programs
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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 6709 -
Global ITTP Graduates 12 Public Officials from 11 Countries
The 18th Global Information and Telecommunication Technology Program (ITTP) graduated 12 public officials from 11 countries in a commencement ceremony held on August 23.
Distinguished guests, faculty, and family of graduates including President Sung-Chul Shin, the Chair of the School of Business and Technology Youngsun Kown, and the Director of Global ITTP Jaejung Rho attended the commencement. Ghana Ambassador Joseph Agoe, Mrs. Lyudmila Fen, the spouse of Uzbekistan Ambassador Vitali Fen, and other dignitaries came to congratulate the 12 master’s students on their successful graduation.
The Global ITTP was launched in 2006 and offers customized master’s and doctoral degree programs to elite public officials from diverse countries on information and communication technology. This program plays a vital role for transferring Korea’s advanced ICT to countries whose industries are in the budding stages. Since 2006, the program has produced 181 alumni (48 PhDs and 133 masters) from 60 countries.
In his congratulatory message during the ceremony, President Shin congratulated the graduates on the long journey they had been through while completing their courses and welcomed the newest addition of KAIST 12 alumni.
“Back in the 1960s, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Korea’s GDP stood at less than 100 US dollars. Through it all, Korean companies are now taking the lead in the global high-tech market, emerging as movers and shakers. I believe that ‘VIP’ changed it all; in other words, visionary leaders, innovative ideas, and passionate people all combined to make the difference in Korea,” said President Shin.
He also shared a new formula for success in the wake of the new industrial environment of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with the graduates who will soon begin a new ambitious professional journey in their countries. “I think Innovation, Collaboration, and Speed will be the key words to make a difference in every sector of each and every country in this dynamic new era. When making a national development strategies, please keep in mind ‘ICS’ for the development of your country as well as the world’s sustainable development.”
Finally, he said, “As a KAIST alumnus, always be sincere wherever you work and whatever you do during your service. I advise you to become a leader who is doing one’s best at all times.”
☞ Link to the 18th commencement address
2017.08.24 View 7273 -
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 9474 -
President Shin Shares His Biggest Challenges, Success, and New Mission
President Sung-Chul Shin talks on his biggest challenges, successes, and new mission in an interview with Times Higher Education on June 29. Followings are the full text of the interview.
▶ What are the unique challenges and advantages of being a university in the Asia-Pacific region?
Globalization is definitely the biggest challenge. KAIST has made strenuous institutional efforts to address this issue for decades. Globalization is not just about language issues, especially for an Asian university. There are still lingering cultural barriers. However, we are improving and seeing significant progress. Approximately 85 per cent of our classes are being lectured in English, and my ultimate goal is to make KAIST a bilingual campus for a more globalized environment.
Speaking of advantages, we can recruit top-quality students from neighboring countries.
▶ What role do universities have in creating social equality?
I strongly believe that education is an essential means of empowerment and social mobility. KAIST has diligently promoted policies to help ensure greater diversity, without discriminating against anyone’s talents on the basis of gender, race, or background.
We implement an equal opportunity admission system, with special consideration given to the underprivileged, geographically-excluded groups, North Korean refugees, and many other disadvantaged groups. We recruit five percent of our freshmen from these groups under our admission system annually.
As for the gender gap, our female student population is now over 25 per cent, and we expect in the very near future the ratio will increase up to 30 percent. However, female faculty ratio stands at around 10 per cent, so we will attempt to double the ratio soon.
In addition, we work to emphasize social responsibility to our students. They are a privileged group, so they should be responsible for giving back their knowledge and talents to society in diverse ways. I am very glad that many of our students engage in the social entrepreneurship programs we are running now. That will be fruitful for ensuring social equity as well as making society better.
▶ What is the most important issue affecting your university right now?
KAIST has now emerged as a world-class university and one of the most innovative universities in the Asia-Pacific region. However, building on our new reputation as a "world-leading" university remains a big challenge. As the first and top research university in Korea, KAIST has been the gateway to the advancement of science and technology and innovation.
We are now responsible for taking the lead in creating new knowledge that will make a global impact. This is the momentum we need to make another quantum leap to become the university which creates the most global value.
▶ There is a great pressure in Korea for young people to get into a “top” university. Is this pressure on school students too great?
Traditionally, going to a top school was deemed the ladder to success in life. We went through the economically tough times in which diverse groups of occupations had never existed before. As a result, competition between individuals was incredibly high to get into good school and good company.
It is true that such social pressure occupied thoughts of many young students and their parents. In effect, that was also the driving force for achieving Korea’s economic growth in a relatively short period of time. But things are changing now.
We are living in a complex global economic environment. The number of new occupations creates new knowledge and new types of jobs. Even more, this new era changed the conventional paradigm of jobs and success. Successful careers take collaboration, and one must seek whom to work with, where you fit, and what you will do and how you can reach your potential.
This change of perception has begun to transform the general definition of a successful life. The government and educational institutions are working to reflect new socio-economic trend to maximize students’ creativity and their own uniqueness in many educational institutions.
However, strong competition to get into a top university seems to be a universal problem - as is also the case for the Ivy League in the US and many other regions.
▶ South Korean universities have some of the closest links to industry. Is a lot of your job about building relationships with companies rather than focusing on educational issues?
The relationship with industry is increasingly significant, and collaboration is very important in Korea. It is a crucial source for securing students’ jobs. On top of that, we get research funding from companies and supply the pipeline of new inventions and innovation for them, in many case through collaboration projects. That could also be interpreted as our reputation of institutional performance through diverse evaluation indicators.
From the industry side, we are a very good supplier of high-caliber manpower. Therefore, a solid relationship with industry is key to the creation of added value of knowledge, as well as a critical steppingstone for technology commercialization.
Therefore, scaling up the organic relationship with industry is part of our education and research portfolio as well as part of my job as president.
▶ Do you think the main role of universities is to prepare graduates for the world of work?
The role of higher education is to educate the future generation and create new knowledge though research. The conventional concept of research and development (R&D) has expanded to R&DB, as it now includes business. Thus, the role of a university is also evolving. Universities should provide diverse opportunities for graduates to prepare them to contribute to society. That will be one of the ways to realize the social responsibility of a university.
▶ If someone else was taking over your role tomorrow, what’s the most useful advice you could give them?
When I took the office in March, I made up my mind to serve our students, faculty and staff with all my heart. I would say, inspire your people with leadership that they can emotionally connected with, if possible. In addition, I think only professionalism can make the best professionals.
▶ Who has inspired you during your career?
Dr. Kun-Mo Chung, former vice president of KAIST and former minister for science and technology, is my role model and mentor. He is an internationally renowned nuclear engineer and scholar, and successful technocrat who served as the minister for science and technology twice. He still teaches at KAIST in his eighties.
I admired his visionary leadership and his successful career as administrator as well as accomplished scholar. After graduating from Seoul National University, he went to Michigan State University. In his early thirties, he came back to Korea as a member of the United States Agency for International Development survey team to conduct the feasibility study for founding KAIST. He wrote the proposal in the Terman Report to the USAID that the establishment of KAIST would be necessary and useful for Korea. With $6 million dollar loan from the agency, he founded KAIST. He is the true innovator, I think.
▶ How do you use data to make sure your university is performing well? We are analyzing the diverse data released from international evaluation institutions such as THE data and Clarivate Analytics, as well as domestic institutions. Through the various indicators of data, we are keen to realize the global standard of our institution and advance our innovation competitiveness at a global level.
2017.07.06 View 7012 -
Face Recognition System 'K-Eye' Presented by KAIST
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the key emerging technologies. Global IT companies are competitively launching the newest technologies and competition is heating up more than ever. However, most AI technologies focus on software and their operating speeds are low, making them a poor fit for mobile devices. Therefore, many big companies are investing to develop semiconductor chips for running AI programs with low power requirements but at high speeds.
A research team led by Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo of the Department of Electrical Engineering has developed a semiconductor chip, CNNP (CNN Processor), that runs AI algorithms with ultra-low power, and K-Eye, a face recognition system using CNNP. The system was made in collaboration with a start-up company, UX Factory Co.
The K-Eye series consists of two types: a wearable type and a dongle type. The wearable type device can be used with a smartphone via Bluetooth, and it can operate for more than 24 hours with its internal battery. Users hanging K-Eye around their necks can conveniently check information about people by using their smartphone or smart watch, which connects K-Eye and allows users to access a database via their smart devices. A smartphone with K-EyeQ, the dongle type device, can recognize and share information about users at any time.
When recognizing that an authorized user is looking at its screen, the smartphone automatically turns on without a passcode, fingerprint, or iris authentication. Since it can distinguish whether an input face is coming from a saved photograph versus a real person, the smartphone cannot be tricked by the user’s photograph.
The K-Eye series carries other distinct features. It can detect a face at first and then recognize it, and it is possible to maintain “Always-on” status with low power consumption of less than 1mW. To accomplish this, the research team proposed two key technologies: an image sensor with “Always-on” face detection and the CNNP face recognition chip.
The first key technology, the “Always-on” image sensor, can determine if there is a face in its camera range. Then, it can capture frames and set the device to operate only when a face exists, reducing the standby power significantly. The face detection sensor combines analog and digital processing to reduce power consumption. With this approach, the analog processor, combined with the CMOS Image Sensor array, distinguishes the background area from the area likely to include a face, and the digital processor then detects the face only in the selected area. Hence, it becomes effective in terms of frame capture, face detection processing, and memory usage.
The second key technology, CNNP, achieved incredibly low power consumption by optimizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) in the areas of circuitry, architecture, and algorithms. First, the on-chip memory integrated in CNNP is specially designed to enable data to be read in a vertical direction as well as in a horizontal direction. Second, it has immense computational power with 1024 multipliers and accumulators operating in parallel and is capable of directly transferring the temporal results to each other without accessing to the external memory or on-chip communication network. Third, convolution calculations with a two-dimensional filter in the CNN algorithm are approximated into two sequential calculations of one-dimensional filters to achieve higher speeds and lower power consumption.
With these new technologies, CNNP achieved 97% high accuracy but consumed only 1/5000 power of the GPU. Face recognition can be performed with only 0.62mW of power consumption, and the chip can show higher performance than the GPU by using more power.
These chips were developed by Kyeongryeol Bong, a Ph. D. student under Professor Yoo and presented at the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) held in San Francisco in February. CNNP, which has the lowest reported power consumption in the world, has achieved a great deal of attention and has led to the development of the present K-Eye series for face recognition.
Professor Yoo said “AI - processors will lead the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the development of this AI chip, we expect Korea to take the lead in global AI technology.”
The research team and UX Factory Co. are preparing to commercialize the K-Eye series by the end of this year. According to a market researcher IDC, the market scale of the AI industry will grow from $127 billion last year to $165 billion in this year.
(Photo caption: Schematic diagram of K-Eye system)
2017.06.14 View 17061 -
KAIST Intensive Science Camp for Middle-High School Students
The KAIST Global Institute of Talented Education (Director: Dong-Soo Kwon) invited around 90 middle and high school students for an advanced science intensive camp from January 22 to 24.
This camp targeted middle and high school students in community centers or child-care institutions. It aims to increase students’ interest in science and engineering, and assist them with their career paths through programs such as special lectures on science, advanced science projects, and career mentoring.
Participating students were divided into groups of seven or eight with a KAIST student as a mentor to conduct advanced science projects such as VR controller production and robot arm programming. The camp included exploring future career options and science and engineering college admission counselling.
Jiyoung Ryu, Research Professor for the KAIST Global Institute of Talented Education, said, “KAIST started the science and engineering career experience program in 2016 with the Ministry of Education and Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET). So far, 6000 middle and high school students from around the country have participated. The camp is more meaningful since it educates students in social responsibility, in addition to the fields of science and engineering, both of which are missions and goals that KAIST strives for.” She continued to say, “We plan to continue to expand the program in the future.”
The KAIST Global Institute of Talented Education is actively conducting research and projects on national education for talented youth such as policy research concerning gifted education, science and engineering career education, advanced science camps, training for gifted education teachers, and cyber gifted education programs.
2017.02.01 View 8555 -
KAIST to Participate in the 2017 Davos Forum
(President Sung-Mo Kang and Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee)
KAIST representatives will join high profile, multi-stakeholder dialogues with global leaders across the world to discuss higher education, science, and technological innovation.
KAIST President Sung-Mo Kang and Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department will participate in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting on January 17-20, 2017, in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
To be held under the theme “Responsive and Responsible Leadership,” the Annual Meeting will offer global leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society a highly interactive platform to address some of the most pressing issues facing the world today, from climate change, economic inequality, to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on future employment.
On January 18, President Kang will participate in the Global University Leaders Forum, a community of top 26 universities invited from around the world, and will discuss the relevance of higher education in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He will also share KAIST’s experiences in developing innovative initiatives to bring future-oriented and creative values into its educational and research programs.
On January 19, at the Global Future Council on Production, President Kang will speak about new technologies taking place in traditional production and distribution systems as introduced by the emergence of rapidly evolving technological advancements, and present KAIST’s endeavors to transform those changes into opportunities.
With an eminent group of scientists, including the Director of the US National Science Foundation France A. Córdova and the Editor-in-Chief Philip Campbell of Nature at the Global Science Outlook session, on January 20, President Kang will discuss key challenges for the global science agenda in the year ahead and examine the role of science in formulating public discussions and polices that will have great impact on society and the lives of people.
Currently, Professor Lee is the founding Co-Chair of the WEF’s Global Future Council, an interdisciplinary knowledge network dedicated to promoting innovative thinking on the future. On January 20, he will share his insights at an independent session entitled “World Changing Technology: Biotech and Neurotech,” briefing the audience on the current state of research, development, and commercialization in these fields, as well as explaining how they will contribute to coping with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Professor Lee said, “In recent years, we have seen the world become ever more complex, interconnected, and realigned as it is deeply affected by this unprecedented technological innovations, collectively driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution. One pillar of such innovation will take place in biotechnology and neuroscience, which will help us design solutions to many of global problems such as environment, pandemic diseases, aging, healthcare, and previously intractable illnesses.”
President Kang added, “This year’s Davos meeting will focus on the need to foster leadership at the national, regional, and global level to respond collectively with credible actions to issues of major concern for the sustainable and equitable growth, social inclusion, and human development. KAIST has always been a crucial player in these collaborative efforts, and I am happy to share our insights at the upcoming event.”
2017.01.17 View 9498 -
President Kang Welcomes the New Year with an Upbeat Message
KAIST held a kick-off ceremony on January 2 at the Auditorium on campus to officially welcome the beginning of 2017.
In his New Year’s speech, President Sung-Mo Kang, who is slated to complete his term in February, recalled some of the major achievements accomplished under his leadership in the past four years.
Upon his inauguration in 2013, President Kang set a goal for KAIST to become a global top 10 university and established Quantum Jump Strategies for qualitative growth through innovative education and research programs. Such initiatives have laid the foundation for KAIST to emerge as one of the world’s best “student-centered, faculty-driven, and innovative research universities.” In 2016, Thomson Reuters named KAIST the world’s sixth most innovative university.
President Kang promoted a campus culture that cherishes creativity and a challenging spirit and encouraged university members to increase their interest in entrepreneurship and social responsibility. He reorganized academic structures to offer interdisciplinary education and revamped administrative organizations to streamline university management. On a softer note, he created various channels of communication within the university community to make the campus “happier and united,” which included the establishment of the Customer Satisfaction Center, the Center for Ethics and Human Rights, and coffee meetups.
He promised that KAIST would remain committed to leading the frontier of higher education and research, nationally and globally. The university will establish the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Medical Science, continue to provide university members with opportunities to learn entrepreneurship, extend its efforts to upgrade campus infrastructures, and strive to globalize and diversify the campus.
Finally, President Kang praised the tremendous support KAIST has received from across Korea and the globe, including the members of KAIST and its alumni, noting that there were more than 26,000 donations made to the university during his presidency.
The full text of President Kang’s New Year message follows below:
President Kang's New Year Message
Dear Members of KAIST,
It is 2017, and the year of the rooster has dawned on us. May you and your family enjoy good health and happiness in the new year, and I hope that you will all fulfill your dreams. In return for the love and trust of the nation’s citizens, KAIST will continue to do its best.
Following my inauguration in 2013, I established Quantum Jump Strategies in the first half of my term (2013 to 2014), and I also created a united KAIST during this period. In the second half (2015 to 2016), I promoted innovation through qualitative growth. KAIST has seen astonishing growth in the past four years, and this has laid the foundation to emerge as one of the world’s best Student-Centered, Faculty-Driven, and Innovative Research Universities.
Creativity and challenge are the key words serving as the driving force behind national progress. KAIST’s qualitative growth has been achieved through continuous innovation of education and research, promotion of an entrepreneurial spirit, and exercising of social responsibility.
KAIST’s education is constantly improving. It has developed a future-oriented educational platform, commensurate with its reputation as a world-class university, after several rounds of reorganization. The interdisciplinary education system at KAIST, based on a harmony of academic excellence and creativity, facilitates efficient operation of its broad undergraduate education and interdisciplinary graduate curriculum. Through a π-shaped education system, the students solidify their foundation at the undergraduate level, and go on to graduate school to gain more wisdom and knowledge through interdisciplinary education and research. Upon graduation, they are recognized as irreplaceable, talented members of society.
The newly introduced capstone design curriculum has shifted the paradigm of Korea’s engineering education, placing greater emphasis on real-world applications. With the opportunity to plan realistic projects and identify problems, the students will acquire creativity, practical skills, teamwork, and leadership.
Under Education 3.0, KAIST has implemented a student-centered education system. Students participate in self-directed learning using online contents provided before lectures, and gain knowledge and problem-solving skills through collaborative learning with team members during classes. In addition, KAIST is fulfilling its social responsibility by making its lectures available to the public through KAIST’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
KAIST is among the world’s top universities in terms of research capacity. The university has been highly ranked by QS and THE for its innovative education and research, and it was recently named by Thomson Reuters as the world’s sixth most innovative university. To ensure continuous developments, KAIST must perform sustainable research for the long run. Ideas aimed at improving humanity must be continuously produced, and the university must acquire the necessary resources to support such research. KAIST should promote a research culture that assesses researchers based on their diligence and conscientiousness rather than how successful they are. The KAIST Grand Challenge 30 Project was launched for KAIST to resolve major issues faced by humanity and to spread its culture of innovation to all.
To acquire global competitiveness in the field of biological sciences, KAIST is planning to establish the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Medical Science in Sejong. From 2018, the government will allocate a budget for the graduate school, which fared well in the preliminary feasibility study. Beginning with the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Medical Science, KAIST will establish a system for innovative education and research in Sejong, and further strengthen its capacities.
KAIST has worked hard to instill an entrepreneurial spirit in its students. It has provided students with many opportunities to learn entrepreneurship, so as to enhance the economic and social value of its activities in education and research. Through the Institute for Startup KAIST (ISK), the university supports students in all stages of entrepreneurship, from ideation to commercialization. The Master of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the K-School is jointly operated by several departments. Thanks to its active efforts in promoting entrepreneurship such as the opening of ISK Pangyo and the offering of the Social Entrepreneurship MBA (SEMBA), KAIST has produced the highest number of student entrepreneurs in Korea.
KAIST’s innovative pursuits in its administration have been highly regarded by organizations around the world. The tenure system, introduced for the first time in Korea, has now stabilized. Its English-only lecture policy and tuition subsidy by GPA have been improved based on feedback from students and experts.
KAIST went through a major administrative reorganization in 2013. The reorganization, introduced to integrate similar functions and simplify the decision-making process, enabled KAIST’s administration to adapt flexibly to changes, become function-oriented, assume roles more rationally, and to be more responsive to the needs of customers. With the opening of the Administration Development Education Center, KAIST has improved the quality of administrative services by providing staff in administrative positions with more opportunities for self-development and to attend lectures that improve the efficiency of administrative operations.
The university is actively reflecting the opinions of its members through various channels of communication. The school marked a first in Korea when it implemented an ombudsman to mediate between parties in case of conflict. The Customer Satisfaction Center was opened to improve the quality of services on campus, and the Center for Ethics and Human Rights to prevent the infringement of human rights. I have tried to make myself more available to all members of KAIST, so as to freely interact with them without having to arrange separate meetings. The opening of the office of the president, coffee meetups, forums with undergraduate and graduate students, and e-mail exchanges have been tremendously helpful in gaining valuable feedback and improving university operations.
KAIST is strongly supported by the citizens of Daejeon. The university has strengthened its ties with Daejeon Metropolitan City, Yuseong District Office, and Chungnam National University. Its efforts have paid off with the opening of a new path connecting Chungnam National University and KAIST, and the KAIST Bridge in front of the main gate. KAIST has encouraged students to reach out to society by serving as tutors for the socially neglected and helping out in making kimchi.
By improving its infrastructure in the past four years, KAIST has now established high-quality infrastructure to support its education and research. The Chung Moon Soul Building 2 is now complete, the Academic Cultural Creative Building is underway, and the Main Library is being upgraded. New constructions or remodeling on campus include the opening of Startup KAIST Studio 2, opening of the Biomedical Research Center (Pharmacy), remodeling of International Village C, remodeling of the Semiconductor Building, remodeling of the Auditorium, remodeling of the Mechanical Engineering Building, remodeling of the Startup Village, remodeling of Haejeong Hall and Buildings No. 8 and 9, remodeling of the Outdoor Theater, remodeling of Hwaam Dormitory (tentative), establishment of an eco campus (planting of pine trees), establishment of a safe campus (improvements to roads and pedestrian roads). Besides expanding its infrastructure, KAIST has exerted efforts to make efficient use of existing space by relocating IBS and the Graduate School for Green Growth to Munji Campus.
KAIST strives to create a more accommodating atmosphere for international members and to embrace diversity. It has reached its goal of having international faculty, international students, and female faculty account for 10% each of the total school population. Now, it is time to improve this 10:10:10 initiative to a 20:20:20 initiative. In addition, it must continue to improve the common kitchen at Nanum Hall, communicate with international members through regular podcasts, open a Halal Food Cafeteria, establish a bilingual campus, offer joint degrees with outstanding universities, expand overseas internship opportunities, enhance gender equality, and improve the women’s lounge and childcare facilities.
In the near future, I believe that KAIST will be a center of attention both at home and abroad. It has attracted an increasing number of undergraduate applicants in the past four years, and admits highly qualified freshmen each year. Students of all levels, including freshmen, have shown great pride in studying at KAIST. Recently, the university has received a high number of donations from students, alumni, and parents. There were more than 26,000 donations in the past four years, amounting to a total of 70.8 billion won. KAIST is also serving as a benchmark institute for similar organizations in and outside of Korea. Some authorities have even requested KAIST to open branch campuses in their countries. These results would not have been possible without your efforts to create a happy campus.
Dear Members of KAIST,
This New Year’s greetings will be my last as the president of KAIST. The Board of Trustees is selecting a new president, whose inauguration shall fall on February 23, 2017. I will look back fondly on my past four years at KAIST.
During the remainder of my term as the president, I will concentrate my efforts to create a happy campus for each and every member. It was a great pleasure and honor to serve as President for the past four years. I am sincerely grateful to all members for playing their part in nurturing KAIST into the world’s best university and in creating a happy campus.
You are the future of KAIST, and the driving force behind Korea. I believe you have what it takes to lead developments in the country, and I encourage you to dream bigger.
May 2017 be a year in which all members of KAIST fulfill their dreams. Let us work towards our goal of becoming the hub of the fourth industrial revolution and one of the world’s best Student-Centered, Faculty-Driven Research Universities.
2017.01.03 View 8388 -
Mobile Software Platform Research Center Recognized by the MSIP
The Mobile Software Platform Research Center (MSPRC) at KAIST received an award from the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea on November 29, 2016, at Coex in Seoul. The award was presented at the Conference of Software R&D Annual Report 2016 hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MISP) and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion (IITP).
The research center developed user experience (UX)-oriented mobile software platforms that support the invention of next-generation UX service technologies. The center has filed 37 patents and registered 15 technologies. Its researchers received ten Best Paper Awards and published a total of 133 papers in Korean and international journals.
Research teams at MSPRC expect that their software platforms will offer training programs for software engineers and new UX services. They also said that their extensive event processing platforms would reduce energy consumption on mobile devices.
Professor Seungryoul Maeng of the School of Computing, the Director of MSPRC, said, “This is a great honor for us. I am greatly thankful for the teamwork of participating departments--Computer Science, Industrial Design, and Industrial and Systems Engineering. We will continue to introduce our research outcomes and to work towards commercializing these results.”
Members of the Mobile Software Platform Research Center, KAIST
2016.12.07 View 7546 -
MOU between KAIST and DTU Signed
KAIST and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in the areas of startup, student exchange, and joint research on October 25, 2016 at the Embassy of Denmark in Seoul, Korea. Under the agreement, KAIST and DTU will exchange students and researchers through startup programs and continue to collaborating in education and research.
The MOU was facilitated during the Green Growth Alliance Meeting and Energy Seminar hosted by the Danish embassy, in which Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen participated.
President Steve Kang of KAIST, who fostered the agreement, said,
“DTU has been one of our strategic partners in Europe. We have been working closely with them on academic exchanges and research collaborations, but now with the expansion of our cooperation into entrepreneurship, we will create momentum to spur startups in both schools. To support such activities, we will use KAIST’s experiences acquired from operating the K-School, an entrepreneurship graduate school, and the Institute of KAIST Entrepreneurship. DTU will also share their knowledge on startup programs including SkyLab and StartDTU. I believe this will become another successful alliance between the two universities.”
As of October 2016, KAIST has made 18 agreements with DTU, exchanging 120 students in the past three years and implementing various joint seminars and conferences for academic and research exchanges.
Established in 1829, DTU has been a leading science and technology university in Denmark. It ranked 109 in the QS World University Rankings 2016 and 46th in its subject rankings in engineering and technology.
In the picture below, President Steve Kang of KAIST (right) and Senior Vice President Martin P. Bendsøe of the Technical University of Denmark (left) are signing an agreement for academic and research cooperation.
2016.10.27 View 8183 -
KAIST and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Agree to Cooperate in Education and Research
KAIST and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary extended their existing agreement for comprehensive cooperation in education and research, and signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) for student exchanges on October 19, 2016, at Budapest University.
The two universities will exchange faculty, researchers, and students for education and research collaboration, implement dual degree programs, conduct joint lectures and research projects, and share infrastructures and talent pools.
These agreements were part of the agenda for the 8th Meeting of the Korea and Hungary Science and Technology Joint Committee, which took place October 17-19, 2016, in Budapest.
President Sung-Mo Kang of KAIST, Associate Vice President Sung-Hyon Myaeng of the International Office, and Director General Won-Ho Choi of International Relations at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea were present at the MOU singing.
Associate Vice President Myaeng said:
“Traditionally, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics has been known for its strong base in the natural sciences. Combining this with KAIST’s excellence in engineering, the two universities will bring synergistic effects that will help further develop the schools as well as their host nations.”
“Finding partners to implement joint research projects sponsored by the European Union or establishing cooperative networks among future talents between the two countries through various student exchange programs can be a good starting point,” he added.
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics was created in 1782, and is one of the most prestigious universities in Hungary, having produced three Nobel Prize laureates. It has a highly-globalized campus, where one third of its student population is made up of international students, and offers lectures and research in English.
In addition, the Hungarian-Korean Technical Cooperation Center Foundation, established in 1992 and based in Budapest, hosted a seminar on science in Korea and Hungary on October 17, 2016. At the seminar, Korean and Hungarian participants discussed issues on the two nations’ science, technology, and strategies to drive innovation under the topic “The Technical Innovation-Importance of Startup Companies.”
Associate Vice President Sung-Hyon Myaeng of the International Office, KAIST, is pictured fourth from the left, and János Józsa, rector of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, is fifth from the left.
2016.10.20 View 8291 -
KAIST Signs an Agreement with CSC for Cooperation
KAIST and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support the admission of Chinese students to KAIST on October 5, 2016 in Seoul. KAIST is the only institution in Korea made such agreement with the CSC.
Affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China, the CSC is a non-profit institution that provides financial assistance to Chinese students to study abroad and to internationals wishing to study in China. The CSC has supported 500,000 Chinese students for their studying and living in a foreign country, and this year alone, it provided outbound Chinese students with scholarships of approximately USD 100 million.
Under the MOU, Chinese students admitted to KAIST’s master’s and doctoral programs will receive finical support from CSC, including monthly stipends and roundtrip airfare from China to Korea.
President Sung-Mo Kang of KAIST said, “This is a great opportunity for us because we can invite more outstanding Chinese students. They will make our campus more diverse and global, while their academic experiences will become richer with KAIST’s offerings in education and research. I hope many Chinese students will capitalize on this chance to come to KAIST for their advanced degrees in science and technology.”
In the picture below, President Steve Kang of KAIST, on the right, is pictured with Secretary General Liu Jinghui of China Scholarship Council.
2016.10.19 View 6838