KAUST Fellowship 2027: Labs on the Water, Funding That Follows Admission
The KAUST Fellowship is the default funding package for admitted M.S., M.S./Ph.D. and Ph.D. students at KAUST — no separate form, worth about $70,000–$80,000 a year. Fall 2027 applications are open until 3 January 2027.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
4 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The KAUST Fellowship is the default funding package for admitted M.S., M.S./Ph.D. and Ph.D. students at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, on the Red Sea. There is no separate fellowship form. Official amounts on Fees & Funding put the package at about $70,000–$80,000 a year, including tuition, stipend, base housing, health cover and relocation. It is also free to apply.
A graduate fellowship, not a separate contest
KAUST is a graduate research university on the Red Sea north of Jeddah. You apply for an M.S., an integrated M.S./Ph.D., or a Ph.D. in one of 17 STEM fields. If you are admitted — and you are not on a partnership or external-sponsor track — you receive the KAUST Fellowship automatically. Official FAQs say there is no separate fellowship application and no cost to apply.
That is the opposite of Rhodes, Gates Cambridge or Knight-Hennessy, where funding is a second contest after (or beside) university admission. Here the offer letter is the fellowship letter. Details of stipend, housing, insurance and relocation are spelled out after you are admitted.
This handbook is only about the KAUST Fellowship for admitted graduate students. The KAUST Global Fellowship is a separate postdoctoral programme (concept note plus full proposal, with a host PI) at kgfp.kaust.edu.sa. If you already hold a Ph.D. and want an independent postdoc, that is the other door. Do not send a Global Fellowship concept note when you mean M.S. or Ph.D. admission.
Campus snapshot on the official admissions homepage, correct as of September 2024: 1,741 students, 120+ nationalities, 46% international, 37% female. THE ranked KAUST the #1 Arab university for 2023–2025.
What the Fellowship actually pays
Funding →Figures below are taken from admissions.kaust.edu.sa/fees-funding and the official onboarding pages. Aggregator blogs often invent monthly SAR amounts; use these.
Up to $35,000 a year. Full coverage. KAUST prices the academic cost of study at up to this figure.
$20,000–$30,000 a year. M.S. is $20,000 a year. Ph.D. is $25,000–$30,000 depending on qualifications and progress. Onboarding lists $1,667 / $2,083 / $2,500 a month.
Base included. Shared for single students; 2-bed for married students. Upgrades cost extra. Pets are not allowed.
Covered on campus. Health insurance for you and eligible dependents living on campus. Relocation (visa, travel) for the first arrival and the return at graduation only.
The official FAQ puts average student spending at about $1,320 a month, which the stipend is designed to more than cover. Externally sponsored students may not receive the Fellowship.
The 2026–2027 calendar
Deadlines →Checked on 6 October 2026 against the official Admission Timeline (the official slug is admission-timelines, plural). KAUST marks these dates as tentative and subject to application volume.
| Round | Who | Opens / closes | Decision / start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | Ph.D. only | Closed 27 Sep 2026 | 8 Nov 2026 / 17 Jan 2027 |
| Fall 2027 | M.S., M.S./Ph.D., Ph.D. | Opened 28 Sep 2026 · closes 3 Jan 2027 | 14 Feb 2027 / 29 Aug 2027 |
You can submit only one application at a time, and only one academic programme per year. If you are unsuccessful, you may reapply the following year.
STEM graduate applicants, any nationality
Official minimums: a relevant bachelor’s for M.S.; a relevant master’s for Ph.D. (professional master’s degrees are not treated as equivalent — declare them); age 18 or older on entry; GPA at least 3.0/4.0. Typical admitted profiles sit higher: 90% above 3.3, 75% above 3.5. English is required unless you completed an in-person degree in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, or a prior degree on the Thuwal campus.
You do not need a faculty supervisor before you apply. M.S./Ph.D. and Ph.D. applicants may list faculty they want to work with. Admissions staff review first; strong files are forwarded to faculty, who may then contact you.
Where to go next
GPA, English, GRE optional, sponsorship exceptions.
Which tracks offer M.S./Ph.D. and which intakes are open.
Five official steps plus the five-stage review.
Harbour housing, Core Labs, Red Sea recreation.
Eligibility, documents, apply steps and onboarding in one tracker.
Start on the official site
This is an independent handbook. Programme lists, dates and money change. Use KAUST pages as the source of truth — the admissions homepage and How to Apply (KAUST) — then come back here for the process notes they leave implicit.