South Korea has consistently been among the highest spenders in the world on research and development as a percentage of GDP. It has also thrived through a unique model of collaboration between academia and industry that has fostered innovation. However, it now finds itself at a critical juncture: international collaboration in science is in flux due to the pandemic and geopolitical tensions; Korea’s youth population is in decline threatening its future pool of researcher talent; and there is doubt that funding and innovation can continue at previous levels.
Featuring insights from the Nature Index and experts in global and Korean science policy, this half-day event will seek to explore how these challenges can be addressed and, in doing so, put Korea on a firm footing to achieve success as one of the world’s most important drivers of science and innovation.
Event details
Speakers, Moderators, and Panellists
Cassidy Sugimoto
Professor
Georgia Tech
John Walsh
Professor
Georgia Tech
Taehyun Jung
Professor
Hanyang University
Hyuck Mo Lee
Professor
KAIST
Hyunjoo Lee
Associate Professor
KAIST
Seokjoon Kwon
Assistant Professor
SKKU
Sungjoo Lee
Associate Professor
SNU
So Young Kim
Professor
KAIST
Prof. So Young Kim is the Vice President of International Office of KAIST and a former head of the Graduate School of Science & Technology Policy of KAIST. Specializing in R&D policy, she is has led large S&T policy projects on research funding and evaluation, basic science, science and engineering workforce, science-based ODA, and emerging technology governance. As a public intellectual, Prof. Kim has served numerous governmental committees including Special S&T Committee of the Presidential Commission of National Inclusion (as a chair), the Spent Nuclear Fuel Policy Review Committee Chairperson (as a chair), and the National S&T Vision Committee. Elected to the Korea Academy of Science and Technology, Prof. Kim received her B.A. and M.A. from Seoul National University and her Ph.D. and M.S. from Northwestern University with Fulbright Scholarship.
Seokkyun Woo
Assistant Professor
KAIST
Seokkyun Woo is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy at KAIST. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MS in Statistics from the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering from the same institution. Prior to joining KAIST STP, Seokkyun was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Science of Science and Innovation at Kellogg School of Management. His research involves understanding how the work organization of science and innovation are structured and how they in turn influence the rate and direction of research activities with the goal of providing effective science and technology policy. His work integrates perspectives from various disciplines including the sociology of work, the sociology of science, and public policy. In addition to his primary focus, his current research explores the cultural evolution of science and inventions by leveraging large-scale digitized historical archives and advanced computational methods.
Moon Choi
Associate Professor
KAIST
Professor Moon Choi is the Head of the KAIST Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy. Since founding the Aging and Technology Policy Lab in 2014 (http://aging.kaist.ac.kr), she has led novel research at the intersection of the longevity revolution and the digital revolution. Her lab specializes in identifying and addressing social issues related to aging populations and emerging technologies, providing insightful policy analysis and recommendations. Dr. Choi is a consultant for the United Nations and serves on several policy committees for various Korean ministries. Her interdisciplinary academic background includes a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Yonsei University, a master's degree in Social Welfare from Seoul National University, and a doctoral degree in Social Welfare with a concentration in Gerontology from Case Western Reserve University. She served as the Science Program Chair for the 2022 World Conference of Gerontechnology and the CRAFT Chair of the ACM FAccT Conference 2022. She is currently on the steering committee of ACM FAccT. She has also served as an associate editor and on the editorial boards of leading journals, including the Journal of Transport & Health and the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.
Dasom Lee
Assistant Professor
KAIST
Dasom Lee is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy at KAIST. She received her PhD in sociology and a minor in quantitative methods from Vanderbilt University, USA. She worked as a tenured assistant professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands before joining STP, KAIST. Dasom's research focuses on identifying societal and legal challenges of AI and cyber-physical systems and publishes on regulatory solutions and harmonization.