Building a research infrastructure elsewhere

I have written a little bit about my university's efforts to improve the research infrastructure. We need better facilities for data-management, biobanking, and biostatistical and project management support to maintain and further improve our improved research output (as indicated by the growing number of publications, citations, and large research project acquisitions). When money is no real issue, building a research infrastructure can be done somewhat differently. In Saudi Arabia the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)is being build. Science Magazine has published a story on this initative. According to the Science publication "Thinking big is in the DNA of KAUST. The university's namesake, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, decided 3 years ago to set aside billions of dollars for an institution designed to help the country move from an oil-based to a knowledge economy (Science, 8 June 2007, p. 1409)." Click here to check out the story.