<p>When I looked at the Kaust website, it became apparent that this place will probably be quite isolated from the rest of Saudi society. While the free tuition, housing, etc. might be an incentive to many students and professors, once you begin to realize that this is the ultimate bubble, where everything is bought and paid for and imported from the outside world. One wonders whether this planned scientific “utopia” will come to function as a disincentive for good research.</p>
<p>The other thought that occurred to me that the free tuition, etc. may prove attractive to students from South Asia, thus serving as a vehicle for Saudi “soft influence” in India. I’m not alone in my opinion that the Saudis certainly have attempted to use their money to influence American universities (albeit in a nonscience field, such as Middle Eastern studies).</p>