A message from KAIST
KAIST, founded in 1971, was established to educate and foster elite human resources for science and technology. KAIST has gone beyond its initial mission for higher education and has served as a driving force for Korea’s economic takeoff by serving as a gateway for innovative research in advanced science and technology. KAIST has grown into a globally competitive institution by producing core scientists, engineers, and future leaders in research critical for the 21st century’s globalized economy and society.
KAIST offers academic and research programs in the following colleges: College of Natural Sciences, College of Life Science & Bioengineering, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Convergence Science, and College of Business.
KAIST is composed of three campuses: the main campus and Munji campus in Daejeon, and College of Business campus in Seoul. The two campuses in Daejeon are located in the center of Daedeok Innopolis, the largest scientific and technological R&D cluster in Korea.
An optimal culture for embracing innovation and internationalization
Students are actively encouraged to embrace a passion for research and scientific discovery, often participating in international and government-commissioned research projects. KAIST offers students multiple opportunities to make a difference through its optimal geographic location in Daedeok Innopolis, the Silicon Valley of Korea. Surrounded by dozens of government and public research institutes, corporate and industrial research centers, and nearly 1000 venture companies, startups, and corporations, KAIST is ideally located to lead the initiative for interdisciplinary research and university-industry collaboration through fostering innovation and creativity for the future generation of global leaders, students who are no longer limited by the boundaries of disciplines, departments, and the borders between countries, dedicated to research excellence.
As a faculty-driven, student-centered research university, KAIST has made quantum jumps in interdisciplinary research. The KAIST Institutes (KI) were established to advance research innovation and the fusion of multiple disciplines to a new level, specializing in core technologies such as information technology convergence, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. At KI, interdisciplinary convergence is highly regarded as the foremost solution to increasing collaboration between academia and industry and producing innovating new technologies. One such example can be found in KI’s focus on contributing solutions to energy, environment, water and sustainability (EEWS) issues as well as the pressing concern of carbon dioxide (CO2) by jointly operating the Saudi Aramco CO2 Management Center with Saudi Aramco. KAIST’s research capabilities are pooled into a single effort: simple, strong, and synergetic research that will have the greatest impact for the advancement of society.
KAIST has also successfully fostered a wave of internationalization. Through KAIST’s bilingual campus, both domestic and international students alike practice key cross-cultural communication skills on a daily basis. Strategic international partnerships, exchange programs, and international research collaboration open a window of opportunity to gain a glimpse of the vast potential that internationalization can yield for science and technology research.
With over 300 agreements with more than 200 world-renowned universities and research institutions, KAIST has become an international hub for interdisciplinary convergence, and a prominent collaborator for academia, industry, and business, KAIST continues to make significant contributions to the world’s fast-paced economy. KAIST has successfully fostered a culture of entrepreneurship, actively supporting both student and faculty start-up activities through a host of diverse programs, events, and resources specifically tailored to allow the KAIST community to hone their business communication skills, to gain access to funding and office/lab space, resources, and equipment for producing prototypes and test-platforms, and to receive mentoring from world-renowned faculty and successful entrepreneurs.
The student experience
KAIST attracts students and faculty of the highest caliber from both Korea and around the world. Creativity and innovation are emphasized through discussion, experimentation, and practical hands-on learning in our various lab and testing facilities. KAIST’s Education 3.0 courses and Cyber Dual-Degree programs are tailored for today’s digitally immersed and tech-savvy student population, serving as an online platform for open discussion and both critical and creative thinking for today’s globalized society.
Graduates of KAIST have branched out to various sectors of society, ranging from academia to industry, business to politics, and startup founders to corporate CEOs. KAIST graduates serve as the bulk of the R&D workforce for numerous Korean corporations and research institutes, a large proportion of engineering and research faculty at universities located throughout Korea, and CEOs of some world-renown companies with revenues ranging in the billions.