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KAIST-KU Sign MOU on 4th Industrial Technology Development
(President Shin(second from left) poses with Khalifa University President Tod Laursen after signing an MOU in the UAE on March 25. Far left is Chairman of the NST Kwangyun Wohn and far right is the UAE Minister of Educatiion Hussain Al Hammadi.)
KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin and Khalifa University Interim President Tod Laursen signed an MOU on the Fourth Industrial Technology Development on March 25 in the UAE.
They signed the MOU during the UAE-ROK Nuclear Friendship and KAIST Alumni Night at Khalifa University co-hosted by KAIST and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The MOU will bring new opportunities to further expand bilateral cooperation in education and training in the relevant technologies called for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
More than 100 dignitaries including Chairman of National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) in Korea Dr. Kwangyun Wohn, President of KAERI Jaejoo Ha, the UAE Minister of Education His Excellency Hussain Al Hammadi, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, and His Excellency Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) Director General Christopher Viktorsson attended the event. In particular, a significant number of Emirati graduates of the KUSTAR-KAIST education program and many others who completed various KAIST training programs joined the event.
The Nuclear Friendship Night was celebrating the completion of the first nuclear power plant in Barakah exported by Korea. This is the first nuclear reactor in the Middle East, which is to start operation later this year. The event also coincided with Korean President Moon Jae-In’s state visit to the UAE.
KAIST and KAERI gathered distinguished leaders from the higher education and nuclear industries at the event in response to the UAE government’s top national agenda of fostering future talents and promoting the nuclear industry in order to ensure energy security.
KAIST and Khalifa University signed an initial agreement in education and research in 2009 when the governments of Korea and the UAE signed a contract to build four nuclear power plants in Barakah. Since then, the two universities have worked together closely in the areas of nuclear engineering, bio-medical engineering, robotics, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials science. With this signing on the new MOU, the partnership between the two institutions will mark the second phase of educating high-caliber human resources in science and technology of the two countries.
The KAIST Alumni Night also brought more opportunities to appreciate the achievements that the two countries have made through collaboration in education and research, mostly represented in the field of nuclear technology between KAIST and Khalifa University. During the event, KAIST graduates also shared their experiences from the education at KAIST, followed by the welcoming speeches from the UAE Minister of Education and the UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.
KAIST President Shin, in his welcoming speech at the event, said, “I look forward to more students in the UAE having the opportunity to experience the world’s top-level education and global environment that KAIST offers. The collaboration with Khalifa University and the UAE is very important for building both countries’ future growth.”
KU President Laursen said, “This MOU on research cooperation focusing on technologies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, nuclear engineering, and other technical areas will further consolidate our partnership with KAIST and support us in developing human capital suitable to take on future challenges in the science and technology sectors. We firmly believe the talent pool of experts created by this initiative will contribute to the overall economic growth of the UAE.”
2018.03.26 View 9899 -
A Glance at the 2017 KAIST Literary Awards Ceremony
Since KAIST is a university specializing in science and engineering, people may think that the students rarely engage in literary activities. But KAIST students also excel in writing literature.
The 23rd KAIST Literary Award Ceremony was held on December 14 on the KAIST main campus. The award was established in 1995 to encourage students’ creative activities and to promote literary attainment. It is open to all KAIST students from undergraduate to masters and PhD students. This year, 43 students submitted a total of 68 literary works in the genres of poetry, novel, critique, and scenario.
KAIST professors Dong Ju Kim, Bong Gwan Jun, and Yunjeong Jo from the School of Humanities & Social Sciences participated as judges for the awards and they were joined by writers from the 8th Endless Road Program who served as invited judges for the novels and scenarios.
The Endless Road Program is a KAIST project for supporting artists who are engaged in literary works including scenarios, novels, webtoons, and movies by providing residences and funds. Novelists Jin Young Choi and Hak Chan Kim participated as judges for the novels and a drama scriptwriter, Joo Kim, as a judge of the scenarios.
After thorough evaluation, four submissions were chosen as awardees.
Section
Award
Name
Poetry
Winner
Sung Gil Moon (PhD candidate from the College of Business)
Runner-up
Jong Ik Jeon (Undergraduate student)
Novel
Winner
Joo Hwan Kim
(Undergraduate from the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)
Runner-up
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Essay & Critique
Winner
-
Runner-up
Jung Joon Park
(PhD candidate from the Dept. of Bio and Brain Engineering)
Scenario
Winner
-
Runner-up
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The literary works as well as a review of the awards will be published in the KAIST Times in 2018.
2017.12.15 View 7781 -
Hyosung R&DB Labs to Teach Special Class on High Molecule Chemistry for the Fall Semester
The Department of Chemistry in collaboration with the Hyosung Group’s R&DB Labs will open a ‘special class on high molecule chemistry’ for Masters and Ph.D. candidates. The class, led by researchers at Hyosung’s R&D think tank, will provide the latest market and technology trends in the molecule chemical industry during the fall semester.
Hyosung joined this special industry program in an effort to enhance students’ hands-on understanding of new technologies that will emerge in the global market. During the semester, Hyosung plans to present the technology portfolios on their brand new materials of TAC film, membrane, and carbon fiber as well as the existing products leading the world in market share such as spandex, tire cords.
Hyosung plans to recruit students who previously took courses led by Hyosung researchers. President Tu-Won Chang of Hyosung R&DB said, “This program is designed to foster highly qualified R&D personnel especially catering to our company’s needs and market demands. We will continue to share our company’s market analysis and R&D know-how with outstanding universities.
2017.09.07 View 5082 -
International Students Start a New Semester at KAIST
(International students during a campus tour)
The 2017 fall semester began on August 28 and new and returning students are filling the campus. Our international students are one of the reasons the campus is becoming more dynamic and energetic.
It was easy to see groups of smiling international students walking around the campus. Every semester, KAIST welcomes hundreds of students from around the world to give them the opportunity to study at a world-leading university in science and technology.
This semester, approximately 150 students in degree-seeking programs and 220 exchange students from a total of 74 countries, including Germany, the United States, and France entered KAIST.
(Frederik Hansen, a student from DTU)
Frederik Hansen is an exchange student who came to KAIST this semester from Copenhagen, Denmark. He completed the undergraduate program at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and is now pursuing a master’s degree.
He decided to join KAIST because he felt the university is up-to-date with subjects in his field of interest.
Frederik, who majored in mechanical engineering, looks forward taking classes related to robotics and solid mechanics. Noting that it’s his first time visiting Asia, he hopes to experience and learn about Korean culture.
In an effort to help foreign students’ soft landing in KAIST, the International Office held a series of orientation programs over three days. The buddy program provides international freshmen with an opportunity to make Korean friends for a more successful life at KAIST, while giving domestic students a chance to learn about different cultures and perhaps build on the global capacity required for becoming a global leader. Information sessions also provided educational information that can support international students living in KAIST. Finally, the counseling program gives information about the KAIST counseling center and ISSS (International Scholar and Student Service). It provides a psychometric test service to those who wish to take it.
If you are interested in pursuing academic programs at KAIST, please visit the International Office via http://io.kaist.ac.kr/index.do .
2017.08.30 View 6410 -
Students from Science Academies Shed a Light on KAIST
Recent KAIST statistics show that graduates from science academies distinguish themselves not only by their academic performance at KAIST but also in various professional careers after graduation.
Every year, approximately 20% of newly-enrolled students of KAIST are from science academies. In the case of the class of 2017, 170 students from science academies accounted for 22% of the newly-enrolled students. Moreover, they are forming a top-tier student group on campus. As shown in the table below, the ratio of students graduating early for either enrolling in graduate programs or landing a job indicates their excellent performance at KAIST.
There are eight science academies in Korea: Korea Science Academy of KAIST located in Busan, Seoul Science High School, Gyeonggi Science High School, Gwangju Science High School, Daejeon Science High School, Sejong Academy of Science and Arts, and Incheon Arts and Sciences Academy.
Recently, KAIST analyzed 532 university graduates from the class of 2012. It was found that 23 out of 63 graduates with the alma mater of science academies finished their degree early; as a result, the early graduation ratio of the class of 2012 stood at 36.5%. This percentage was significantly higher than that of students from other high schools.
Among the notable graduates, there was a student who made headlines with donation of 30 million KRW to KAIST. His donation was the largest donation from an enrolled student on record. His story goes back when Android smartphones were about to be distributed. Seung-Gyu Oh, then a student in the School of Electrical Engineering felt that existing subway apps were inconvenient, so he invented his own subway app that navigated the nearest subway lines in 2015. His app hit the market and ranked second in the subway app category. It had approximately five million users, which led to it generating advertising revenue. After the successful launch of the app, Oh accepted the takeover offered by Daum Kakao. He then donated 30 million KRW to his alma mater. “Since high school, I’ve always been thinking that I have received many benefits from my country and felt heavily responsible for it,” the alumnus of Korea Science of Academy and KAIST said. “I decided to make a donation to my alma mater, KAIST because I wanted to return what I had received from my country.” After graduation, Oh is now working for the web firm, Daum Kakao.
In May 24, 2017, the 41st International Collegiate Programming Contest, hosted by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and sponsored by IBM, was held in Rapid City, South Dakota in the US. It is a prestigious contest that has been held annually since 1977. College students from around the world participate in this contest; and in 2017, a total of 50,000 students from 2,900 universities in 104 countries participated in regional competitions, and approximately 400 students made it to the final round, entering into a fierce competition. KAIST students also participated in this contest. The team was comprised of Ji-Hoon Ko, Jong-Won Lee, and Han-Pil Kang from the School of Computing. They are also alumni of Gyeonggi Science High School. They received the ‘First Problem Solver’ award and a bronze medal which came with a 3,000 USD cash prize.
Sung-Jin Oh, who also graduated from Korea Science Academy of KAIST, is a research professor at the Korea Institute of Advanced Study (KIAS). He is the youngest recipient of the ‘Young Scientist Award’, which he received by proving a hypothesis from Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity mathematically at the age of 27. After graduating from KAIST, Oh earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from Princeton University, completed his post-doctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, and is now immersing himself in research at KIAS.
Heui-Kwang Noh from the Department of Chemistry and Kang-Min Ahn from the School of Computing, who were selected to receive the presidential scholarship for science in 2014, both graduated from Gyeonggi Science High School. Noh was recognized for his outstanding academic capacity and was also chosen for the ‘GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders Program’ in 2015. The ‘GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders Program’, established in 1992 by the GE Foundation, aims at fostering talented students. This program is for post-secondary students who have both creativity and leadership. It selects five outstanding students and provides 3 million KRW per annum for a maximum of three years.
The grantees of this program have become influential people in various fields, including professors, executives, staff members of national/international firms, and researchers. And they are making a huge contribution to the development of engineering and science. Noh continues doing various activities, including the completion of his internship at ‘Harvard-MIT Biomedical Optics’ and the publication of a paper (3rd author) for the ACS Omega of American Chemical Society (ACS).
Ahn, a member of the Young Engineers Honor Society (YEHS) of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, had an interest in startup businesses. In 2015, he founded DataStorm, a firm specializing in developing data solution, and merged with a cloud back-office, Jobis & Villains, in 2016. Ahn is continuing his business activities and this year he founded, and is successfully running, cocKorea.
“KAIST students whose alma mater are science academies form a top-tier group on campus and produce excellent performance,” said Associate Vice President for Admissions, Hayong Shin. “KAIST is making every effort to assist these students so that they can perform to the best of their ability.”
(Clockwise from top left: Seung-Gyu Oh, Sung-Jin Oh, Heui-Kwang Noh and Kang-Min Ahn)
2017.08.09 View 9058 -
KAIST Team Wins Bronze Medal at Int'l Programming Contest
A KAIST Team consisting of undergraduate students from the School of Computing and Department of Mathematical Science received a bronze medal and First Problem Solver award at an international undergraduate programming competition, The Association for Computing Machinery-International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) World Finals.
The 41st ACM-ICPC hosted by ACM and funded by IBM was held in South Dakota in the US on May 25. The competition, first held in 1977, is aimed at undergraduate students from around the world. A total of 50,000 students from 2900 universities and 103 countries participated in the regional competition and 400 students competed in the finals.
The competition required teams of three to solve 12 problems. The KAIST team was coached by Emeritus Professor Sung-Yong Shin and Professor Taisook Han. The student contestants were Jihoon Ko and Hanpil Kang from the School of Computing and Jongwoon Lee from the Department of Mathematical Science. The team finished ranked 9th, receiving a bronze medal and a $3000 prize. Additionally, the team was the first to solve all the problems and received the First Problem Solver award. Detailed score information can be found on. https://icpc.baylor.edu/scoreboard/
(Photo caption: Professor Taisook Han and his students)
2017.06.12 View 9644 -
Professor Jae Kyoung Kim Receives the 2017 HSFP Award
The Human Frontier Science Program (HSFP), one of the most competitive research grants in life sciences, has funded researchers worldwide across and beyond the field since 1990. Each year, the program selects a handful of recipients who push the envelope of basic research in biology to bring breakthroughs from novel approaches. Among its 7,000 recipients thus far, 26 scientists have received the Nobel Prize. For that reason, HSFP grants are often referred to as “Nobel Prize Grants.”
Professor Jae Kyoung Kim of the Mathematical Sciences Department at KAIST and his international collaborators, Professor Robert Havekes from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, Professor Sara Aton from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the United States, and Professor Matias Zurbriggen from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, won the Young Investigator Grants of the 2017 HSFP.
The 30 winning teams of the 2017 competition (in 9 Young Investigator Grants and 21 Program Grants) went through a rigorous year-long review process from a total of 1,073 applications submitted from more than 60 countries around the world. Each winning team will receive financial support averaging 110,000-125,000 USD per year for three years.
Although Professor Kim was trained as a mathematician, he has extended his research focus into biological sciences and attempted to solve some of the most difficult problems in biology by employing mathematical theories and applications including nonlinear dynamics, stochastic process, singular perturbation, and parameter estimation.
The project that won the Young Investigator Grants was a study on how a molecular circadian clock may affect sleep-regulated neurophysiology in mammals. Physiological and metabolic processes such as sleep, blood pressure, and hormone secretion exhibit circadian rhythms in mammals. Professor Kim used mathematical modeling and analysis to explain that the mammalian circadian clock is a hierarchical system, in which the master clock in the superchiasmatic nucleus, a tiny region in the brain that controls circadian rhythms, functions as a pacemaker and synchronizer of peripheral clocks to generate coherent systematic rhythms throughout the body.
Professor Kim said, “The mechanisms of our neuronal and hormonal activities regulating many of our bodily functions over a 24-hour cycle are not yet fully known. We go to sleep every night, but do not really know how it affects our brain functions. I hope my experience in mathematics, along with insights from biologists, can find meaningful answers to some of today’s puzzling problems in biological sciences, for example, revealing the complexities of our brains and showing how they work.”
“In the meantime, I hope collaborations between the fields of mathematics and biology, as yet a rare phenomenon in the Korean scientific community, will become more popular in the near future.”
Professor Kim received his doctoral degree in Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics in 2013 from the University of Michigan and joined KAIST in 2015. He has published numerous articles in reputable science journals such as Science, Molecular Cell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Nature Communications.
Both the Program Grants and Young Investigator Grants support international teams with members from at least two countries for innovative and creative research. This year, the Program Grants were awarded to research topics ranging from the evolution of counting and the role of extracellular vesicles in breast cancer bone metastasis to the examination of obesity from a mechanobiological point of view.
The Young Investigator Grants are limited to teams that established their independent research within the last five years and received their doctoral degrees within the last decade. Besides Professor Kim’s study, such topics as the use of infrasound for navigation by seabirds and protein formation in photochemistry and photophysics were awarded in 2017.
Full lists of the 2017 HFSP winners are available at: http://www.hfsp.org/awardees/newly-awarded.
About the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP):
The HFSP is a research funding program implemented by the International Human Frontier Science Program (HFSPO) based in Strasbourg, France. It promotes intercontinental collaboration and training in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research specializing in life sciences. Founded in 1989, the HFSPO consists of the European Union and 14 other countries including the G7 nations and South Korea.
2017.03.21 View 10357 -
JETS Conference 2017
KAIST and four science and technology research universities in Korea co-hosted a technology start-up fair, the 2017 JETS (Job, Exhibition, Tech Forum, and Startup) Conference January 19 ~20 in the Ryu Geun-chul Sports Complex at KAIST.
Korea’s major science and technology research universities, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech), and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), held the event in a collaborative effort to educate, inspire, and connect young entrepreneurs, especially those who will launch technology start-ups.
The conference brought entrepreneurs and innovators together who seek ways of working with and supporting start-ups and for their sustainable growth. It also drew aspiring young students and researchers from universities and the government-funded research institutions who are in the process of commercializing their technology. Students from each university’s industry-academia cooperation program who incubated their technology and ideas were key contributors.
At the Tech Forum, entrepreneurship and technology consultation specialists including Joe Jasin, managing director at DNA Investment Partners in the US, the founder of Cyworld Dong-Hyung Lee, and Professor Hawoong Jeong, a complex bio-network specialist from the Department of Physics of KAIST lectured on the ecosystem of start-ups and its trends and development.
The Dean of University-Industry Cooperation at KAIST Joongmyeon Bae said, "We organized this event in collaboration with four major research universities to further encourage technology start-ups from young students and help their ideas and technology bear fruit. We will continue to strive to create an ecosystem of start-ups which works efficiently.”
(Above photo: Founder of the Cyworld, Dong-Hyung Lee gives a lecture at the Tech Forum. Below photo: Students visit exhibition booth of each participating institution.)
2017.01.20 View 11767 -
KAIST, NTU, and Technion Collaborate for Research in Emerging Fields
KAIST, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore, and Technion of Israel signed an agreement on April 11, 2016 in Seoul to create a five-year joint research program for some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial areas: robotics, medical technologies, satellites, materials science and engineering, and entrepreneurship. Under the agreement, the universities will also offer dual degree opportunities, exchange visits, and internships.
In the picture from the left, Bertil Andersson of NTU, Sung-Mo Kang of KAIST, and Peretz Lavie of Technion hold the signed memorandum of understanding.
2016.04.14 View 11407 -
KAIST and Charles University Agree to Cooperate
KAIST and Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic, agreed to cooperate in research and education.
President Steve Kang of KAIST (pictured on the left) and Rector Tomáš Zima of Charles University signed the agreement on December 2, 2015, at the Hilton Hotel in Prague.
Minster Yang-Hee Choi of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea and Minister Kateřina Valachová of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic also joined the signing ceremony.
Under the agreement, the two institutions will exchange students and researchers, as well as implement joint research programs.
President Kang said, “We are pleased to work with one of the most prestigious universities in the Czech Republic and hope to build a good partnership in the years ahead.”
Founded in 1348, Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. The university received two Nobel prizes in physiology or medicine and in chemistry in 1947 and 1959, respectively.
2015.12.03 View 7752 -
KAIST Agrees to Personnel Exchange with the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China
A delegation from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of the Republic of China (ROC) visited KAIST on October 16, 2015.
President Steve Kang of KAIST and Director General Yu-Ping Lien of the Department of Investment Services, MOEA, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on exchanging personnel, recruiting and attracting top talents, and sharing job information.
With the MOU, KAIST and MOEA will develop a mobility program for students in Korea and ROC to help them seek employment opportunities in both nations. Director General Lien hoped that the MOU would bring more of KAIST students in the information technology field to work in ROC.
President Kang responded,
“KAIST has fostered highly talented engineers and researchers across all fields of science and engineering. If these students can have a place in ROC to realize their potential, this certainly could benefit the two nations.”
In the picture from left to right is Director General Yu-Ping Lien of the Department of Investment Services, the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China and President Steve Kang of KAIST.
2015.10.17 View 5412 -
KAIST and Chongqing University of Technology in China Open an International Program
With the help of KAIST, Chongqing University of Technology (CQUT) in China established an electrical engineering and computer science program and admitted their first 66 freshmen this fall semester.
The joint program was created to foster skilled engineers in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science, which are necessary for the development of the Korean and Chinese Industrial Complex located in Chongqing City.
KAIST has provided CQUT with a majority of the program’s curricula currently offered to its students in Daejeon, Korea.
Under the jointly administered program, KAIST takes on education and research while CQUT is responsible for student selection and administration.
KAIST has dispatched eight professors to teach the related fields in English, and 17 CQUT professors will teach the rest of the curricula.
In August 2014, KAIST and CQUT singed a cooperation agreement for education and research exchange and created the CQUT-KAIST Education Cooperation Center, which is headed by Professor Young-Nam Han of the Electrical Engineering Department at KAIST.
The two universities will expand their collaboration to include graduate programs by 2016.
In the picture below, President Steve Kang of KAIST (right) shakes hands with President Shi Xiaohui of Chongqing University of Technology (left).
2015.09.17 View 10402