KAUST Fellowship

The KAUST Fellowship comes with admission: there is no separate application. It covers tuition and bench fees in full, worth up to 35,000 US dollars a year, and pays PhD students a stipend of 25,000 to 30,000 US dollars a year, depending on their qualifications and academic progress. Master's students receive 20,000 US dollars a year.

The Fellowship also provides base accommodation on campus, health insurance for students and eligible dependants living on campus, and the costs of visas, relocation and travel when a student first arrives and returns home after graduating. KAUST puts the total value at 70,000 to 80,000 US dollars a year.

Students who hold external sponsorship or funding may not be eligible, and KAUST's FAQ says an outside scholarship covering substantial costs can mean losing the Fellowship. English test fees are not covered.

Direct entry to the PhD needs a master's degree in a subject relevant to the programme, from a recognised institution. Applicants with only a bachelor's degree can apply to the combined MS/PhD, which takes both degrees in a single track through one application; several programmes offer it.

The minimum GPA is 3.0 on a four-point scale, but KAUST says 90 per cent of admitted applicants are above 3.3 and 75 per cent above 3.5. English is required unless the degree was studied in person in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand: IELTS 7 overall with 6.5 in each section, TOEFL iBT 5 overall with 4.5 in each section, PTE Academic 71 with 67 in each, or Cambridge C1 or C2 at 185 with 176 in each. The Duolingo test is not accepted and no waivers are given. The GRE is optional.

The PhD is offered in 16 subjects: applied mathematics and computational science, applied physics, chemical engineering, chemistry, earth science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, energy resources and petroleum engineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, bioengineering, bioscience, environmental science and engineering, marine science, plant science, computer science and statistics.

Residency is three and a half years for students entering with a bachelor's degree and two and a half years with a master's, within a normal maximum of five years. Students take at least two 300-level courses, pass a qualifying examination, defend a dissertation proposal and finally defend the dissertation before a committee of four, at least three from KAUST and one external examiner. Every PhD student must also complete at least one Winter Enrichment Program.

All admitted students are guaranteed university housing on campus, mostly in the Harbour area near the shops of Discovery Square. Single students have their own room in shared accommodation. Married students may bring their families; the accommodation page notes that a one- or two-bedroom family apartment carries a fee that the Fellowship does not cover, so check the terms for your situation.

The campus has three sports centres, two beaches, pools, a dive centre, a cinema and student clubs, with dining, shops, a pharmacy and health services close to the housing.