SAUDIS PAY MIT $50 MILLION TO CONDUCT JOINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000271

SIPDIS

DHAHRAN SENDS,
PASS TO NEA/ARP JOSHUA HARRIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2019
TAGS: CVIS ECON ENRG KPAO PGOV SA TPHY
SUBJECT: SAUDIS PAY MIT $50 MILLION TO CONDUCT JOINT
RESEARCH

Classified By: CG Joseph Kenny for reasons 1.4(b),(d)


1. (SBU) Key Points:
--------------

-- The premier Saudi university, KFUPM, will provide MIT with
U.S. $50 million over seven years to conduct joint research
on clean water and clean energy.

-- This is the largest ever Saudi-funded research
collaboration with a foreign academic institution.

-- Between 20 and 50 KFUPM faculty and graduate students will
visit MIT each year and MIT faculty will regularly visit
KFUPM.

-- MIT faculty visiting the Kingdom for kickoff meetings last
month received one entry, short-term visas.


2. (C) Comment:
--------------

-- King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM)
views this pricey partnership with the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) as a step towards rebuilding
its once prestigious reputation. Not only will their faculty
be able to conduct joint research with MIT's best and
brightest, but KFUPM will also be able to put their name
alongside MIT's on any resulting technological innovations
and patents.

-- Although KFUPM has requested Consulate General Dhahran's
support in attaining five year, multiple entry visas for
their faculty; their American counterparts at MIT have been
unsuccessful in securing full validity Saudi visas. Post
continues to hear about similar cases where the SAG fails to
implement the nearly one-year old visa reciprocity agreement.


End key points and comment.


3. (SBU) $50 MILLION RESEARCH COLLABORATION. On January 12,
PolOff, PAO, and Education Advisor met with representatives
from MIT and KFUPM to discuss the research collaboration.
KFUPM, widely recognized as the best undergraduate university
in Saudi Arabia, will provide the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) with U.S. $50 million to conduct joint
research on clean water and clean energy technology over the
next seven year period. A representative from KFUPM noted
that this was the largest ever Saudi funding allocated for
cooperation with a foreign academic institution. The joint
research will be conducted primarily at MIT facilities in the
U.S., though MIT faculty will also regularly visit KFUPM.


4. (C) TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING. The KFUPM administration
approached MIT two years ago about conducting joint research
on clean water and clean energy. (Note. Several KFUPM
faculty, administrators, and alumni have privately discussed
its much diminished reputation as a leading engineering
program. They believe that KFUPM sees their unilateral $50
million payment to MIT to conduct joint research as an
investment in rebuilding their institution,s reputation and
prestige and enhancing their faculty (primarily for
recruitment purposes) End note).


5. (C) FACULTY EXCHANGES AND OTHER VISA ISSUES. MIT faculty
overseeing this collaboration foresee roughly 20 to 50 KFUPM
faculty and graduate students visiting Massachusetts each
year to conduct joint research. MIT expects that roughly 30
of its faculty and graduate students will regularly visit
Saudi Arabia during the seven year collaboration period
outlined in the agreement. MIT and KFUPM have asked
Consulate General Dhahran for its help in facilitating the
issuance of five year, multiple entry visas for KFUPM's Saudi
and non-Saudi faculty and students participating in this
research project. However, all of the American MIT faculty
have received one entry, short-term visas and continue to be
unsuccessful in obtaining five year, multiple entry Saudi
visas (the duration of visas that the U.S. provides Saudi
applicants for identical purpose of travel).
RUNDELL