King's builds links with leading university in Saudi Arabia

20 May 2015 | Network Updates
King’s College London has signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with King Saud University (KSU), a leading university in Saudi Arabia, and the first such collaboration for King’s in the country.

Under the agreement, students from KSU will have the opportunity to travel to King’s to undertake postgraduate study, and King’s will support the development of these students as teaching assistants and graduate teaching assistants.

The signing of the MOI at King’s marks an important new collaboration in Saudi Arabia and builds academic ties in the region, which Charlie Walker, Director of the British Council in Saudi Arabia highlights as a key focus.

‘This agreement paves the way for more scholars from Saudi Arabia to complete their studies at King’s. It creates potential for future academic collaboration between the two institutions,’ he said.

KSU was founded in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz as Riyadh University, the first university in the Kingdom not dedicated to religious subjects. The university now has 4,000 faculty members with PhDs and an assistance training programme. These students will be sponsored for the duration of their programme at King’s by KSU, and areas of research interest and teaching focus include nano-technology, medicine, nursing and science.

Dr Mezyad Al Terkawi, Director of International Cooperation at King Saud University said: ‘We offer our sincere thanks to King's College London for this opportunity and we look forward to mutually benefiting from each other's strengths as an institution.’

As a global, research-led university, King’s is responding to the opportunities that international collaboration presents for ground-breaking, global research. King’s is working with top universities in all parts of the world, including KSU, to open up opportunities for academics to work on new areas of research they may not otherwise have access to.

Dr Joanna Newman, Vice Principal (International) at King’s College London, signed the agreement with Dr Ahmad Mohammed Salem AL-Aamri, Vice Rector for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at KSU. Dr Newman said: ‘I am very pleased to sign this Memorandum of Intent today with King Saud university, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading universities. We look forward to this agreement forming a strong foundation for increasing academic exchanges between our two institutions.’


For further information please contact Hannah Bransden, International Press Officer, [email protected] / 0207 848 3840 

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