The birthplace of science and technology that powered The Miracle on the Han River
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is the first and top science and technology university in South Korea. KAIST has long been the domestic gateway to advanced science and technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, and its graduates have been key players in so many of Korea’s innovations. KAIST will continue to pursue advancement in science and technology as well as further the economic development of Korea and beyond.
KAIST educates, researches, and takes the lead in innovation to serve humanity. The academic institute fosters talent who exhibit creativity and embrace challenges. It also nurtures compassionate minds in creating transformative innovation.
From ashes to prosperity through science
In the early 1960s, the government’s foremost goal was to eradicate the nationwide poverty that followed the Korean War. To accomplish this, it spearheaded an intensive effort to strengthen the base of the country’s technological industries.
But Korea's brain drain was a serious problem. Many students went abroad for advanced studies, but few returned to what was one of the poorest countries in the world at the time.
Among those who went abroad, a young Korean research professor at MIT named Kun-Mo Chung wrote a paper on how to stop the brain drain from developing countries. In 1969, the new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) John Hannah announced a new foreign aid policy that would invest in fostering talent in developing countries, a paradigm shift from direct financial assistance.
In a meeting with Dr. Hannah, Professor Chung explained his paper on stopping the brain drain in developing countries. Hannah suggested that Chung develop a proposal titled "The Establishment of a New Graduate School of Applied Science and Technology in Korea" for USAID in October 1969. This proposal was officially reported to the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea in March 1970.
USAID sent a feasibility team to scrutinize the project. Frederick Terman, the former provost at Stanford University and referred to as the Father of Silicon Valley, headed the five-member team. After completing a two-month inspection in Korea, the team wrote a six-chapter final report called "The Terman Report."
The blueprint suggested that the establishment of KAIST would significantly contribute to Korea's development and made recommendations for the academic curriculum and faculty responsibilities; as well as suggesting interactions with industry and other members of the academic community.
The Terman Report was finally submitted to USAID and the Korean government in December 1970 to facilitate a $6 million USAID loan to Korea. The nation’s first science and technology university, KAIST, was formally founded on February 16, 1971, with six departments and the first cohort of 40 master's candidates.
In the last chapter of the Terman Report titled “Looking Ahead,” the authors wrote: “By the year 2000, KAIST will be a great institute of technology that will have become the model for several similar institutions in other lands.”
And that forecast became a reality.
Portfolio
Opened
in 1971
Located in
Daejeon
Comprised of 5 Colleges
7 Schools
12 Graduate Schools
27 Departments
Alumni
69,388
BS: 19,457
MS: 35,513
Ph.D.: 14,418
Students
10,793
BS: 3,605
MS: 3,069
Ph.D.: 1,354
Joint MS/Ph.D: 2,765
Faculty and Staff
1,590
Faculty: 646
Staff: 944
International Population
1,004
Faculty: 187
Staff: 817
QAIST, seeking top talent worldwide
Since President Kwang Hyung Lee assumed the top office at KAIST March last year, the university has set QAIST as its new cultural strategy.
QAIST is an acronym for the words question, advanced research, internationalization, start-up and trust. The homonym to the university’s name KAIST reflects its aspiration to nurture talented students that are not afraid to question and seek advanced research, to become one of the top 10 universities worldwide, to foster an entrepreneurial spirit for value creation, and to make a trust-based contribution to society for the next 50 years.
To nurture creative talent, QAIST's final exam will include a section in which the student will have to pose a question and there is a course titled Education 4.0 Q. Going forward, it will expand the curriculum so that it applies to different departments.
To create a research foundation that promotes being the first over the best, the university adopted a “creative challenge project” to support new ideas and a “research catapult project” to launch ideas thought to be proven right.
In July last year, it established what it calls a failure lab, in which members can share their experiences with failure. It also established a Post AI research lab, to prepare for life after AI and the scientific paradigm.
The university also formed a global competency council to become one of the top 10 universities in the world. The council is in charge of setting the mid to long-term strategy for advancing its rankings in the global arena and pursuing related works such as strengthening global research, nurturing talent and fostering international collaboration.
It is also considering setting up a global integration program to recruit international talent, which is one of the main conditions for the globalization of academic campuses. It is also working with the justice ministry to relax the visa approval processes for those pursuing master's or doctoral degrees at KAIST.
The K-NEST project is part of QAIST. Centering around the city of Daejeon, K-NEST aspires to establish a cutting-edge industrial ecosystem that connects Sejong and Osong. The main areas of growth include artificial intelligence, future energy sources like hydrogen, bio, ESG, and machinery equipment and parts.
As part of the K-NEST project, KAIST has decided to nurture 10 startups to pursue Nasdaq listings and 50 startups that will seek Kosdaq listings by 2040, the combined corporate value of which would reach 1 quadrillion won.
Startup KAIST, establishing a tech-venture ecosystem
As of 2018
0
Number of KAIST Startups
Total Asset Size (Unit: trn won)
31.9
Total Sales Scale (Unit: trn won)
18.5
Total Employment
45,066
Startup KAIST is the movement to fulfill the KAIST’s leadership role in developing national economic growth and quality jobs by catalyzing the startup renaissance.
Startup KAIST was officially launched on April 7, 2014, with the slogan “Stop Thinking, Start Doing.” Startup KAIST is a movement led by KAIST for the revitalization of startups for the success of national job-creating programs and to develop the engines of economic growth.
Startup KAIST has been providing members of the KAIST family with workspaces as well as training and practical programs. Many of the programs are designed to allow aspiring entrepreneurs to learn practical business skills and boost their entrepreneurial skills.
Five strongholds
Robotics
The robotics technology research at KAIST is mainly done within the mechanical engineering department. By conducting a systematic study on the ubiquitous robotic companion (URC) and medical technology that improves the quality of life in an aging society, the university is contributing to Korea’s technological prowess in the fourth industrial revolution.
A case in point is a wearable robot by Professor Kyoungchul Kong at the college of mechanical engineering. Kong worked with a doctor at Severance Hospital of Yonsei University College of Medicine to jointly develop a new exoskeleton in 2020 for paraplegics.
Before that, Kong and Dong-wook Rha, a professor at the hospital's Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, received investment from LG Electronics in 2017 to establish Angel Robotics Co.
Angel Robotics has five product lines including WalkON Suit and Angel Legs.
The WalkON Suit 4 uses an algorithm to recognize what kind of movement the user wishes to make and helps them stand erect, walk, climb up and down stairs, sit and execute other motions.
So far, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, and NHIS Ilsan Hospital have purchased wearable robots from Angel Robotics. It began exporting its products to the Daehan Rehabilitation Hospital Putrajaya in Malaysia last May.
AI
The Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI (KAIST AI) was established in the fall of 2019. It is the first Korean institution to grant master's and doctoral degrees in AI.
The faculty at KAIST AI are researchers from renowned research institutions and corporations worldwide, such as Google Brain, IBM IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Facebook AI Research, Microsoft Research, NVIDIA Research, LinkedIn, Oracle, and AT&T Bell Labs.
Professor Jaesik Choi, who leads the AI startup INEEJI, became the talk of the town by developing a technology for calculating input variables in deep learning technology in November. “Ths technology can be applied to previous learning models and by predicting deep learning performances, it is expected to contribute greatly to the utilization of deep learning models,” KAIST announced.
Global ranking year to year
The number of papers by the International Conference on Machine Learning(ICML) and the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), two of the world's most prestigious academic societies in the field of artificial intelligence (KAIST 6th in the world, 1st in Asia, in 2020)
World ranking
Asia ranking
Autonomous Driving
The Cho Chun Shik Graduate School was established in 2010, a place where the basic technology for mobility is researched using systems such as autonomous driving, power systems and intelligent transport systems (ITS).
In October, Professor Seung-Hyun Kong’s team at the mobility college developed AI technology using 4D radar that helps a self-driving vehicle safely navigate adverse weather.
Most Autonomous Driving vehicles in development use cameras and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to recognize the surroundings. But the performance of either is affected by the weather as the former uses visible light and the latter infrared light.
When there is precipitation or fog, the performance of cameras and LiDARs decreases, making it more dangerous to drive. In fact, Tesla’s electric vehicles often encounter problems due to the weather or reflections of sunlight.
While cameras are equipped inside cars, LiDARs are mounted atop a vehicle, making them prone to getting damaged by rain, snow, and even dust.
The research team conducted a number of research in various weather and road conditions. They were dissecting what the object that came within the 70-meter radius of the car was, where it was located, and how it was going to move. The research findings reached 62.5% accuracy, one of the highest in the world.
The research team revealed a 13-terabyte dataset to the world. For reference, one terabyte is equal to 250,000 MP3 music files. The team is hopeful that the use of the latest dataset will increase AI development speed using 4D radar.
Semiconductors
The School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST boasts a world-class research team. KAIST has been developing the top level of research and education in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. In the semiconductor sector, it was ranked first place by the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) ahead of MIT and Stanford.
The ISSCC was established in 1954. It is widely known as the Olympics for semiconductors architecture as more than 60% of the participants work for Samsung Electronics, Qualcomm, TSMC and Intel.
By the number of papers selected by ISSCC, KAIST still ranked at the top or a close second every year. In the last 17 years, it has been leading the conference in this regard.
On average, a total of 8.4 KAIST papers have been selected at ISSCC over 17 years, compared to an average of 4.6 such papers by MIT and 3.6 by UCLA.
Domestically, KAIST ranks second place after Samsung. At the VLSI Symposium,an international conference on semiconductor technology and circuits, it ranked first place worldwide this year.
In November last year, KAIST and Samsung Electronics signed an agreement to establish a semiconductor system engineering department, which offers a hiring contract-based course of study, at Samsung Electronics’ Hwaseong Campus.
The course will be open to a total of 500 students between 2022 and 2027. From 2023, it will select around 100 new students each year. In the first two years, students who’ve just entered KAIST can transfer to the new department in their second year. The joint department will provide scholarships to the students.
The curriculum includes the basics of semiconductor systems, and advanced semiconductor systems, as well as site visits and hands-on experience. In particular, it will incorporate visits to Samsung Electronics and internships and joint workshops.
KAIST and Samsung Electronics will pursue a new type of class combining lectures, research and discussions.
Bio
The Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering at KAIST was established to cater to those holding medical licenses and natural sciences and engineering graduates. The medical licenses also refer to dental and oriental medicine.
Those who’ve graduated with degrees from such courses can contribute to developing medical devices and technology for diagnosis and treatment.
The Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering at KAIST is at the center of the K-NEST project. During the four years of medical school, students receive 48 credits in medicine, 52 credits in clinical medicine, another 52 points in clinical training, and 52 points in convergence medicine. During the course, students choose one of the three courses named MD-AI, MD-Bio, or MD-Physics. After completing a four year-year doctoral degree, graduates can become medical science doctors in their chosen track.
“The Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering is poised to expand and by 2026, the institute will become a powerhouse of medical and science," said KAIST President Lee. To achieve that goal, related goals must be revised and the graduate school must be approved by the government and more.
Lee added that the transition to a research-focused institute is a must for securing national competency in the biomedical era.
He said that nurturing physician-scientists is the most critical mission for KAIST to help the nation create a new growth engine. He said KAIST will help the nation drive the bio-industry and provide medical science resources for the nation’s health sector. To this end, he said that KAIST will open its Medical Science and Technology School by 2026.
“We plan to expand the current Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering into a new Medical Science and Technology School that will focus entirely on a condensed MD-PhD course converging the fields of AI, bio and physics,” he said.
The school aims to foster medical scientists whose research results will eventually be commercialized. He said that the university is now discussing revisions to related laws and regulations with the government and other universities.
Vision 2031: KAIST as a bridge to the world
Vision 2031 is KAIST’s strategic development plan that was prepared for the 60th anniversary of KAIST. Vision 2031 reaffirms KAIST’s founding mission as Korea’s first and top science and technology university to transform into an entrepreneurial university whose knowledge creates global value to benefit humanity.
Under Vision 2031, KAIST seeks to contribute to the development of humanity through science and technology innovation. Vision 2031 entails KAIST’s innovation initiatives in the five areas of education, research, technology, commercialization, globalization, and future strategy. Vision 2031 reflects the three keywords of humanity, happiness and prosperity.
The mission of KAIST, when it was founded in 1971, was the development of science and technology as well as the industry of Korea. Today, KAIST should exert efforts to achieve universal values that extend beyond Korea to benefit humanity.
KAIST will provide education to foster creative leaders with the potential to enhance the social value of science and technology, conduct research and development to overcome challenges for humanity, emerge as an entrepreneurial university that creates value through technology commercialization, and play the role of "World Bridge KAIST" through globalization.
The core of these four key innovation strategies lies in the goal of becoming a university that pursues both "How?" as well as "What?"
In line with Vision 2031 will be the opening of a joint campus operated by KAIST and the New York University in Manhattan in the early half of next year.
The universities held a signboard ceremony in September at the Kimmel Center for University Life, operated by NYU, with New York Mayor Eric Leroy Adams, President of New York University Andrew D. Hamilton, Korea’s Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho, and KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee.
“We’re proud to have helped facilitate this partnership between KAIST and New York University, which will be a real win for students and help drive continued innovation in our city,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams added: “From the time that senior members of our administration learned about this opportunity during a recent trip to South Korea, we have worked closely with KAIST to develop strategies for increasing their presence and investments in New York. This is the start of a relationship that I am confident will bring even more academic, business, and technological opportunities to the five boroughs.”
“We’re delighted by our newly established partnership with KAIST,” said NYU President Andrew Hamilton. “We see great potential in the opportunities to collaborate on the development of courses, research, cutting-edge technologies, entrepreneurship initiatives and industrial partnerships and exchanges.”
“We are very excited to have our institution come together with NYU to begin pursuing a common vision: Joining forces to advance technology-based research and education; playing a leading role in addressing global challenges and problems through science and technology, and building stronger ties between Korea and the United States,” said KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee.
The two universities shared areas of research include medical and biotechnology against any new pandemic, AI-equipped neuroscience, technology for combating climate change, next-generation mobile communication, and more.