The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is capable of attracting the world's brightest student, Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Al Naimi has told enrolees.

His comments came as the university accepted its first campus-based students as the new state of the art facilities are opened after years of providing virtual courses.

"KAUST is a catalyst for transforming Saudi Arabia into a knowledge society and to establish the intellectual foundation that will generate new technological innovations and groundbreaking scientific discoveries," Mr Al Naimi claimed.

The university, which is linked to state oil and gas firm Aramco, attracts a strong international contingent, with more than 60 nations represented by the 330 students who have joined the institution.

Aramco's links with the university build upon the ties that its new president and chief executive officer Khalid A Al-Falih has developed with major academic and vocational institutions in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to being a founder member of the board of trustees at KAUST, he is also a patron of both the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and King Saud University.

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