KAUST alumnae Dr. Fatimah Abdulhakim, Dr. Nadine Hosny El Said, and Dr. Rana Hussein Ali were honored in the 2025 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards. Abdulhakim was recognized for her research on plant immune response, while El Said was honored for her work on epigenetic science and RNA-based therapies. Ali was named a 2025 German Laureate in the global L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards for her work at Goethe University Frankfurt. Why it matters: The recognition highlights KAUST's role in fostering female scientific talent and advancing research in areas crucial for regional food security and global healthcare.
The fifth Nuanced Arabic Dialect Identification (NADI) 2024 shared task aimed to advance Arabic NLP through dialect identification and dialect-to-MSA machine translation. 51 teams registered, with 12 participating and submitting 76 valid submissions across three subtasks. The winning teams achieved 50.57 F1 for multi-label dialect identification, 0.1403 RMSE for dialectness level identification, and 20.44 BLEU for dialect-to-MSA translation. Why it matters: The results highlight the continued challenges in Arabic dialect processing and provide a benchmark for future research in this area.
The fourth Nuanced Arabic Dialect Identification Shared Task (NADI 2023) aimed to advance Arabic NLP through shared tasks focused on dialect identification and dialect-to-MSA machine translation. 58 teams registered, with 18 participating across three subtasks: dialect identification, dialect-to-MSA translation, and another translation task. The winning teams achieved 87.27 F1 in dialect identification, 14.76 BLEU in one translation task, and 21.10 BLEU in the other. Why it matters: NADI provides valuable benchmarks and datasets for Arabic dialect processing, encouraging further research in this challenging area.
The third Nuanced Arabic Dialect Identification Shared Task (NADI 2022) focused on advancing Arabic NLP through dialect identification and sentiment analysis at the country level. A total of 21 teams participated, with the winning team achieving 27.06 F1 score on dialect identification and 75.16 F1 score on sentiment analysis. The task highlights the challenges in Arabic dialect processing and motivates further research. Why it matters: Standardized evaluations like NADI are crucial for benchmarking progress and fostering innovation in Arabic NLP, especially for dialectal variations.
KAUST researchers are simulating cyberattacks on microgrids to assess their impact and develop detection/suppression methods. They used the Canadian urban distribution model with four inverter-based distributed generations (DGs) to capture system dynamics. The simulations considered attacks altering measurement data, modifying control signals, and causing sudden load changes, all of which had damaging effects. Why it matters: This research is crucial for ensuring the resilience of increasingly complex microgrids against cyber threats, especially as they become more integrated into critical infrastructure.
Nadine El Naggar from City, University of London presented research on RNN learning of counting behavior, formalizing it as Dyck-1 acceptance. Empirically, RNN models struggle to learn exact counting and fail on longer sequences, even when weights are correctly initialized. Theoretically, Counter Indicator Conditions (CICs) were proposed and proven necessary/sufficient for exact counting in single-cell RNNs, but experiments show these CICs are not found or are unlearned during training. Why it matters: This work highlights challenges in RNNs learning systematic tasks, suggesting gradient descent-based optimization may not achieve exact counting behavior with standard setups.
Professor Fakhreddine Karray from the University of Waterloo has been appointed as the new Provost of Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), succeeding Professor Ling Shao. Karray previously served as the co-director of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute and holds fellowships with the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the IEEE. He will collaborate with President Eric Xing to advance MBZUAI's academic and research strategy. Why it matters: This appointment signals MBZUAI's continued commitment to attracting top international AI talent to the UAE and solidifying its position as a leading AI research institution.
KAUST alumna Nadia Kouraytem (M.S. '13, Ph.D. '16) is now a postdoctoral researcher in mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, working on laser-based metal additive manufacturing. During her time at KAUST, she worked in the High-Speed Fluids Imaging Laboratory under Professor Sigurdur Thoroddsen, using high-speed imaging to study fluid dynamics. Her research included investigations of metal sphere impacts on granular media, microbead formation during vapor explosion, and vapor explosions from droplet impacts on heated oil. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's role in training researchers who are contributing to advanced manufacturing techniques with potential industrial applications.