plants is studied at a range of levels (e.g. genomic, proteomic, metabolomics), and the interactions of plants with their environment, both abiotic (heat, salt, and drought) and biotic (pathogens and symbionts) are investigated. Application of this knowledge will allow development of plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stresses and help to establish sustainable agriculture systems in arid regions of the world.
The Bioscience Program provides an introduction to living systems with courses in cell and molecular biology and biophysics. The program is comprised of two tracks of self-contained courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course provides an in-depth review of the subject and examples of current research in the field.
The Environmental Science and Engineering Program (EnSE) prepares students to work on many of the world’s most pressing challenges. There is a worldwide concern with the availability of clean water; EnSE examines methods to purify and reuse water, as well as to reduce contamination of existing reserves. The focus of the program is on examining the impact of humans on our environment through resource exploitation; including over-consumption, land degradation, and pollution of water. The results of these efforts may offer solutions to water scarcity, soil contamination.
The goal of the Marine Science Program is to develop an integrated understanding of the Red Sea’s ecosystem as well as marine ecosystems in general, including fundamental biology at the molecular and genomic levels, symbiosis with algae and prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea), associated communities of fish and corals and the physical and chemical environment that impacts and shapes them. This understanding could have an impact on global carbon cycling, endangered species and how we manage the harvesting of resources from the Oceans.
A bioengineer develops and applies engineering principles to life sciences. The field focuses on the development and application of engineering concepts, principles, and methods to biological systems. We aim to model, monitor, and treat disorders and disabilities that affect living organisms, to develop algorithms which aid understanding biological systems and to engineer living systems in order to enhance their performance. The technologies that are generated in this area might include synthetic tissues or organs, sensors that are wired to human body and prosthetics that mimic the natural function of a limb, smart algorithms and end-to-end data analytical engines, bioreactors that improve the quality of treated wastewater and bacteria engineered to produce resources. Bioengineering