□ DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) announced on June 18 that it has once again ranked No. 1 in Korea for “Citations per Faculty” in the 2027 QS World University Rankings (QS WUR), marking its second consecutive year at the top.
□ The QS WUR is one of the most influential global university rankings, published annually based on nine indicators, including academic and employer reputation, faculty–student ratio, citations per faculty, internationalization, and sustainability.
□ Citations per faculty is a measure of how often the research papers of an institution’s professors are cited by other researchers around the world. It is considered a key indicator of a university’s research quality and academic impact.
□ DGIST recorded an average of 409.5 citations per faculty member over five years—nearly seven times the global average of 59.9—and earned the maximum score of 100 points for the second year in a row.
□ Only 11 universities worldwide, including Harvard, MIT, and Caltech, achieved the top score in this indicator for two consecutive years. DGIST is the only specialized science and technology university in Korea to accomplish this feat.
□ Despite its relatively short history—founded in 2004, with a graduate school established in 2011, and undergraduate programs in 2014—DGIST continues to demonstrate the excellence and global impact of its research, standing alongside the world’s leading universities.
□ Under President Kunwoo Lee’s leadership, DGIST has identified three strategic research fields—Physical AI, Human Digital Twin, and Quantum Sensing—and established dedicated research organizations. The university is also launching an AI College and AX Joint Research Lab to foster AI talent in the Daegu–Gyeongbuk region and lead industrial AI transformation.
□ President Kunwoo Lee stated, “This achievement reflects the dedication of all DGIST members to research and innovation. Building on globally recognized research competitiveness, we will further strengthen DGIST’s unique interdisciplinary research and advance as a global research-centered university leading the AI era.”
