Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
한국과학기술원

South Korea

KAIST has connotations of academic excellence, innovation and entrepreneurship, but also the launch of large-scale projects. The university often ranks highly among other universities of a similar age.

KAIST was established in February 1971 as Korea Advanced Institute of Science, with a loan given by United States Agency for International Development. The university aimed not only to educate young researchers in science and engineering, but also to provide a solid basis for the development of future higher education institutions in Korea.

Its structure was created by an international team, which included the American electrical engineer and vice-president of Stanford University Frederick Emmons Terman. Unlike other public institutions in South Korea, KAIST has freedom to decide upon its entry requirements and course structure, which gives the university a special status.

Today, KAIST has a rich academic portfolio in disciplines such as physics, mathematics, engineering, humanities and social sciences, business and management. The courses are delivered by 5 colleges and 6 schools, with over 33 divisions. KAIST's unique institutes include the National NanoFab Center, which conducts research into nano-devices and their potential applications.

KAIST consists of 2 major campuses situated in Daejeon and South Korea's capital Seoul. They offer over 25 dormitories, 4 libraries and a medical centre. To ensure students are actively engaged in the campus cultural events, the university organises traditional opera and jazz recitals.

1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) published between 1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

AC	FC
305	152.14

Outputs by subject (FC)

Subject	AC	FC
Chemistry	133	72.03
Physical Sciences	172	79.99
Life Sciences	53	22.91
Earth & Environmental Sciences	3	2.50

Highlight of the month

This is how ice burns

Korean scientists have worked out how ‘burning ice’ is formed in clay-rich ocean sediments, which could lead to an abundant new source of energy, according to a study in Environmental Science & Technology.

Gas hydrates, also known as ‘flammable ice’, are ice-like crystalline structures composed of gas molecules encapsulated by hydrogen-bonded water molecules. Their formation was believed to be limited in clay sedimentary deposits, but the discovery of large amounts of natural gas hydrates in oceanic clay-rich sedimentary deposits has raised the question of how they formed.

Now, researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have replicated the conditions that lead to their formation and found that the application of an electric field led to the partial breakage of the hydrogen-bonded water clusters promoting gas hydrate nucleation.

The work could lead to a method for producing methane gas from gas hydrate deposits.

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