FW: Seeking a Biosafety Specialist for KAUST in Saudi Arabia
Kent I. clawson
Greetings all from the sunny west coast (of Saudi Arabia ;-),
Much of the rest of this post is updated boilerplate from the last position listed, but it is a good read regardless ;-)
For those who don’t know, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was established in 2009 with the goal to become a leader in the world of academic research. The joy of all of that high price gasoline that you have been buying (which costs
us 0.46/ gallon) has set this place up like no other. One source has the KAUST endowment ranked as the 3rd largest endowment in the world (http://www.nonprofitcollegesonline.com/wealthiest-universities-in-t...).
Now I know what is going through your mind, “what kind of a person would drag his family to the middle of Saudi Arabia?” Well the answer, initially, is a slightly adventurous one. As far as life in Saudi Arabia, the first thing that will cross many minds is the concern for personal safety, which I think is a concern from all expats (that's what they call people who are not from around here ;-), and as the father of 4, including 3 girls, I can say that it is does not need to be a concern. Since it kept coming up a while back I prepared a blog post about this topic http://www.clawsonchaos.com/2012/08/heck-yeah-its-safe.html and it is as true now as it was then. Their even building a new wall to go around the original wall (they did pass on the moat, but I think we are still in great shape)
Remember that KAUST is NOT the Saudi Arabia that makes the news (well except for our new smoking hot supercomputer :-). That stuff is all on the other side of the country, and just like in the states, a few bad examples spoil it for everyone else. Classes are Co-Ed, women drive on campus, wear whatever they want, and maintain key positions throughout campus.
When you go off campus, Jeddah is the major metro area to the south and is also much more relaxed than the parts of Saudi that make news. Women are asked to wear the abaya, but westerns are given wide latitude. My wife wears a long skirt, sleeved shirt, and no head scarf. My oldest daughter wears jeans and T-shirts when we go to the orthodontist. We have never had any trouble and according to my Saudi colleagues, it is not the concern that it is in Riyadh.
For us it was the chance for my family to see the world and meet people from other cultures. Because of this experience one daughter has decided she wants to become a diplomat, another currently wants to be an international school teacher, the 3rd wants to be an architect (but stay in the US ;-), and my son just wants to be 9 and vacillates between being a billionaire or president of the US :-) For school, this year the future diplomat attended Yale Model Government Europe in Budapest and last year participated in a Model United Nations (MUN) function in in Geneva, Switzerland.
Some challenges that do come, are weird conversations you have to have with your kids. I think the worst was when my daughter was complaining about having PE cut into her break time because the they had to go to beach and learn to SAIL. (I told her that she might want to be careful who she shares that line of reasoning with, but because it might be difficult to find a sympathetic audience.)
Then there was the challenge that my 10th grader faced. For their last unit they get PADI Open Water Dive or Advanced certification. Since she is already advanced she has to take some of the other specialties (she chose Deep Diving >100' but <130'). The oldest 2 and I have completed our PADI Dive Certification and have been on a number of dives where we have been to a couple of different shipwrecks, saw a shark, and an octopus (not at the same time) and a whole bunch more.
Part of our wellness competition.
The benefits are very generous including money for a trip back home (or wherever you want to go) each year, retirement benefit is matched up to 10% of your salary with immediate vesting plus another 10% (no matching required) that has a 3 service year (any year with 1000 hours) vesting (so 20% of your salary plus your 10%, not too shabby) and no income tax. Additionally the location lends itself to travel to a number of places on this side of the world. KAUST has one of the two movie theaters in the country and we generally get the major movies a couple weeks after they are released which costs 5 SAR (about $1.33 USD :-) There is often an option available for your spouse to work if they are interested, though they may not be directly related to previous experience. My wife is the school librarian at about $16/ hour (tax free :-) which works out perfect for us.
Feel free to take a look at some of our pictures that we have taken during our 3 year stay. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzqvvP0TXYY3cnctc3VVWFIxcnM...
So all this to say, come on over and have an experience you will never forget.
The "official" information can be found at http://www.kaust.edu.sa/live-work-amenities-careers.html.
As usual don’t hesitate to contact me (kent.c...@kaust.edu.sa) if you have questions. I bet you could even get Jerry Gordon (jp...@cornell.edu) to give a glowing recommendation. Additionally my wife and kids are always willing to talk to anyone who is considering the move, if your spouse or kids have questions (which is VERY common). This isn’t a move to make lightly, but it is definitely a move to make.
Best wishes,
Kent
The view from our office
Kent I Clawson, MS, CHMM
Research Safety Team, Supervisor
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Health, Safety & Environment
Al Jazri (Bldg 4), Area 1, Level 0, Rm 0250-WS09
KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Office: +966 012-808-2105
“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.” –Charles de Gaulle
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