Gulf University for Science and Technology announced last week that GUST alumni have been awarded the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Sustainable Development Scholarship to the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. The scholarship is the first of its kind for both institutions and is set to take place from November 23 to December 7. The scholarship covers all tuition fees as well as travel and subsistence costs and educational materials during the two-week training course.The alumni were selected based on criteria set by the university and KPC. Notably, applicants had to have a GPA of 3.3 or above, graduated within the last two years, be Kuwaiti citizens, and be unemploymed throughout the duration of the program. The selected alumni are:LojainAlOmani, Sara AlMusallam, SamaaAlSaif, GhadnaAlKhamees, MunirahAlMailam, ShaikhaAlMatouq, BudoorAlKhaledi, BodoorAlZanki, and Yousef AlMunayes.GUST President, Professor Walid Bouhamra, and KPC PR Manager, Jamal Al-Sanoosi met with the recipients to congratulate them and express their excitement for the program. Also present at the meeting were Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Fahed Al-Sumait, Vice President for Professional Development and Community Services, Dr. Ahmed Al-Darbas, Dean of the College of Business Administration, Prof. AntonisSimintiras, Head of the Business Administration Department, Dr. Ahmed El-Melegy, Initiative Members, Dr. Osama Al-Falah and Dr. Garvan Whelan, as well as International Program Coordinator, NabaeAsfar.The students will be attending daily courses on Sustainable Development which crystallizes key concepts and provides the alumni with the opportunity to apply them to their geographical context of Kuwait and across various sectors, in particular, energy. All classes will be held at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex.The sessions have been assembled into an intensive course with a distinct and cumulative set of learning outcomes, and will be delivered through purpose-designed teaching and learning activities. The first week will include an introduction of the historical and contemporary debates on sustainable development as a whole, help the students understand the origin of sustainable development and its current manifestations in business, policy and politics; as well as apply a selection of economic and non-economic frameworks to understand and analyze sustainable development issues, in particular around the energy policy. The second week will focus on transformations to sustainable development where students will get to understand the systemic changes required to deliver the 17 sustainable development goals as set by the United Nations, the role of power and politics in their realization, and to develop an appreciation of the economic, social, and historical roots of social and environmental injustice. By the end of the course students will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge and understanding of sustainable development concepts and frameworks, andhave the ability to apply them at different levels and in different contexts. Although this is the first scholarship for alumni, it is a valuable addition to GUST’s multiple study abroad programs available to its students. Other similar opportunities include the Summer Scholarship Program to the University of Missouri – St. Louis and George Washington University in the USA, and the MBA study abroad course which most recently took place at the Freie University in Berlin, Germany.