Looking back on 50 years of synergy in convergence research between Korea's leading private university and a respected government-funded research institute
A ceremony was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the university-research institute collaboration between Korea University and KIST

Korea University and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) held an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the university-research institute collaboration between the two institutions at Kim Yang Hyun Hall in KU's SK Future Hall at 3 pm on Tuesday, November 10.

At this event, which was designed to celebrate achievements made over the past 50 years and prepare to leap forward over the course of the next 50 years, President of Korea University Chung Jin Taek said, “I hope that as partners over the past 50 years and for another 50 years and beyond, KIST and Korea University will generate multidimensional convergence synergies in a wider range of fields and play a leading role in presenting the best sustainable solutions to the various problems faced by humanity, by fostering pioneering insights.” He added, "In the future, not only will convergence science and convergence engineering be reborn synergistically, but so will almost all disciplines, and there will be enormous demand for convergence in many areas besides academia. I hope this event will serve as an opportunity to herald a better tomorrow through a focus on convergence."

KIST President Yoon Seok-jin said, “An agreement signed 50 years ago between Korea University and KIST has served as the seed of cooperative programs between major universities and research institutions in Korea, and has successfully cultivated so many talented people in convergence science and technology. I believe that KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, which has created remarkable synergies between disciplines by combining the talents of the two institutions, will continue to serve as a cradle for the cultivation of researchers focused on convergence through world-class research and education. Today marks a turning point for Korea's future-oriented national policy, and I hope that the 50-year partnership between Korea University and KIST will become a cornerstone of a new university-research institute cooperation model for the future, driving our trust-centered and cooperative relationship forward."  

Dean of the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology Ahn Dong-june gave a presentation that looked back on the trajectory of the half century of collaboration between the two institutions, and graduates of the program participated and shared their thoughts and feelings. Subsequently, Moon Kil-choo, a chair professor at Korea University, gave a keynote lecture entitled "Education is Innovation."

Professor Moon was the president of KIST at the time of the inauguration of the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology. In this lecture focusing on ‘Borderless Education,’ he said that we need to cultivate talent who can prepare for future social trends and the imminent 5th Industrial Revolution, stressing that educational innovation appropriate to the Homo Deus era is necessary to help students cultivate an ability to solve complex problems through a focus on imagination rather than rote knowledge.

The event concluded with researchers from both institutions presenting their research results.

In 1970, Korea University President Lee Jong-woo and KIST President Choi Hyung-sub led the first university-research institute collaboration. Based on its world-recognized academic evaluations and research achievements, as one of the best private schools in Korea, KU is fostering sought-after talent through its cooperative work with KIST, Korea's leading national research institute.

In 2012, both institutions launched the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology by opening the KU-KIST School and introducing a university-research institute cooperation faculty system through which Korea University professors become KIST researchers and KIST researchers become Korea University professors, teaching students in tandem with each other and conducting IT-NS and Bio-Med convergence research, all of which constitutes a new university-research institute cooperative graduate school model. In addition, as major research achievements have followed, it has been widely recognized as an innovative model which is gradually gaining adherents.

The Graduate School of Energy and Environment (the Green School), which opened in 2010, is also a component of the KU-KIST School and is at the center of efforts to realize a Green New Deal by fostering talent from home and abroad in the fields of energy and environment policies and technologies.

The Department of Integrative Energy Engineering run by the KU-KIST School was newly established at Korea University College of Engineering this year, and cooperation between the two institutions is expected to bring innovation to education at the undergraduate level.

▲ Former deans of the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology from left: Ahn Dong-june, professor at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University (5th), Lee Kwan-young, professor at the Department of Chemical and Biotechnology, Korea University (3rd), Jin Jung-il, professor emeritus at the Department of Chemistry, Korea University (1st), Suh Sang-hee, former special professor at Korea University (2nd), and Nam Suk-woo, KIST researcher and adjunct professor at Korea University (4th)

 ▲ From left: Yeom Jae-ho, former president of Korea University, Moon Gil-ju, chair professor of Korea University (former KIST president), Chung Jin Taek, president of Korea University, Yoon Seok-jin, president of KIST, Lee Byoung-gwon, former president of KIST, and Ahn Dong-june, president of KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology