Under Saudi Arabia's strict constraints, Saudi women may neither mingle with men nor drive. But at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which opened recently on a sprawling site 80 kilometers north of Jeddah, men and women take classes together.

Women are not required to wear traditional black head-to-toe abayas or veil their faces and they can get behind a steering wheel.

"I don't think religion should have anything to do with higher education," said Qurashi, 23, a biological engineering graduate student.

The research university is the latest, and so far most significant, endeavor by a Persian Gulf nation to diversify its economy and help wean the region from its dependence on oil wealth. Saudi officials describe the multibillion-dollar postgraduate institution as the spear in the kingdom's efforts to transform itself into a global scientific center rivaling those in the United States, Europe and Asia.

But the kingdom's powerful religious establishment is increasingly voicing criticism of the university. On websites, clerics have blasted the school's coeducational policy as a violation of sharia, or Islamic law.

Last week, a member of the influential Supreme Committee of Islamic Scholars called for a probe into the curriculum. "Mixing is a great sin and a great evil," Saad bin Nasser al-Shithri was quoted as saying in the al-Watan newspaper. "When men mix with women, their hearts burn, and they will be diverted from their main goal," which he said is "education."

His comments sparked outrage. "It's the sort of thinking that, if not for the King, would have kept this country wandering the desert on camels in search of water and pasture," the al- Iqtisadiya newspaper editorialized.

In an unprecedented action, reformist King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz issued a royal decree recently removing Shithri from his post.

In a speech inaugurating the university, the king, 85, declared that "scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first lines of defense against extremists." He said he hopes the university will become "a beacon of tolerance."

Three years ago, Abdullah ordered executives of the Saudi national oil company, Aramco, to build the university. The kingdom was in the midst of an economic crisis, and the monarch realized that his country could no longer rely solely on oil, said Nadhmi al-Nasr, the university's interim vice president.

Today, the campus is a scientist's dream. It houses one of the world's faster supercomputers. A three- dimensional virtual reality room takes visitors into an archaeological dig or a coral reef. Ultra-high-resolution photography allows the study of rock formations.

Research centers focus on vital areas such as finding alternative forms of energy and sources of potable water. Solar energy partially powers the campus; electric vehicles provide public transport. Fortune 500 companies such as Dow Chemical fund research.

The goal is to collaborate with industry to create a new generation of researchers, inventors and entrepreneurs.

There are 71 professors, many from the United States, and 817 students from 61 countries. Nearly 400 students began classes last month; the rest will arrive next year. Saudi students, including 20 women, make up 15 percent of the student body.

A higher percentage of Saudi women than men graduate from college with a degree. But they are restricted to attending all-female institutions and are often directed to the study of humanities and the arts. After graduation, they have trouble finding good jobs.

At a recent workshop. Nasr told the mostly female audience that the university wants to ensure that female academics are among its leaders. "I hope in my lifetime I will see a Saudi female become president of KAUST," he said.

The audience, which included Qurashi and Aqeel, exploded with applause.

THE WASHINGTON POST