KAUST Ranked 1st in Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2023

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
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KAUST Ranked 1st in Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2023

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) ranked first in the Times Higher Education (THE) Arab University Rankings 2023, a move up from KAUST's ranking as second in the previous year.

"KAUST also scored a perfect 100 for research environment, one of only two universities to do so, in the society pillar (measuring industry income, as well as participation and performance in the impact rankings) and the international outlook pillar (measuring the share of international students, staff and co-authorship, as well as research collaboration within the Arab world),” the university said in a statement on Thursday.

"This is a testament to the world-class research environment we have cultivated here at KAUST. Our new strategy is already delivering, with new key deepening strategic partnerships across China, the US, Europe and locally in Saudi Arabia with the giga-projects,” said KAUST President Tony Chan.

Furthermore, the Top500 Committee has ranked the KAUST supercomputer 'Shaheen III' the most powerful in the Middle East and 20th in the world. Chan believes it will take KAUST further up the global rankings.

"We are super powering our research across all disciplines, which is going to significantly address key global and local issues, such as climate and sustainability, renewable energy, AI and future economy and smart health."

Saudi Arabian and UAE universities dominate the top 10 in the Arab University Rankings 2023. The ascension of KAUST and other Saudi universities in the Rankings reflects the Kingdom's unwavering focus and investment in research, development and innovation, the statement said.



A Set of 1st Editions of Shakespeare's Plays Could Fetch $6 million at Auction

This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
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A Set of 1st Editions of Shakespeare's Plays Could Fetch $6 million at Auction

This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)
This photo issued by Sotheby's on Wednesday April 23, 2025, shows The First Folio of William Shakespeare, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, and is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature". It is one of four folios which are due to go on sale at Sotheby's in London on May 23, where they are expected to fetch between £3.5 million and £4.5 million. (Sotheby's via AP)

A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s collected works is expected to sell for up to 4.5 million pounds ($6 million) at auction next month.

Sotheby’s auction house announced the sale on Wednesday, Shakespeare's 461st birthday. It said the May 23 sale will be the first time since 1989 that a set of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios has been offered at auction as a single lot.

The auction house estimated the sale price at between 3.5 million and 4.5 million pounds.

After Shakespeare’s death in 1616, his plays were collected into a single volume by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell, actors and shareholders in the playwright’s troupe, the King’s Men, The AP news reported.

The First Folio — fully titled “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies” — contained 36 plays, of which half were published there for the first time. Without the book, scholars say, plays including “Macbeth,” “The Tempest” and “Twelfth Night” might have been lost. Sotheby’s called the volume “without question the most significant publication in the history of English literature.”

About 750 copies were printed in 1623, of which about 230 are known to survive. All but a few are in museums, universities or libraries. One of the few First Folios in private hands sold for $9.9 million at an auction in 2020.

The First Folio proved successful enough that a an updated edition, the Second Folio, was published in 1632, a third in 1663 and a fourth in 1685.

Although the First Folio is regarded as the most valuable, the third is the rarest, with 182 copies known to survive. It is believed the third book’s rarity is because some of the stock was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The Third Folio included seven additional plays, but only one – “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” – is believed to be by Shakespeare.