the

KFUPM

experience

Mirza Hamedulla Baig

M.Sc. (Systems Engineering)
2010 - 2012

Disclaimer
The views & opinions expressed in the
document are based only on my
experiences as a student at KFUPM.

This document is solely intended to

provide a brief overview of a students

KFUPM experience.

CONTENTS

About KFUPM

History of KFUPM
Courses oered
Academics & Research

Admission Procedures
Requirements
Application Procedures
Types of visas

Student Life

On campus housing
Graduate coursework
Thesis

Job Opportunities for

Graduates

Prospects for KFUPM graduates

Job availability

About

KFUPM

History of KFUPM
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
(KFUPM) was officially established by Royal Decree on
23 September, 1963.
The first students were admitted a year later, on 23
September, 1964, when 67 young men enrolled in what
was then named the College of Petroleum and Minerals
(CPM).
Since that time, the University
enrollment has grown to a level
that is expected to exceed
10,000 by the 2012-2013
academic year.

However many in India are not

well aware of the academic
standing and research carried
out at KFUPM. As you read
through we hope you would
get a clearer picture about this
university.

Courses Offered
DISCIPLINES
Architectural Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
City & Regional Planning
Civil Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Science & Engineering
Computer Networks
Construction Engineering &
Management
Electrical Engineering
Geophysics
Geology
Information and Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Systems Engineering
Telecommunication Engineering

DEGREE
M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
M.C.R.P.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
M.Sc.
Ph.D.
M.Sc.
M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
M.Sc.
M.Sc.
M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
Ph.D. & M.Sc.
M.Sc.

Academics
The credit hour system
A Graduate Student has to complete 8 courses
and his thesis (6 credit hours) as a mandatory
requirement for his M.Sc. Degree.
Each course counts for 3 credit hours, so the
entire M.Sc. course requires completion of
8 x 3 + 6 = 30 credit hours.
Every semester, a full-time graduate student is
required to register at least 9 credit hours (3
courses). Exception is granted if he is left with
only 2 courses remaining for the completion of
his degree requirements.
The maximum full-time load for a graduate
student is 12 graduate credit hours (4 courses)
per semester, not counting credit for the
masters thesis1.

1.

I highly recommend sticking to a maximum of 3 courses per semester as the

work load for 4 courses can be overburdening.

The grading system

The basic unit of measure of academic quality,
or achievement, in instruction is the Grade-Point
System.

The term Grade Point Average (GPA) is used to

quantify the performance of a student. All
Graduate students are expected to maintain a
minimum cumulative GPA of 3 per semester. If
you fail to do so, you will receive a strict
academic warning or you may also have to face
dismissal.
Letter Grade
A+
A
B+
B
C+
C
D+
D
F
IC

Points
4.0
3.75
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0
-

Grades in English
Exceptional
Excellent
Superior
Very good
Above average
Good
High Pass
Pass
Fail
Incomplete

Research
The entire curriculum at KFUPM is research
oriented. So the graduate students should have
the flexibility to learn new stuff (Subjects &
Software tools). They should also have the
persistence to solve problems and good
interpersonal skills so as to work well with the
faculty.

MS thesis

The
in particular is fully research
oriented. The key points to bear in mind are:
1. Selection of thesis advisor - Before you
select a thesis advisor make sure youve
done a good survey about the faculty in the
department, and then select carefully.
2. Independent Research/ Project Work There are several research projects
undertaken by the university. You can either
choose to work for these projects as a part of
your thesis or choose an independent topic
to base your thesis research on. If you
choose to work on a project, you get paid
every month but in return the work is slightly
more demanding and strictly time bound
(owing to the project deadlines).

Admission
procedures

Admission Requirements
1. A four-year Bachelors (B.S.) Degree in engineering or
science from a recognized institution.
2. A Grade-Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 or higher on a scale
of 4.00 or equivalent, and a GPA of 3.00 in the subject of
the major field. (Official transcripts and degree
certificates are required for final admission.)
3. Completion of TOEFL with a minimum score of 68 (IBT).
The TOEFL score must be sent directly to the Deanship of
Graduate Studies (KFUPM code is 0868). IELTS is also
acceptable (min 6.0).
4. Acceptable General Graduate Record Examination (GRE),
which should also be reported directly. (Minimum
required GRE score is Quantitative: 700, Analytical: 4.0
and Verbal:300)
5. At least three letters of recommendation from the
faculty who taught the applicant university-level courses.
[to be submitted through the online recommendation
system]
6. A Statement of purpose - One page essay outlining your
previous research and/or practical experience. You
should also indicate your academic and research
interests during your graduate program at KFUPM
7. Satisfactorily meeting any additional departmental or
university admission requirements.

Points to be noted
1. Your application will be evaluated only upon completion
of all the above mentioned requirements.
2. The evaluation will be put on hold even if one of the
above mentioned requirements (Transcripts, GRE score,
TOEFL score etc.) remain unfulfilled. In short, start your
online application procedure only once youve
completed your bachelors degree and written the GRE
& TOEFL.
3. The application procedure takes a long time (several
months) to complete considering the large number of
applications received each year. Therefore, patience is
very necessary.
4. If the status of your application shows Application
Approved, it doesnt mean you are necessarily ready to
travel. The longest delay occurs in the issuance of the
visa.
5. The visas for Research Assistants (RAs) are very limited,
therefore it can even take 1 - 3 years for you to get an
RAs visa1.
6. Student visas, however, are issued in relatively larger
numbers. So you can expect to get a visa sooner if you
apply as a full time student1.

1.

While considering which position to apply for (Full-time Student/ Research

Assistant) please make sure youve read all the pros & cons of applying for
each position.

ADMISSION PROCESS

APPLIED ONLINE

1 6 months

Once you complete your online

application, wait for it to be approved

APPLICATION APPROVED
Once your application is approved, wait
for your visa to be sent

Indefinite

VISA RECEIVED

1 2 months

Once the visa Is received, proceed for

certificate attestation & get the visa
stamped on your passport

VISA ENDORSED

1 2 weeks

Once the visa is endorsed, you are ready

to book an air ticket & fly

ARRIVED AT KFUPM

Online Application
1. To begin your online application you need to
create an application ID (online account) on the
graduate
studies
website
of
KFUPM
(www.kfupm.edu.sa/gs).
2. Fill in all the required fields, scan and upload all
the necessary documents:
Transcripts
Degree certificate
GRE & TOEFL score sheets1
Statement of Purpose
Passport copy
Any additional documents requested
3. The Letters of Recommendation however, have to
be sent directly to the Deanship of graduate
studies from the official e-mail ID of the
respective lecturers (Referees).
4. For a detailed overview of the online application
procedure, visit the graduate studies website of
KFUPM and check for the Prospective Students
tab.

1.

While writing your GRE & TOEFL exams, you can choose to send a copy of the
score sheets directly to KFUPM. The university code is 0868

Research Assistants
Benefits provided
1. Monthly stipend of SR 1725/2. No tuition fee.
3. Flight ticket to KFUPM while flying for the first time
and while flying back after completion of course.
4. 1 month paid leave annually.
5. Free student housing (1 room shared by 2 for M.Sc.
Students & 1 room for 1 Ph.D. student).
6. Subsidized meals at the student cafeteria (SR 4 per
meal for lunch & dinner / SR 2 per meal for
breakfast).
7. Free textbooks for all courses.
8. Free internet at anywhere in the campus (including
housing).
9. Free basic medical care.
10. Transferable job visa.

Duties
Besides your studies you will be required to do some
departmental duties. You maybe asked to help in
teaching, conducting exams, grading answer sheets,
administrative work etc.
This is very nominal work & in most cases you will not
be burdened too much.

Full-time students
Benefits provided
1. Monthly stipend of SR 890/2. No tuition fee.
3. Flight ticket to KFUPM while flying for the first time
and while flying back after completion of course.
4. 3 months of paid leave annually + return flight
ticket.
5. Free student housing (1 room shared by 2 for M.Sc.
Students & 1 room for 1 Ph.D. student).
6. Subsidized meals at the student cafeteria (SR 4 per
meal for lunch & dinner / SR 2 per meal for
breakfast).
7. Free textbooks for all courses.
8. Free internet at anywhere in the campus (including
housing).
9. Free basic medical care.
10. Non transferable visa.

Duties
You do not essentially have any duties to be fulfilled.
However, if you wish to make some money, you can
opt for duties similar to that of RAs and get paid for the
additional work separately.

StudentLife

Student Housing
The students at KFUPM are housed in fully airconditioned buildings, strategically placed relevantly
close to the academic buildings, student cafeteria,
sports &recreation facilities.
The climate in Dhahran is very dynamic with
temperatures soaring to 50 degrees Celsius in summer
and falling to a mere 4 degrees Celsius in winters. This
makes it very necessary for the housing to have not only
good cooling but good heating facilities as well. Every
room has a telephone so you can call anywhere in the
campus without restrictions. Local calls to landlines are
also free.
Upon arrival at KFUPM, every new student is given a
new blanket, a new mattress, a new pillow and a set of
towels. With the housing being relatively comfortable,
most students end up with a bad habit of sleeping a lot
after coming to KFUPM. In fact, with all the classes for
graduate students scheduled in the evening, most
students wake up only at lunch time. Hardly 15-20% of
the students wake up for breakfast that is served
between 06:00 08:00 am.
Additionally, there are no restrictions whatsoever for
students going out of campus.

Food & Dining

The food served at the student cafeteria is typically
Arabic style. You have a usual buffet with chicken,
mutton, fish, rice, soups, roti, drinks, desserts and salads
served for lunch & dinner. Lunch & dinner costs you SR
4/- per meal. For breakfast however scrambled eggs,
milk, coffee, tea, French cake, chicken nuggets etc. are
served. Breakfast costs you SR 2/- per meal.
Sounds good when heard for the first time. Also tastes
good when eaten for a few days, but the real problem
arises when the same menu repeats every week & you
are served the same repetitive menu for months &
months together. Usually the students tend to get
bored. But there is a solution to that. There are other
hotels on campus that you can visit (They also provide
room delivery service).
Problem number two, most of us Indians are used to
eating hot & spicy food. The food served here has zero
spices. That again takes a lot of time to get accustomed
to & most students just end up trying throughout their
stay at KFUPM.
However, there are Indian restaurants outside campus
where you can visit occasionally to taste Indian food.

Sports & Recreation

The sports and recreational facilities at KFUPM are top
class. You have two gymnasiums where you can
workout. Sports facilities include a football stadium,
football fields, street football fields, basketball courts,
tennis courts, squash courts, volleyball courts etc.

Transportation
With the campus being relatively large & the buildings
far from each other, there is an intra-university bus
service to transport students from one place to the
other.

Healthcare
There is a well equipped medical center within the
campus which provides all the essential medical care
and diagnostic services.
The consultation fee for KFUPM students is entirely
waived off, however, we are expected to pay 50% of the
amount charged for medicines.

Graduate Coursework
I had made a brief mention about the usual routine of
graduate students at KFUPM, lets discuss it in detail
now. For all the graduate students, it is a must to take
up a minimum of 9 credit hours (3 courses) per
semester as a part of their coursework.
All the classes for the graduate courses are scheduled in
the evenings, 05:00 09:15pm, from Saturday
Tuesday. That effectively gives us a 3 day weekend. For
each course there are usually 2 classes per week, each
having a duration of 75 minutes.
Therefore, you dont end up spending much time
attending classes. Most of the work is done
independently. You have to prepare for the regular tests,
mid-semester and final exams, and work on the course
projects.

To help carry out all this study independently, the

university has an enormous library housed in a four
storey building. It has a huge collection of books,
research journals, newspapers & internet resources to
access online journals & books.

Thesis
We should bear in mind that the graduate curriculum at
KFUPM is highly research oriented. Research is the only
reason why the university selects the best international
students for study here & provides all the above
mentioned facilities.
Therefore it is very important for students to keep their
mind focused (throughout their graduate coursework)
on the research to be carried out in the thesis. It is good
to narrow down your interests to a particular field of
study & select courses suitably to provide sufficient
knowledge in the required field.
Following the area of specialization, the second matter
of concern is the selection of a thesis advisor. Before
selecting an advisor, get acquainted with all the faculty
in the department. See for yourselves the professor
whom you feel comfortable working with and then
decide cautiously.
I would like to mention here that the two things you
need to have in plenty while working on your thesis are
perseverance and patience.

While considering all the above mentioned factors, it is

also important that you keep the time constraints in
mind (your contract is valid only for 3 years for an RA
and for 2.5 years for a full-time student). This is because
research can often be unpredictable and time
consuming.
Deciding the thesis objectives is yet another aspect to
be carefully looked into. When you decide your
objectives, try to ensure that the objectives are
reasonably valid and attainable. If you plan on
something too ambitious and fail to deliver it, that can
prove to be a hindrance in the completion of your
degree requirements on time.
During the course of the research, what sometimes
happens is a change in the plan of action. The professor
sometimes finds some more potential in your work and
asks you to extend your work beyond your objectives.
The best you can do to avoid this is to make sure you
communicate your objectives very clearly at the very
beginning. Define your boundaries, and be polite yet
reasonably assertive.

Job Opportunities for

Graduates

The bad news begins when it comes to job

opportunities for KFUPM graduates. The reasons behind
this are as follows:
Limited availability of jobs in the Arabian market
(compared to India).
Lack of industrial
graduates.

experience

with

fresh

The most significant factor here is of course the

Nationalization
policies
being
strictly
implemented in the GCC countries in the recent
past.
Though we do have a Career fair at KFUPM, every 6
months, with several Multi-national Organizations
visiting the university, the focus has recently shifted to
hiring local talent owing to the nationalization policies.
Sadly, there is nothing much that the university can do
to help. Therefore it is left to us to plan a proper course
of action keeping our aim in mind. To help you decide
the specialization of your study at KFUPM (provided you
plan to start working after you graduate), a rough
estimate of the job availability has been provided on the
next page.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

HIGH
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING
PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (POWER)
GEOLOGY

ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

LOW
* The data represented in the chart is a rough estimate based on the hiring of
KFUPM graduates in the recent past.

For now the best way to handle the problem of finding a

job after graduating is to have an year or twos
experience in the industry before coming to KFUPM.
This would provide you an added advantage when you
start looking for jobs after you graduate.
The way to go about it is to apply to KFUPM online once
you have completed your undergraduate studies
(bachelors degree). Owing to the large number of
applications, the admission procedure is bound to take
some time. Instead of staying jobless and waiting for the
response from the university, you might as well start
working temporarily for some organization.
Once you receive a visa from the university, you can
discontinue your work and prepare yourself for
travelling.
While at KFUPM the right time to start looking for jobs is
approximately 2 months before your thesis defense. It
would be better if you schedule your defense towards
the end of the year because a vast majority of the
companies hire new employees at the start of a new
year.

Hope you have a

great career ahead

Good Luck!
Additional information can be found on
the university website

www.kfupm.edu.sa
You can send in your queries to

mirza_hamed@outlook.com