Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Overview

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a public research university in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. In 1971, the Korean government founded KAIST to become the country’s first national, research-focused engineering and science institution of higher learning. It is ranked the sixth most innovative university worldwide and belongs to the top 50 universities in various international rankings. It is considered one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Key Statistics

KAIST comprises six colleges which are divided into two schools and 33 divisions or departments. The College of Engineering, College of Life Science and Bioengineering, College of Liberal Arts and Convergence Science, and the College of Natural Sciences are some of its popular academic units.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has a student population of approximately 10,504, composed of 3,766 undergraduates, 6,738 postgraduates, 2,644 doctoral, and 1,222 integrated M.Sc./Ph.D. students. It employs around 639 teaching personnel and 703 administrative staff. It has three campuses, one in Seoul and two in Daejeon.

The other Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology key statistics include its numerous partnerships with universities overseas for its dual-degree programs, such as with the Technical University of Munich, the Technical University of Berlin, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Technical University of Denmark. It also has several affiliated institutes such as the National NanoFab Center and the Korea Institute of Advanced Study.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Research

KAIST is one of the top research universities in Korea. In 2019, its total research budget was ₩856 billion ($755 million). Around 40% of its research funding is sourced through research grants, while 24% comes from the Korean government. To date, the university holds 723 international patents and 2,694 domestic patents.

Its top fields of research are computer science, materials science, and artificial intelligence. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology research outputs have been published in top international scholarly journals like the ChemInform and Advanced Materials. Its researchers have attended major conferences like Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition and the International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

The most cited KAIST research publication is Kwak et al.’s (2010) “What is Twitter, a social network or a news media?” This was published in The Web Conference journal and has elicited 8,635 citations so far. Likewise, the university’s second most cited publication is Furukawa et al.’s (2013) “The chemistry and applications of metal-organic frameworks,” featured in Science and has been cited 8,319 times. In addition, the university’s third most cited publication is Klionsky et al.’s (2012) “Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy,” which was published Autophagy and has received 7,846 citations to date.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has seven main research facilities called KAIST Institutes (or KIs). These include the KI for Urban Space and Systems, KI for Eco-Energy, KI for the NanoCentury, KI for Information Technology Convergence, and the KI for the BioCentury.