KAUST has been recognized as one of the top producers of research in the natural sciences, and the most prolific in Saudi Arabia by far.

The KAUST News main channel has quoted university president​ Tony Chan on the new development: "It is fitting that as KAUST celebrates ten years of scientific discovery we are ranked by Nature to be amongst the top institutions in the world for the quality of our research. This is proof that with the right people, facilities, networks and opportunities even a young university can be considered world-class."

The Nature Index evaluates institutions from around the world by their output of quality research. The top of the list features the usual contenders: IST in Austria, MIT and Stanford in the United States; quite a few universities in China made the top 100. The data, which comes from the period of January to December 2018, can be found here. A few top universities may surprise you.