DGIST, Science Technology University in Korea, recognised for high-quality research

Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) is making waves in the research world and has been named by Nature Index as number 11 of 30 rising star institutes under 30 years old. The institute’s research output, counted in high-quality articles published, has doubled in the three years to 2017, and is set to grow even further as the institute matures. DGIST began in 2004 as a research institute, becoming a research-oriented university by opening its graduate program in 2011 and in 2014 an undergraduate program. It is one of four Institutes of Science and Technology founded by the Korean government and has built outstanding education and research infrastructures thanks to governmental contributions. Currently 2,000 members, including 1,430 students, conduct cutting-edge research to suggest solutions for grand challenges facing mankind in six key areas, such as Emerging Materials Science, Information and Communication Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Energy Science and Engineering, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and New Biology. They all approach their work in an interdisciplinary way. It is this interdisciplinary ethos that has led to the institute’s success, according to DGIST President Sang Hyuk Son: “From the beginning, we were focused on convergence. At DGIST, we believe that invention and innovation come from the meeting and collaboration of different areas. Our key philosophy of convergence is applied across education and research, it is in our curriculum, the way departments are named, and even in the building structures which encourage interdisciplinary approaches.” As well as ranking 11 in the top 30 under 30, DGIST also came in at 142 of the 200 rising star institutes worldwide, which are ranked according to change in the number of articles published by that institute between 2015 and 2017. Nature Index tracks published research articles in an independently selected group of 82 high-quality science journals. It is a database is compiled by Nature Research which provides a near real-time proxy of high-quality research output and collaboration at the institutional, national and regional level. The data in the Nature Index are non-normalized and do not reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output. President Sang Hyuk Son says: “We are pleased with our new ranking in Nature Index. Considering that Nature Index is based on non-normalized data and DGIST is small in size, the results are outstanding. Our researchers and faculty members, as well as students, work extremely hard and make continuous efforts to benefit society by finding solutions for the grand challenges facing mankind.”