1. Establishment

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was established in 1971 as the nation’s first graduate school specializing in science and engineering education and research. The school’s founding was a catalyst for Korea’s rapid rise from a producer of light industry goods to a world leader in complex technology.

The political leadership in the 1960s and 1970s singled out education, work ethics and technological advancement as the means of transforming Korea from an underdeveloped agrarian society into an emerging economy equipped with technological and industrial competitiveness. KAIST was founded with government funding and was initially staffed with a number of Korean engineering and science faculty educated in the United States.

Research emphasis from the onset has been in theoretical and applied studies. KAIST continues as Korea’s foremost center for mid- to long-term strategic R&D projects of national and international significance. The University has pioneered the establishment of competitive graduate school programs in Korea.

KAIST has evolved into an international institution. The University’s 400-strong faculty conducts internationally recognized research in cooperation with academic institutions and industries all over the world. KAIST may be the only university in Korea which gives generous grants and fellowships to international students. By doing so, KAIST is helping to promote Korea as a global educational institution.

The University has in recent years been recruiting distinguished scholars from overseas. The current KAIST President, Dr. Nam-Pyo Suh, former administrator and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, is a leading authority in axiomatic design technology. His predecessor, Dr. Robert Laughlin, a Nobel laureate and physics professor from Stanford University, was the first foreigner to head a Korean university. KAIST is increasing the number of courses taught in English to better serve a growing number of graduate and undergraduate students from overseas.

2. Current Status

KAIST is located in the Daedeok Research Complex in the city of Daejeon, 150 kilometers south of the capital city, Seoul. Daedeok complex is the nation’s R&D capital and home to some 50 public and private research institutes, universities and high-tech and venture capital companies. KAIST’s Daedeok and Seoul campuses house four colleges (natural science, engineering, business and cultural science with 16 departments), eight research institutes and five affiliate schools. There are at present a total of 7,736 students enrolled; 3,223 in the bachelor’s, 2,213 in the master’s, and 2,300 in the doctorate program. International students number 220 and account for 3 percent of all students, with 55 in the bachelor’s, 76 in the master’s, and 89 in the doctoral program. KAIST has 442 professors and 323 staff as of Feb. 1, 2008.

3. Education System

KAIST has a unique, autonomous and flexible academic system. Other Korean colleges and universities are required to abide by government-directed admissions and curriculum requirements. KAIST’s “open major system” for the undergraduate program allows a student to take classes for three terms before choosing a discipline that suits their aptitude and interest. In addition, undergraduate students are free to change their major at anytime.

KAIST recruits students on the basis of their overall high-school grades, math and science grades, teacher recommendations, study plan, personal statements, and other data that demonstrate excellence in potential students, with its first in Korea, test-free admissions system. Scores from the state-run scholastic ability test are not considered. KAIST is currently making changes in the admissions policy with special emphasis on personal character and creativity. This multi-pronged and flexible admission procedure enables KAIST to recruit well-rounded students.

KAIST has produced many young doctors in their 20s through the Integrated Master’s and Doctoral Program and Early Completion System. KAIST requires candidate students to publish their papers in globally renowned academic journals to ensure high quality of their doctoral dissertation. KAIST students take research-oriented classes in which teaching and research activities are simultaneously conducted.

Scholarships are given to all students in the bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate programs. Doctoral students are exempted from Korea’s compulsory military service duty. On-campus dormitories are provided for all students who wish to use them.

4. Research Institutes

Research at KAIST focuses on basic science and technological innovation that will have the greatest impact on industrial society. Eight KAIST Institutes (KIs) have been set up to concentrate the University’s research capabilities in specific advanced fields. Each KI is operated as an independent research center at the level of a college, receiving financial and facility support. KAIST is currently conducting research projects commissioned by the government and private businesses that amount to as much as 100 billion won (USD100 million). In terms of ownership of intellectual property rights, KAIST holds 1,591 domestic patents and 500 international patents.

5. Graduates

KAIST has educated 33,380 outstanding scientists and engineers over the last 37 years, producing 6,867 Ph.D. graduates, 17,911 master’s degree holders and 8,602 bachelor’s degree holders (Table 1). Of the Ph.D. holders, 43 percent were in their twenties upon graduation. KAIST graduates are working in universities, businesses and research institutes as well as in some of the most prestigious schools abroad.

Table 1.  Number of KAIST graduates from 1975 to 2007.

KAIST graduates teach and conduct research at MIT, UCLA, Harvard University and Pennsylvania State University. Major business establishments, including Samsung, SK Telecom, LG, Hyundai and NHN, employ large numbers of KAIST graduates. Among Korea’s state-run research organizations, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and many others are staffed by KAIST graduates.

KAIST has a job placement rate of nearly 100 percent. KAIST graduates account for 20 percent of all engineering doctorates in Korea and make up 10 percent of all engineering professorships in Korea. Nearly 25 percent of the R&D personnel at Samsung Semiconductor are KAIST graduates. Graduates have set up about 360 venture businesses that deal with modern technologies. An employer satisfaction survey conducted at companies hiring KAIST graduates showed that 91 percent were satisfied, while 93 percent showed interest in employing KAIST graduates.

6. Research and Academic Activities

KAIST professors had 1,778 publications listed in science citation index (SCI) journals in 2005 or nearly four papers per professor per year. KAIST professors conduct advanced contract research that averages nearly 200 million won (USD 200,000) per professor. The academic journals Nature and Science evaluated KAIST in 1993 as having the potential to be one of the world’s best educational institutions.

7. International Exchanges

A goal of KAIST is to globalize academic and research activities and produce creative global leaders equipped with international experience. KAIST has a wide range of international exchange and cooperation programs, hosts international academic conferences, workshops and symposiums, exchanges professors, research personnel and students with overseas universities, and conducts international joint research projects.

Memorandums of understanding have been signed with 72 universities in 28 countries for student exchange programs. Approximately 240 students are sent and received annually at overseas institutions of higher education. Among them are the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), the University of Waterloo (Canada), the University of Melbourne (Australia), and Ecole Politechnique (France).

KAIST Vision and Innovation

1. KAIST Vision

■ KAIST Five-Year Development Plan

President Suh laid out the KAIST Development Plan in 2006. He met trustees, high-ranking officials, professors, and graduates to listen to a variety of opinions. Surveys were conducted to more accurately identify issues at KAIST. President Suh then created new strategies using his axiomatic design approach and set up clear goals and detailed action plans. His development plan was reported to the Board of Trustees on Aug. 31, 2006 and was immediately shared with the faculty through the Professors’ Conference. He held a meeting with students on Oct. 13, 2006, and by mid-December, he attended development strategy, department head, and staff workshops to discuss his “KAIST Development Five-Year Plan.” This plan was finalized on Feb. 5, 2007 by the KAIST Steering Committee after comprehensive discussion.

The goal is for KAIST to rank within the top-10 universities of the world by 2011. To achieve this goal will require KAIST to:

▲ Employ excellent staff, reform personnel management and education systems, and update infrastructure.

▲ Promote basic and technically innovative research and provide intensive support to researchers in core fields.

▲ Establish a department-centered management system and secure financial stability.

▲ Create an atmosphere of close internal cooperation and enhance external collaboration.

2. KAIST after Five Years

■ Increased Number of Full-Time Faculty Members

President Suh established the goal to increase the number of professors from 442 at present to 700 by 2010 so that the student-professor ratio at the school will be lowered from 9.8:1 to 6:1.

KAIST hired 40 new professors in 2006, including seven professors of foreign nationality. Professor Mary Kathryn Thompson joined KAIST in 2007 as an assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering. She is the first foreign, female, full-time professor at KAIST.

■ Higher Undergraduate Enrollment Ceiling

KAIST initiated a plan to increase undergraduate enrollment by 100 per year until 2010. This will increase the total number of enrolled undergraduate students to 4,000, including 1000 foreign students, by 2013. The increase in undergraduate enrollment will also increase graduate student enrollment. KAIST admitted 721 students, including 40 foreign students, to undergraduate programs in 2007.

■ Improved Tenure System

Under President Suh’s initiative, KAIST altered regulations regarding tenure so that all professors will be examined for tenure status within eight years from their appointment, instead of “at least seven years after appointment as a full professor” as previously prescribed. Professors who fail to attain tenure status will not have their contracts renewed. This new system is needed to secure and retain outstanding professors. With tenure, professors can focus on teaching and research until their retirement age of 65.

■ Distinguished Professor System

KAIST introduced a “Distinguished Professor System” to appoint professors who produce excellent research as Distinguished Professors and to offer them substantial benefits including an extension of the mandatory retirement age. The system is expected to stimulate professors’ research activities.

Choong-Ki Kim of Electrical Engineering and Electronics Department, Sang-Yup Lee of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, and Kee-Joo Chang of the Physics Department were appointed as Distinguished Professors in 2007.

■ All Courses Conducted in English

President Suh has stipulated that all freshmen courses be delivered in English to enhance students’ global competitiveness and provide improved education to foreign students. All courses at KAIST will be delivered in English by 2010. KAIST has amended the curriculum and opened an English Clinic to pave the way for more effective English-language courses.

■ Emphasis on Design and Synthesis Education

 “Design and synthesis education” is being strengthened for students who excel in analysis but need to improve their synthesizing skills. Design and synthesis courses were provided as elective courses, starting in the fall of 2007, which will become mandatory in 2008.

■ Dual-degree Program

KAIST adopted dual-degree programs (DDP) to offer students diverse educational opportunities and to facilitate academic exchanges with renowned overseas universities. DDP refers to an academic program in which students satisfying the graduation requirements of the two schools involved in the DDP can receive degrees from both schools.

In March 2007, KAIST entered into a DDP agreement with the Technical University of Berlin in Germany and with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States to annually exchange up to five students for each school. KAIST is also in the final stages of DDP negotiations with Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). An agreement has been reached with Tsinghua University in China to initiate a dual-degree program in selected areas of technology. An agreement is due to be signed with Japan’s Tokyo Institute of Technology. KAIST is also negotiating with several European universities to launch similar programs.

■ Modified Tuition Policy

KAIST modified tuition regulations, so that students with poor GPAs will partly or entirely pay tuition, in an effort to promote a stronger sense of responsibility and independence.

As a result, KAIST will charge full tuition, amounting to 15 million won, for students with GPAs below 2.0 and partial tuition for students with GPAs in the range of 2.0-2.99, while awarding full scholarships for students with GPAs of 3.0 or higher. The new tuition policy was introduced in 2007; hence, tuitions calculated on the basis of 2007 performances will be charged for second-year students in the spring of 2008. In the first semester of 2007, 12.5 percent of the freshmen received GPAs below 2.0; 36 percent had GPAs below 3.0. They will be charged tuition fees according to the GPA level stipulated by this new regulation.

■ Intensive Support for Core Researches

President Suh has encouraged research in basic, influential and technically innovative fields. Eight KAIST Institutes (KIs) have been founded to intensively support researches in core fields of global competitiveness. KIs are expected to play key roles in raising the global recognition of KAIST by producing excellent research through concentrated efforts in selected interdisciplinary areas. The KIs are: BioCentury; Information Technology Convergence; Design of Complex Systems; Entertainment Engineering; NanoCentury; Eco-Energy; Urban Space and Systems; and Optical Science and Technology. A building with a floor space of approximately 13,200 square meters will be constructed to house KAIST Institutes at a cost of 20 billion won. Staff researchers in the fields of biology, IT, and design fields will be hired.

■ Autonomous and Responsible Management of Departments

President Suh has encouraged a greater autonomous management of departments. Under the new system, new department chairs will lay out their own development strategies with authority over personnel and budget appropriations. They will also be given specific incentives according to their business plans. Each department has formed an External Advisory Committee (EAC) with top experts in corresponding fields to establish the necessary channels for policy advice and fund-raising.

■ President’s Advisory Council

President Suh has appointed industrial and academic leaders from around the world to the President’s Advisory Council (PAC) as consultants in a diversity of fields.

The PAC includes six overseas members: Neil Pappalardo, Chairman of MEDITECH; Hock Tan, Chairman of Technology Inc.; Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, President of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and former president of Tokyo University; John Holzrichter, President of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation; Chong-Moon Lee, Chairman of AmBex Inc.; and Byung-Jun Park, CEO of Bureau Veritas CPS.

There are also seven domestic members: Kye-Sik Min, Vice-Chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries; Hee-Gook Lee, President of LG Electronics; Young-Chul Hong, Chairman of KISWIRE; Hee-Bom Lee, Vice-Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Dong-Jin Kim, Vice-Chairman of Hyundai Motors; and Young-Sik Myung, President of GS CALTEX. Korean members had their first meeting in November 2006 where they discussed the KAIST Development Plan. Discussions were focused on the progress of the five-year development plan and challenges that KAIST would face in the years ahead at the second council meeting held in September 2007.

■ Fund-Raising Efforts

President Suh has set a goal of one trillion won in donations to KAIST to be raised within the next seven years for various academic advancement programs. The KAIST Board of Trustees has approved working expenses of 12 billion won for 2007 as part of the 35 billion won needed to construct the KI building, a sports complex, and an international center. Efforts are now focused on obtaining a 100 billion won loan for the construction of infrastructure facilities. KAIST received a gift of USD10 million from Dr. Byung-Jun Park of the Bureau Veritas CPS in September 2007. KAIST is investigating many different sources for funding to be invested in select areas.

■ Admission Policy Reform

KAIST amended the admission policy to put more emphasis on integrity, character, creativity and leadership. As a result, KAIST will give preference to:

▲ Students who have a strong sense of dedication and achievement, rather than students with just higher GPAs.

▲ Students with creativity, sociability, a volunteering spirit, and good oral and written communication skills.

▲ Students with a high potential for success in their specific fields of interest.

Prospective students applying in 2008 will be put through an in-depth admissions interview to assess leadership potential and individual personalities.

■ First KAIST Honorary Doctorates

KAIST awarded its first honorary doctorates to four self-made men who have significantly contributed to the development of the University. The awardees were: Moon-Soul Chung, founder and former President of Mirae Industry, Chong-Moon Lee, Chairman of AmBex Inc., Neil Pappalardo, Chairman of MEDITECH, and Byung-Joon Park, CEO of Bureau Veritas CPS.

■ Establishment of KOASAS and Cooperation with Local Communities

President Suh established an open access paper archive, known as “the KAIST Online Access Self-Archiving System (KOASAS)”, to share outstanding research at KAIST with the public. KAIST signed a cooperation agreement with the Daejeon City Government to foster cooperation with the local community and has invited civic leaders to discuss how to make the best use of KAIST education and research facilities for the citizens of Daejeon.

■ Strengthening of Humanity and Leadership Education

KAIST introduced a leadership certificate program to foster humanity and leadership building in students. A variety of cultural courses, known collectively as “Culture Activities (CAs),” have been established to stimulate students’ interest in diverse fields outside their majors. Most of the courses will be coordinated by students. The “Reading Mileage Program” has been implemented to help students attain knowledge required for global leaders of the 21st century.

■ Introduction of ERP

President Suh introduced the Enterprise Resource Program (ERP) to seek optimal use of university resources and upgrade university management via standardization and integration.

■ EEWS R&D and Training Project

Research and development are being carried out to train qualified individuals and solve global problems in four important areas: energy, environment, water and sustainability (EEWS). This project will build an international EEWS network of academia and industry around KAIST.