Open Science Lecture of SNU College of Natural Sciences

On March 27, the SNU College of Natural Sciences announced that it has teamed up with the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. 20 SNU professors of various fields in the general sciences will collaborate with the “brains” of Samsung to develop new technology that will shape the future of Korean industry.

This collaboration will be organized into five project teams of three to five professors. Professor Char Kookrin and Lee Takhee of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, Professor Lee Dongwhan of the Department of Chemistry, Professor Kang Myungjoo of the Department of

Mathematical Sciences, and Professor Kim Yongdai of the Department of Statistics will lead each project. In addition to research, the professors will participate in regular seminars and forums. They will also be eligible to spend their sabbaticals at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, an extraordinary gesture from a company long known to be reticent about opening its doors to the public.

In choosing the College of Natural Sciences as its partner, Samsung signals its support of the pure sciences and its will to invest in long-term future technology rather than just focusing on short-term results. This will also benefit the SNU College of Natural Sciences, which has excelled in theoretical research but has had less of a history of industry collaboration.

Whereas in the past companies have tended to fund and utilize university research, this collaboration marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation between industry and academia. Professor Kim Seongkeun, Dean of the SNU College of Natural Sciences, commented, “The collaboration is a valuable opportunity for the university and the industry to work as one in building the technology of the future.”

Source: http://news.hankyung.com/article/2018032748581
Written by Chae Hyun Kim, SNU English Editor, michelle25@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr