Faculty Positions Open at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) in Water Desalination and Reuse

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) invites applications for faculty positions in the area of Water Desalination and Reuse. We seek outstanding scientists/engineers to fill several faculty positions across all ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor) at the new KAUST campus in Saudi Arabia.

KAUST (www.kaust.edu.sa) will open in September 2009 as an international, graduate-level research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of scientific achievement in the Kingdom, the region, and the world. KAUST is a graduate-level research university supported by a multi-billion dollar endowment, and its core campus is located on the Red Sea at Thuwal – approximately 80 kilometers north of Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, Jeddah. The campus includes a seaside town with housing, shops, schools, and numerous recreational amenities.

KAUST will establish a number of multi-disciplinary Research Centers including one focused on Water Desalination and Reuse. In addition to their research appointment, faculty within this Center will also hold an academic appointment in one of several Divisions including Earth and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Physical and Chemical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences and Engineering.

In addition to Center research facilities and equipment, KAUST will also provide Core laboratories and facilities to support all Research Centers and the University as a whole. A Research Park and Innovation Center complex, located adjacent to KAUST, will link the University’s research activities with private-sector research and economic development. Through a Global Research Partnership, KAUST’s world-class research funding programme will enable researchers from around the globe to work together to solve challenging scientific and technological problems.

Center faculty members are now being recruited at all levels (full, associate, and assistant professor). The Center is organized into two research groups, water desalination and wastewater reclamation/reuse. Center research will promote an integrated perspective of exploiting impaired quality sources (seawater, brackish water, wastewater effluent), with a focus on membranes, advanced processes, natural systems, and process hybrids, coupling treatment with energy requirements. Expertise areas/disciplines include Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aquatic Chemistry, and Applied Microbiology, encompassing modelling, analytical chemistry and microbiology, risk assessment, and life cycle analysis.

The unrivaled resources available to KAUST faculty; including security of research funding, state-of-the-art laboratories, assured support for graduate students, postdocs, and technicians, generous travel allowances, and world–class salaries and benefits; offer the opportunity to focus on building leading research programmes without the uncertainties and overheads experienced elsewhere.

To apply for a faculty position, please send a single pdf or word file containing a cover letter, curriculum vitae, brief statements of research and teaching experience and interests, and contact information for at least four references to ense@kaust.edu.sa. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the principal KAUST partner coordinating faculty recruiting in environmental engineering and water desalination/reuse.

Review of applications will begin immediately, and will continue until all positions are filled.