Tag: South Korea

During the first half of this year, Kyungpook National University (KNU) was selected for nearly 1,700 projects for a total of KRW 214.5 billion in research funds, solidifying its position as a research-oriented university. This amount is more than 90% of the total research funds, KRW 235.7 billion, received from projects last year.

The amount of funding received from national projects by the Ministry of Science and ICT has also surpassed the amount received last year, KRW 76.8 billion, with funding of KRW 80.7 billion this year. This can be attributed to the fact that KNU had recently been selected for many large-scale government projects for cohort research.

Of these projects, ‘University-Focused Research Institute in Science and Engineering by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea is a meaningful academic support project that designates exemplary university-affiliated research institutes of science and engineering to foster the production of research results and nurture accomplished researchers.

This year, KNU Center for ICT & Automotive Convergence (Centre Director Dongseog Han) has been selected for the project and will receive funding of KRW 7.7 billion for up to 9 years. With this selection, KNU now has a total of five major research institutes designated by the Ministry of Education, including the Research Institute for Ulleungdo and Dokdo, Autonomous Cluster Software Research Center, Environmental Science & Technology Institute, and Center for High Energy Physics. Through this newly attained project, KNU Center for ICT & Automotive Convergence plans to develop human-intention-based autonomous driving technologies under the project name, ‘Development of Multi-intelligence-based Human-centric Autonomous Driving Core Technology’.

Major areas of research include reflection of unexpected human behaviour in autonomous mobility, atypical road environment ▷communication and precision positioning for large capacity sensor data transmission ▷human-intention-based driving control and to commercialize AI architecture and embedded AI.

Following KNU’s selection as the ‘University-Focused Research Institute in Science and Engineering,’ KNU was selected for three more ‘Leading Research Center’ projects by the Ministry of Science and ICT. As a result, the total amount of research funding for the next 7 to 9 years is projected to reach KRW 40 billion.

The ‘Leading Research Center’ project by the Ministry of Science and ICT aims to establish exemplary research groups and foster next-generation specialists to ultimately develop world-class competitiveness of core research fields.

To list selected KNU centres in detail, KNU ‘Software Disaster Research Center (Center Director Yunja Choi)’ was selected as an Engineering Research Center (ERC); KNU ‘Tumor Plasticity Research Center’ (Center Director Byungheon Lee) was selected as a Medical Research Center (MRC), and KNU ‘Regional Leading Research Center of Smart Energy System (Central Director Jong Wook Roh)’ was selected as a Regional Leading Research Center (RLRC).

Among 17 projects offered by the ministry this year, KNU was selected for 3 projects, the second most after Seoul National University. Through these projects, KNU is to receive funding of KRW 1.4 to 1.9 billion percenter insole research expenses, or a total of KRW 32.4 billion in the inclusion of all expenses.

To elaborate, the ‘Software Disaster Research Center,’ led by Professor Yunja Choi of the School of Computer Science and Engineering, addresses the issue of software (SW) disaster, or extensive human, wealth, or social damage caused by unintended software operation, by building an integrated framework and developing software disaster management technology to quickly detect and respond to disaster situations caused by software malfunctions and prevent a recurrence.

For this project, KNU is the lead institution with 13 professors and 70 researchers from 7 universities, including Korea University.

The objective of the ‘Tumor Plasticity Research Center’ led by Professor Byungheon Lee of the School of Medicine, is to establish a platform for identifying control mechanisms of cancer based on tumour plasticity and developing control materials. Professor Lee has conducted research related to tumour network control for 7 years since the centre was selected as a leading Medical Research Center (MRC) in 2014.

The ‘Regional Leading Research Center of Smart Energy System’ led by Professor Jong Wook Roh of the School of Nano & Materials Science and Engineering, seeks to develop a highly efficient, eco-friendly energy platform through multi-disciplinary research between nano-technology, information technology, and energy technology, as well as a smart-solution to operate this platform.

As many key national industrial complexes are located within the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area, such as steel, chemical, electrical, and electronic industries, there is a high demand for carbon neutrality. With this project, KNU, along with the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), plans to present a model of energy technology for carbon neutrality and secure foundational technology for innovating energy materials, components, and systems.

Kyungpook National University (KNU) has once again been selected to receive funding from 2021 Open-Lab Support Project for Local Industry-Affiliated Universities by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Commercialization Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes, for the second consecutive year.

The Open-Lab Support Project is a project that designates university laboratories as Open-Labs to establish a technology commercialization platform that customizes and supplies technology and human resources to local industries.

With the final selection this year, KNU will receive approximately KRW 1.8 billion to successfully develop this platform and support local industries with the advanced skills, techniques, and specialization of KNU Open Labs.

Through the establishment of the following 6 Open-Labs, KNU plans to contribute to the promotion of strategic industrial planning and the direction of policy-making for the development of core industries within the region.

• Production of World-Class Products through Advanced Performance of Next-Generation LAMP Molecular Diagnostics (Professor Choi-Kyu Park, College of Veterinary Medicine)
• Development of Technology for the Practical Use of Theranos based on the Removal of Reactive Oxygen Species (Professor Yongmin Chang, School of Medicine)
•  Cohort Research on Skin Microbiome for Functional Cosmetics Development (Professor Jae-Ho Shin, School of Applied Biosciences)
•  Advancement and Commercialization of IoT-based Smart Monitoring and Management Technology for Water and Sewage Facilities (Professor ChoonWook Park, Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation)
•  Development of Fiber Optic Splicing and Non-Destructive Measurement Devices for WDM Packages (Professor Mansik Jeon, School of Electronic Engineering)
•  Development of Mecanum Wheel-Type Heavy-Load Pallet Robots with Autonomous Driving based on Environmental Awareness (Professor Soon Yong Park, School of Electronic Engineering).

Jeehyun Kim, head of KNU Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation as well as of this project, states, Last year, 70% of the KRW 3 billion KNU achieved in technical service revenue was produced from biological or IT-related fields directly affiliated with regional industries. Through the project this year, KNU plans to act as the central hub for regional development, stimulating the regional economy and employment via the establishment of Open-Labs and innovative platforms.

Soo Ran Kim, a professor of Kyungpook National University in the Physics Education Department and Harvard University’s research team developed a critical temperature prediction equation for copper-based superconductors using machine learning and first principle calculation and proposed a new copper superconductor.

The results of the study were published in a July 8 cover paper of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, an international journal of prestigious physics and chemistry. The first author is Dong Geon Lee, an undergraduate in physics education.

Cuprate superconductors are materials with the highest superconductivity critical temperature (the temperature at which resistance becomes ‘0’) at atmospheric pressure, and a clear mechanism of superconductivity has yet to be identified.

Professor Soo Ran Kim’s team developed a formula for cuprate superconductors using data-based machine learning technology without existing mechanisms. A new cuprate superconductor using Ga was proposed as a model developed in conjunction with this. A critical temperature similar to that of cuprate superconductors with the highest critical temperature was predicted for the proposed superconductor.

Professor Soo Ran Kim said, “This study is significant in that it developed a formulation of critical temperature that had never existed with high prediction using machine learning and first-principle calculation. It is also thought that it will help to understand the mechanisms of cuprate superconductors quantitatively and guide the experimental discovery of new superconductors. “We are currently working on another superconductor with machine learning.”

A research team at Kyungpook National University has developed an advanced water treatment system that can break down most of the naproxen, a drug that has failed to filter existing sewage treatment facilities.

Chang Min Park, a professor of Environmental Engineering at Kyungpook National University, and Yeo Min Yoon, a professor at South Carolina University, developed a technology that can break down 99.9% of naproxen, an anti-inflammatory drug, in an hour.

Existing advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), such as photocatalysts, ozone oxidation, and penton oxidation, require high processing costs and energy and often remain in soil and water systems with low efficiency due to incomplete release of residual drugs such as naproxen.

The research team applied a sono-photometric degradation process to a “hybrid catalyst material with a multi-component hierarchical structure” synthesized by doping a cerium oxide-zirconia (CeO2-ZrO2) nanostructure with molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanostructure.

As a result, it was confirmed that when multi-component hybrid nanoparticles absorbed photo-ultrasonic energy, they maximized the production of active oxygen species through sonar light and hot spot formation, eliminating 99.9% of naproxen within an hour.

Furthermore, the research team said that even if multi-component hybrid nanoparticles are reused five times, the processing cost is expected to be reduced in that catalytic properties and structural stability are maintained.

“If we actively utilize the next generation of advanced water treatment technology developed this time, we will be able to drastically reduce the existing huge cost, time, and energy required to deal with naproxen remaining in the environment. In particular, the study is expected to be applied to the removal of other aqueous residual drugs.”

A research team involving Jun Seok Park, a professor of Medicine at Kyungpook National University, has developed an “exosome analysis method in the blood that can diagnose colon cancer using electrochemical-based sensors.”

Professor Jun Seok Park conducted joint research with Jong Min Park, a Chemistry major at Kangwon National University, and Hak Ho Lee, a Medical professor at Harvard University in the U.S., and analyzed and combined colon cancer-specific protein markers (EpCAM, EGFR, CD24, GPA33) and diagnosed colon cancer with 96% accuracy.

Furthermore, the team used immunomagnetic electrochemical analysis to analyze the exosomal protein markers in a small amount of blood in just one hour. This method is a next-generation diagnostic technology that can overcome the long analysis time that was presented as a weakness of existing exosomal analysis technology.

Until now, a colon cancer diagnosis has been mainly done through colonoscopy, but due to the hassle of the test method, the appropriate timing of diagnosis has often been missed. However, blood analysis alone is expected to lead to early detection of colon cancer.

In addition, the research team conducted an exosome analysis using plasma samples from a total of 142 patients at Kyungpook National University’s Colon Cancer Center and found that they could predict the possibility of cancer recurrence five years later as well.

Professor Park said, “We expect that using this technology, we will be able to detect colorectal cancer early through blood tests conducted every year at health checkups.”

Kyungpook National University held the “2021 KNU International Day” on May 14 at Cheomseongin Square in front of Kyungpook National University’s Central Library, where students and foreign students can take time to interact with each other.

Students from 11 countries, including the United States, Germany, France, and Russia, set up booths for each country to introduce their own overseas universities and cultures to students and promote international exchange programs organized by universities.

In addition, international exchange student ambassadors consisting of students also played simple mini-games related to internationalization programs. The event was held under the Covid-19 quarantine guidelines, and about 80 students participated.

Currently, about 1,740 foreign students, including 1,134 from 59 countries, live in Kyungpook National University as a regular degree program.

Se Bin Kim, a physics student who participated in the program, expressed satisfaction, saying, “I thought there was no opportunity to do international exchange activities at school because of Covid-19, but through this event, I learned that I could have enough international exchange experience without leaving the country.”

Tae Hwan Kwon, director of the International Exchange Department at Kyungpook National University, said, “Because of Covid-19, students have limited opportunities to visit overseas universities. I hope this event will naturally foster an international sensation with foreign friends living together on campus and be interested in various internationalization programs run by Kyungpook National University and overseas universities.”

Kyungpook National University has been selected as the “SW-centered university” organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Kyungpook National University was selected for the second phase of the project following the first phase in 2015. It is going to lead the advancement of SW education innovation by receiving a total of 11 billion won for up to 6 years.

SW-centered university, which was first started in 2015, has been leading the training of SW professionals such as reorganization of SW curriculum due to industrial demand, expansion of SW major quota, and training SW convergence personnel. Starting this year, the second phase of upgrading the SW education system will begin, including strengthening education on new technologies such as artificial intelligence and preparing differentiated SW curricula by affiliates and levels.

A total of nine universities were newly selected for the second phase of the project, including seven general track universities, including Kyungpook National University (4:1 competition ratio) and two special track universities (5.2:1 competition ratio).

Kyungpook National University plans to strengthen on-site education based on industrial demand by forming and co-operating SW-sharing universities with universities in Daegu and Gyeongbuk and establishing SW industry-academic research clusters in industrial complexes. In addition, SW Education Center, which is the first stage of SW business, will be promoted to SW Education Center.

In order to strengthen convergence education, the SW Convergence Education Committee will be established as the vice-chairman. It is going to install AI Computing Major (Track) in the Department of Computer Science and strengthen AI-related SW major education by majoring in artificial intelligence, data convergence computing, and artificial intelligence convergence education.

Won Hwa Hong, the president of Kyungpook National University said, “As the first SW-centered university was selected in 2015, it has transformed university education into SW-centered, training related professionals and strengthening SW competitiveness in companies and regions. Based on performance and infrastructure, we will take the lead in realizing an SW-oriented society by not only fostering internationally recognized professionals but also spreading SW values.”