Location
  • Saudi Arabia

Program Details

Compensation
Paid
Timeframe
Year Round
Housing
Apartment Hotel
Weekly Hours
40
Qualifications
  • Pursuing or completed Bachelors degree
  • Pursuing or completed Masters degree

Pricing

Price Details
This is a fully-funded program. Students admitted into the program receive:
· 1,000 USD monthly stipend
· Free health insurance
· Travel costs (including return flights)
· Private bedroom & bathroom
· Access to KAUST’s Core Laboratories and major research facilities
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Airfare Visa
Sep 06, 2023
Sep 22, 2024
11 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Are you looking to add research skills to your educational experience? It is increasingly becoming apparent that practical research experience is invaluable in both academics and industry, adds value to your resume and lead to better and higher-paying opportunities in the next step of your career.

The KAUST Visiting Students Research Program (VSRP) is a unique, fully-funded internship program that offers students the opportunity to conduct innovative research in STEM disciplines. We have over 100 other projects in STEM fields - find the one which aligns with your program and apply.
Through the program you will be immersed in the day-to-day working of a real-world project within the research lab/group under the guidance of KAUST faculty mentors and their staff for the duration of their internship.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Get research experience under mentorship of KAUST faculty
  • Access to all lab and training facilities
  • Free social and cultural events
  • Free tuition, housing, travel and medical insurance
  • Monthly stipend USD 1000

Related Programs

Program Reviews

4.90 Rating
based on 21 reviews
  • 5 rating 90.48%
  • 4 rating 9.52%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Growth 4.85
  • Support 4.85
  • Fun 4.2
  • Housing 4.65
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 8 of 21 reviews
Default avatar
Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best place for practical knowdledge

KAUST offers incredible laboratory base, with equipment like almost nowhere else around the world. Best part of all is that as a student you can operate and work with all of the machines after passing the required trainings. This gives you one in a kind practical experience and possibility to better yourself tremendously.

Apart from work, the campus life is incredibly beautiful with great accommodation, places for leisure and all kinds of sport.

The hospitality of the people here is incredible and you get to meet best of the best scientists from all around the world.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Do not hesitate just come!
Pros
  • The people
  • The labs
  • The culture
Cons
  • none
12 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jose Angel
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A life changing experience.

When I arrived to KAUST, I didn't know what to expect. Now I am surprised because my experience here was much better than anything I could imagine. KAUST is the perfect place to study, learn a lot and make friends or colleagues, here I discover the best part of myself willing to do research in a very preparate team. The opportunity to be an collaborate in a place like this is unique in all the world. I would recommend this experience to anyone willing to pursue a path in research or Academia, this was my life changing experience.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
I would tried to apply for more time on KAUST!
Pros
  • Perfect environment for study
  • Lots of different nationalities represented
  • Good friends, food and experiences
Cons
  • Difficult to make friends the first days
  • Language hard to learn
  • Can be a little lonely
18 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Andrea
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The best internship I have attended

The Visiting Student Research Program is like no other internship I have attended before, I got the experience to work in a fascinating project of my interest while developing in an international environment. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology(KAUST) is a great university that facilitates the stay to many international students so they can only focus in their research and not worry about anything else. This program has allowed me to adquire new skills that will help me develop as a scientist in the near future.

30 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Angelly Nathalia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

KAUST experience

To be honest this was one of the best experiences of my life so far, I met amazing people from different backgrounds, is a very well educated environment and you can learn so much from everyone and every interaction. In my personal experience, I had some issues with my Principal investigator, she didnt have a plan for me and wouldn't communicate either so it was difficult. But I had a direct supervisor who did everything in his power to help me learn as much as I could while I was there. KAUST provides the best environment for learning, and experiencing new things, is the safest place I've ever been and facilitates everything for personal and academic growth like laboratories and state of the art facilities to different courses and spaces to learn like language courses, art spaces and sport centers. I highly recommend this experience, I would encourage people to go, my only advice is to carefully look for a project you're interested in and try to contact someone from the laboratory before going so you have more information before arriving.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
This was my first time leaving my country which came with many new challenges that I thought would be easy beforehand, so when I first arrived I felt really alone, lost, didn't know hoe things worked, and got really overwhelmed by the change and the new things. If this is your case, I would tell you to be patient with you and take your time to adapt, things will get better, you will make friends and understand how the new things work, take your time and enjoy the process. Meanwhile try to stay connected to people from your friends and family, be open to invitations and explore, KAUST is a very safe place so you can walk around and explore and nothing will happen to you.
Pros
  • People
  • New cultures
  • Safety
Cons
  • It depends on your lab
  • the amex card given to VSRP has a lot of limitations, and often fails or is not accepted even at campus
41 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Vsevolod
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

STEM Research Internship Program (VSRP) provided by KAUST

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is a unique place! I had an internship there and it was awesome! There were a lot of people from over the world and I became friends with many of them. It was a great opportunity to learn culture of other countries.

I also had a great time doing my research project. My research advisor was excellent and I have gained a lot of experience during the internship. My colleagues were friendly and ready to help.

Every computer science project requires a lot of computing resources. KAUST has an impressive number of these resources so it was not a problem for me to do my project.

47 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Fotios
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

VSRP: An integral step to acclimation to KAUST

The VSR program was nothing short of essential for getting used to the workflow and way of life in KAUST. There is nothing peculiar about either, but it can be jarring for someone travelling for the first time, for example me. It was an absolutely fantastic experience in which I got to know the laboratory I am currently working in, grow immensely as academic, and get ready for the postgraduate life in KAUST. My sincere thanks to everyone involved in this program for organising it. Definitely recommend!

45 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Ulises
5/5
No, I don't recommend this program

Great opportunity to have new experiences

KAUST is a safe and great place to learn and have an international experience. You will work under the supervision of a experienced Professor inside a research group, with people from MSc. to Post-doc level. The university has great resources for you to carry on your research.

As a VSRP, you will have more flexibility to take free days to do activities you enjoy or travel. You will be assigned to a private room with bathroom. The apartment has kitchen as well.

You will easily make friends. Try!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Try to get the SIM card as soon as possible, so you can move around the campus with the Rekab (free buses) app (download it in Playstore). I also recommend to download the KAUST Campus App, which will facilitate ordering food.

Bring at least 500$ with you to accommodate yourself the first month, given that you receive your payment past 3-4 weeks since you arrive to KAUST.

Don't need to bring hair dryer or iron, it is provided.
Pros
  • Great support from highly qualified professionals
  • Abundance of resources to your disposal
  • VSRP Office will take care of you given any situation
Cons
  • Not a place to party-hard
  • Campus is more than 1 hour far from the nearest city (Jedda)
  • Cultural shock can be difficult the first month
42 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Nejc
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Review of VSRP

It was overall a very valuable experience. I had the opportunity to work on cutting edge mixed reality and computer graphics technologies. I also had the pleqsure of meeting a lot of culutraly and personally interesting people, as well as many professionals working in the field. The social events were unfortunately quite sparse and at least the current housing situation for visitng students is very poor, because KAUST inn offere no shared kitchen and laundry room. Aside from that the visiting student onboarding office was very heplful.

42 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers