KU adds departments in cutting-edge fields to nurture leaders for a post COVID-19 era

The Department of Data Sciences, Division of Smart Security, and Department of Integrative Energy Engineering to admit 90 students in total.

The Department of Semiconductor System Engineering (under a contract with SK hynix) aiming at training people to meet the needs of our changing society.

Creating new values in an era of change, Korea University is implementing new departments in hi-tech disciplines. The university is responding to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in preparation for a post- COVID-19 pandemic world.

Korea University will admit students to the high-tech field departments (including one division) from the 2021 school year to nurture future leaders for a rapidly changing environment. Each of the newly established departments (including one division) – the Department of Data Sciences, the Division of Smart Security, and the Department of Integrative Energy Engineering – will select 30 students.

Last November, the Ministry of Education announced that it would increase the capacity of departments in hi-tech fields to 8,000 students from the 2021 school year by adding and expanding departments in the hi-tech disciplines. Korea University recently submitted a proposal outlining the launch of the three new departments (including one division) to the ministry. That proposal was successful, allowing the university to admit a total of 90 students to the departments.

◆ Department of Data Sciences: Dedicated to AI and Big Data, aiming to create disruptive tech ◆

Specialized in AI and big data, the department aims to cultivate convergent talents that can produce unrivaled technology by applying data science.

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, demand for data analysis and processing technology is rapidly on the rise in all areas of the IT industry, raising the need for specialized education tailored to this demand. As high-capacity data analysis and processing technology is required in advanced IT fields such as AI, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, the curriculum will be focused on practical and integrative education that reflects various requirements from the perspective of the core disciplines for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through the convergence of content-based data analysis and processing technology from various fields such as biotechnology, medicine, media, and engineering, the department also aims to help students learn creative and innovative approaches beyond the framework of traditional academic thinking and implementation.

◆ Division of Smart Security: Smart security based on convergent knowledge and imagination ◆

The Division of Smart Security will develop global industry-academia-research leaders that pave the way for a reliable smart society based on security, IT, and convergence knowledge.

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, security is integral to planning and design for all smart convergence technologies. Smart security is a core basic technology to ensure the safe and sustainable development for key smart technologies, including thirteen innovation growth engines, eight core leading projects, and twelve new industries. To meet these needs, the Division of Smart Security aims to cultivate talents who can fulfill their social responsibility as smart security experts and create social value through smart security. With convergence knowledge and their imagination, creative talents who can present innovative and diverse smart security solutions for a secure, reliable smart cyber society will become leaders in the coming smart society.

◆ Department of Integrative Energy Engineering: The development of sustainable energy solutions for the future ◆

The Department of Integrative Energy fosters global energy leaders with human-centered design and policy skills who can pioneer future energy technology by integrating nanotechnology, information technology, and biotechnology.

The department aims to foster talents who can produce differentiated convergence breakthroughs as a sustainable energy solution essential for new industries and the well-being of humanity. The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals include sustainable industry and urban infrastructure innovation, affordable clean energy, and climate change response. Problem-solving education is required to address these sustainable development tasks and meet societal needs, and hyper-convergence engineering education is required to understand everything from materials to systems and policies. For the past decade, the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology/ Graduate School of Energy and Environment has boasted robust academic achievements in the field of convergence research and has produced talents who are competitive in the global era through convergence education in science and technology. We plan to bring this foundation to the undergraduate level to cultivate global talents who will work actively in the global arena. The department will help students to become world-class experts by participating in discussion-based problem-solving learning and obtaining knowledge in ▲sustainable energy policy and people-oriented engineering design ▲photoelectric energy technology (low-power future information device/photocatalyst/photodetection sensor/solar cells), and ▲bio energy technology (artificial photosynthesis/ bionics / biofuel) and offer them opportunities to take part in overseas competitions and credit-bearing internships in connection with KIST.

In conjunction with semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix, Korea University has also established the Department of Semiconductor System Engineering with a capacity of thirty students. The four-year curriculum jointly developed by KU and SK hynix consists of customized training aimed at fostering individuals with problem-solving skills and practical knowledge. During the first two years, liberal arts and basic major courses are taught, and in the remaining two years, students are given the opportunity to participate in actual research projects through undergraduate internships after studying advanced major and convergence major subjects. SK hynix provides full scholarships for tuition and other benefits. After graduation, students can be hired by SK hynix or continue at graduate school based on their undergraduate grades and internship activities.

In establishing these hi-tech departments, Korea University has emphasized the importance of producing a workforce with expertise from the undergraduate level in order to help the hi-tech industry keep growing, and will continue to play a key role in industrial development in the future. To help students to sharpen their creative problem-solving skills through this differentiated curriculum, KU will continue to add to its faculty by inviting leading experts in each field as invited professors.

As KU President Chung Jin Taek has stated, “The crisis we face now is also the beginning of a huge change. To prepare for this change, everyone must consider their future and develop their own competitiveness in their position. We will do our best not only to help students in the advanced sciences to contribute to enhancing national competitiveness but to be among the best educational institutions generating the future-leading talents needed in a post-pandemic world."