%49%52
-
KAIST to Showcase Noise Reduction and Robotics Technologies at 2026 Tech Fair
Technologies that reduce noise using thin, lightweight structures, make wireless charging devices lighter, and enable robots to navigate and perform tasks autonomously will be on display at the 2026 KAIST Tech Fair. The event will give companies an opportunity to explore technologies developed in KAIST laboratories and discuss potential applications in their products and manufacturing processes directly with the researchers.
KAIST announced on October 12 that it will hold the 2026 KAIST Tech Fair on October 13 in conjunction with KES 2026 (Korea Electronics Show) at COEX in Seoul. The event will showcase six technologies with strong commercial potential, alongside products and services from four faculty-founded startups, and offer consultations on technology transfer and joint research.
“KAIST’s vision of ‘Beyond Laboratory’ is about ensuring that outstanding research outcomes extend beyond the laboratory to create real value for industry and society,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “We hope this year’s Tech Fair will connect KAIST’s innovative technologies with industry needs and lead to tangible partnerships in technology transfer and joint research that create new value for industry.”
KAIST will operate the KAIST Special Pavilion in Hall A at COEX from October 13 to 16. Industry representatives and other visitors will be able to explore the technologies and the faculty-founded startups’ products and services, as well as learn about KAIST’s support programs for technology commercialization.
A technology transfer briefing will take place on October 13, starting at 1:30 p.m., on the KES Stage in Hall B. KAIST researchers will present six technologies and explain their potential industrial applications and prospects for commercialization:
• Noise reduction technology that uses thin, lightweight structures to reduce noise and vibration (Professor Wonju Jeon, Department of Mechanical Engineering).
• Autonomous robotics technology that enables a robot to use its robotic arm to push obstacles out of the way and continue along its path (Professor Sung-Eui Yoon, School of Computing).
• Wireless charging component design technology that makes wireless charging devices lighter and more efficient (Dr. Changwoo Lee, Professor In Gwun Jang’s laboratory, Cho Chun Shik Graduate School of Mobility).
• Precision optical imaging technology that uses light to capture clear three-dimensional images within tissue over an extended depth range (Professor Hongki Yoo, Department of Mechanical Engineering).
• Antibacterial metal filter technology that allows filters to be washed and reused multiple times (Professor Sanha Kim, Department of Mechanical Engineering).
• Multicolor reflective material technology that uses microscopic dome-shaped structures to reflect light and produce a variety of colors and images (Professor Shin-Hyun Kim, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering).
Each presentation will include a 15-minute overview followed by a five-minute Q&A session. Industry representatives will be able to ask researchers how the technologies work, what sets them apart from existing approaches, and how they might be applied to their own products or processes.
One-on-one technology transfer consultations will also be held at the KES Lounge in Hall B. KAIST will match companies that register in advance with researchers to discuss technology adoption, joint research, further development and commercialization.
Four faculty-founded startups will exhibit at the KAIST Special Pavilion, showcasing their main products and technologies and meeting with companies, investors and other industry representatives.
DAIM Technology will present simulation technology for unmanned factories and autonomous manufacturing, along with systems for coordinating and controlling multiple robots. MilliTrack will showcase precision location tracking and spatial recognition solutions for industrial environments.
A2US will introduce air and water purification solutions based on technology that uses electricity to disperse water into fine droplets. Hypergram will showcase an industrial inspection solution combining AI with hyperspectral imaging, which analyzes light across a broad range of wavelengths. The solution detects contamination and surface defects that are difficult to identify with conventional cameras or the naked eye.
In addition to the faculty startup zone, the pavilion will feature an area showcasing technologies with commercial potential, an information area for the KAIST Office of Technology Value Creation, and a Brand KAIST area. Together, these exhibits will illustrate KAIST’s approach to technology commercialization, from identifying promising research outcomes and securing intellectual property rights to technology transfer, startup creation and further commercialization.
The KAIST Special Pavilion will also be a stop on the official KES VIP tour, providing an opportunity to introduce KAIST’s research outcomes and faculty-founded startups to representatives of major institutions and industries from Korea and around the world.
KAIST will support companies in taking the next steps after the event, helping turn discussions with researchers into technology transfer agreements, joint research and other forms of collaboration. It also plans to generate greater industrial and economic value from its research by tailoring technology marketing to industry needs and strengthening the links between technology transfer and startup creation.
Companies interested in attending the briefing or requesting a consultation can register in advance through the KAIST TLO website. For inquiries about the event or participation, please contact the KAIST Office of Technology Value Creation.
Registration: KAIST TLO website https://tlo.kaist.ac.kr/
Contact: KAIST Office of Technology Value Creation
Tel: +82-42-350-2978
Email: iptc@kaist.ac.kr
2026.10.12 View 246 -
KAIST Names Former Samsung Electronics Chairman and CEO Oh Hyun Kwon as Chair of Its Board of Trustees
KAIST announced that its Board of Trustees elected Oh Hyun Kwon, former Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Orange Planet startup foundation, as its new chair at the board’s 298th extraordinary meeting in Seoul on September 21, 2026. Prior to the election, Kichul Cha, a KAIST trustee and CEO of InBody, had served as acting chair since the term of former Chair Myung Ja Kim ended in late June.
Kwon earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University in 1975, a master’s degree in the same field from KAIST in 1977, and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1985. He joined Samsung in 1985 as a researcher at its Semiconductor Research Institute in the United States. In 1992, he led the development of the world’s first 64Mb DRAM, helping lay the foundation for Samsung’s strategy of building a decisive technological lead over its competitors.
An engineer who rose through the ranks to become a leading business executive, Kwon served as President and Head of Device Solutions Division, Samsung Electronics from 2008 to 2011 and as Vice Chairman and CEO from 2012 to 2017. From 2017 to 2020, he held the positions of Chairman at both Samsung Electronics and the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. He is credited with helping propel South Korea's semiconductor industry to global leadership.
After stepping back from corporate management, Kwon served as President of the Korea Invention Promotion Association from 2021 to 2022 and as the seventh Chair of Seoul National University’s Board of Trustees from 2023 to 2025. In September 2025, he became the first business executive to chair the Committee on Mid- to Long-Term Strategy Committee, now under the Ministry of Planning and Budget (then called the Ministry of Economy and Finance). He has also chaired Orange Planet since 2021, supporting young entrepreneurs.
His honors include the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit in 2009, the Korea Best Scientist and Engineer Award in 2014, the Inchon Award in Industrial Technology category in 2012, and the Dasan Technology Award in 1997. He is also the author of Super Gap (2018) and Again, Super Gap (2020).
Kwon has maintained close ties with his alma mater, KAIST. In 2018, for instance, he became the first KAIST alumnus to receive an honorary doctorate from the university, earning the distinction in business administration. He also helped establish the Kwon Oh Hyun Assistant Professor program, which provides annual support for promising faculty members pursuing creative and ambitious research in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biological sciences, and engineering.
Kwon joined the KAIST Board of Trustees at its 297th extraordinary meeting in August before being elected chair at the September meeting.
His term as chair runs from September 21, 2026, the date of the board resolution, through August 19, 2029, when his term as a trustee expires. Drawing on his experience in building Samsung’s technological leadership, Kwon is expected to help KAIST advance innovation in research and education and further strengthen its global competitiveness.(END)
2026.09.22 View 2938 -
KAIST Hosts Special Lecture by Jeff Dean, a Silicon Valley Legend
KAIST (President Chungsik Bae) announced on August 18 that the National AI Research Lab (NAIRL), together with the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, hosted a special lecture by Jeff Dean, Co-Founder and CEO of Discovery Loop, at Seoul AI Hub on August 13.
Dean joined Google in 1999 as one of its earliest employees. Over 27 years, he led the development of MapReduce and Bigtable — the backbone of Google's search infrastructure — as well as TensorFlow and TPUs, which became foundational to the AI era. He co-founded Google Brain and, as Chief Scientist, oversaw the development of Gemini, earning him a reputation as "the legend of Google."
He recently founded Discovery Loop with Sanjay Ghemawat, Quoc Le, and Oriol Vinyals. The company aims to automate the full experimental loop of research — from forming a hypothesis to running experiments and analyzing results — in order to accelerate the pace of scientific and engineering discovery itself.
The lecture was arranged around Dean’s visit to Korea for his keynote address at KDD 2026, the leading international conferences in data mining. Titled “Exciting Trends in Machine Learning,” it was his first public talk since announcing the founding of Discovery Loop.
KAIST arranged the event not only to share the research experience and future vision of a world-renowned AI scholar with researchers in Korea, but also as an occasion for substantive research exchange.
Dean traced the past 15 years of AI through the research he was directly involved in. As an undergraduate in the 1990s, he worked on training neural networks across multiple computers, but the computing power of the time was not enough to make it work. Two decades later, once sufficient compute became available, the same idea finally began to deliver. More computation, more data, and larger models leading to better performance, he explained, has been the consistent through-line of the past 15 years.
He also emphasized the role of hardware. When speech recognition accuracy improved sharply, the team calculated that if users actually began relying on the feature, Google would have needed to double the size of its data centers using existing approaches. That realization led to the development of the TPU, a chip purpose-built for AI computation. Dean noted that the accumulated progress in both hardware and algorithms is what has brought today's AI models to gold-medal-level performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC).
"When humans and AI work together, we can reach better outcomes than either could alone," said Dean.
“Advances in AI are rapidly reshaping the way scientific and engineering research is conducted, making close collaboration with the world’s leading researchers more important than ever,” said KAIST President Chungsik Bae. “KAIST aims to foster a research ecosystem where top AI researchers from around the world can exchange ideas and tackle ambitious challenges alongside their Korean counterparts, positioning Korea at the forefront of global AI research.”
The lecture drew about 150 on-site attendees, including faculty and students from KAIST, Korea University, Yonsei University, and POSTECH, the universities of the NAIRL consortium, and partner company representatives, with another 220 joining via live stream. In the Q&A that followed, students and researchers raised questions on how the spread of coding agents will reshape jobs, how safety can be ensured in autonomous experimental systems, and how equitable access to AI capabilities can be maintained.
After the lecture, Dean joined a small-group research discussion with faculty members and graduate researchers from the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, offering direct feedback on each lab's work in areas such as large-scale distributed training and AI infrastructure.
"This was an opportunity for researchers in Korea to hear directly from a legendary scholar who has been at the very front of AI infrastructure and model development for the past 15 years," said Kee-Eung Kim, Director of NAIRL. "We will continue to expand exchanges with the world's leading researchers and connect Korea's AI research ecosystem to the global community."
Discovery Loop, founded in 2026, is an AI startup building systems that run thousands of experiments in parallel using frontier AI models and large-scale computing infrastructure. Starting with the automation of machine learning research and development, the company plans to expand into challenges such as drug discovery and clean energy.
The National AI Research Lab (NAIRL), hosted by KAIST, was established in October 2024 with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP). It is Korea's largest industry-academia-research collaboration platform for AI, bringing together four universities (KAIST, Korea University, POSTECH, and Yonsei University) alongside domestic and international companies and research institutions, and expanding its global AI research network through partnerships with leading institutions abroad.
The KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, established in 2019, was the first in Korea to offer master's and doctoral degrees dedicated to artificial intelligence. Its faculty includes researchers formerly with Google Brain, IBM Watson Research Center, Microsoft Research, and NVIDIA Research.
2026.08.18 View 2096 -
KAIST Controls the Rotation Direction of Light Without Complex New Materials
A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that travels while rotating like a pinwheel either to the left or to the right. Because different rotation directions can carry different information, it is drawing attention as a key light source for next-generation displays, optical communications, and security technologies. KAIST researchers have developed a platform technology that arranges symmetric molecules into “microscopic pinwheels,” enabling circularly polarized light with a desired rotation direction.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 14 that a research team led by Professor Dong Ki Yoon from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with researchers from Chungnam National University, Ajou University, Yonsei University, and Japan’s RIKEN, has developed a technology that spatially confines symmetric non-chiral liquid crystal molecules and applies an electric field to form micrometer-scale chiral pinwheel structures, then permanently replicates them onto polymer nanofibers.
Chirality refers to the property of an object whose mirror image cannot be perfectly superimposed on the original, like a person’s left and right hands. Chirality is a key property not only of biological molecules such as proteins and DNA, but also of optical materials used in next-generation displays, optical sensors, and optical communications.
Until now, producing chiral optical materials has generally required the complex synthesis of molecules with asymmetric structures or the addition of large amounts of chiral substances. This has made fabrication complicated, limited the range of usable materials, and made it difficult to realize chiral structures with the same handedness over a large area.
To address this challenge, the research team proposed a new approach based on the idea that “structure creates function.”
The team applied to molecules the same principle by which the same sheet of paper can form either a clockwise or counterclockwise pinwheel depending on how it is folded. They focused on the fact that even symmetric molecules can form structures with different handedness depending on how they assemble.
The researchers first induced rod-shaped molecules to self-assemble into microscopic pinwheel-like structures. They then added an extremely small amount of chiral additive, less than 1% of the total material, to guide all of the pinwheels to face the same direction. The team then successfully replicated this structure onto polymer nanofibers.
When a conventional luminescent material was coated onto this structure, circularly polarized light rotating in opposite directions was emitted depending not on the luminescent material itself, but on the direction of the pinwheel structure. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that rotates to the left or right as it travels, and because each rotation direction can carry different information, it can be used in next-generation displays, optical communications, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
In other words, the study showed that the properties of light can be controlled simply by changing the structure on which a light-emitting material is placed, rather than by changing the light-emitting material itself. Put simply, just as the same LEGO blocks can form completely different shapes depending on how they are assembled, the same molecules can produce different optical properties depending only on how they are arranged.
Professor Dong Ki Yoon said, “The key point of this study is that we controlled the rotation direction of light not through the complex chemical structure of chiral molecules, but only through the way molecules are arranged,” adding, “This work presents a new optical material design principle that can be applied to next-generation displays, AR and VR optical devices, polarization sensors, and optical communications without the need to develop complex new materials.”
Jeong Yeon Han, the first author and a Ph.D. candidate, explained, “In conventional approaches, left-handed and right-handed structures tended to form together, canceling out chiral properties. In this study, however, we succeeded in aligning the structures in a single direction over a large area by designing an extremely small amount of additive to select only one rotation direction.”
This study was led by Ph.D. candidate Jeong Yeon Han as the first author, and the research results were published in the international journal Nature Communications on August 05.
Paper title: Microchiral pinwheel arrays based on achiral molecules,
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76089-z
Authors: Jeong Yeon Han (first author), Won Kyung Park, Byeongil Noh, Fumito Araoka, Sungwook Jung, Byeong Hak Jhun, Youngmin You, Yoonsu Park, Kyung Jin Lee*, Jung-Moo Heo*, and Dong Ki Yoon* (*corresponding authors)
This research was supported by the Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the InnoCORE Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.14 View 3823 -
KAIST Finds Algal Blooms Make Plastic More Prone to Breaking Apart, Revealing a Mechanism of Microplastic Formation
Every summer, algal blooms turn rivers and lakes green. Although they are widely known as a major form of water pollution that makes the water murky, a KAIST research team has now shown for the first time that algal bloom conditions can make discarded plastics, such as plastic bags, more prone to breaking apart, potentially accelerating the formation of microplastics. The study points to a new direction for the era of climate change: water pollution and plastic pollution need to be managed together, rather than as separate problems.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on July 29 that a research team led by Professor Jaewook Myung from the Department of Civil and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has found, through a microcosm experiment using water collected from Duck Pond, a pond on the KAIST campus, that algal blooms alter the microbial ecosystem on the surface of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) — a common plastic used in plastic bags — and accelerate its early-stage weathering, in which the surface oxidizes and develops microscopic cracks.
The study is significant because it suggests that, in natural environments, plastic pollution and the eutrophication that drives algal blooms can interact and lead to new ecological changes.
Over time, plastic debris discarded in rivers and lakes becomes colonized by a wide variety of microorganisms, creating a small ecosystem of its own on the plastic surface. This ecosystem is known as the “plastisphere.” The plastisphere is known to influence the spread of pathogens and the transport of microplastics, but little has been known about how algal blooms, a serious form of water pollution, affect this microbial ecosystem.
To investigate this question, the research team constructed microcosms — small-scale experimental systems that recreate natural environments in the laboratory — in which algal blooms were artificially induced by controlling light exposure and nutrient concentrations. Over the following six weeks, the researchers closely analyzed the biofilms forming on the plastic surface, the succession of microbial communities, and changes in their functional gene profiles.
The analysis showed that under eutrophic conditions in which excessive nutrients trigger algal blooms that cyanobacteria, a major group of photosynthetic bacteria, proliferated alongside a variety of other bacteria, forming a thicker biofilm on the plastic surface. Microorganisms capable of producing large amounts of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) also became significantly more abundant. EPS is a sticky, mucilage-like material that binds microorganisms together and helps them adhere to plastic surfaces.
As the microbial ecosystem on the plastic surface changed, the early weathering of the plastic — including surface oxidation and the formation of microscopic cracks — also accelerated. The team found that microorganisms harboring genes encoding enzymes associated with plastic oxidation and early-stage degradation became more abundant under eutrophic conditions.
Analyses using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) directly confirmed these changes. Oxygen-containing functional groups associated with oxidation, including carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, increased on the plastic surface, while more fine, hairline cracks appeared. These changes indicate that the plastic had become more susceptible to further physical weathering and fragmentation. The results suggest that these changes were driven not by a single microbial species, but by the combined activity of a microbial ecosystem comprising photosynthetic and other bacteria.
Professor Myung said, “As algal blooms become more frequent because of climate change, we expect this work to provide an important scientific basis for integrated environmental management strategies that consider water quality management and plastic waste management together.”
The study was led by first author Youngju Kim, a doctoral student from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and was published online in the international environmental journal Water Research on May 25, 2026.
Paper title: Eutrophication drives taxonomic and functional trajectories in plastic-associated biofilms
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2026.126183
Author information: Youngju Kim, KAIST, first author; Yijin Wang, HKUST; Wenqian Xu, HKUST; Charmaine C.M. Yung, HKUST; and Jaewook Myung, KAIST, corresponding author — five authors in total
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS- 2023–00209472, RS-2024–00437656, and RS-2026–25393325), by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea (20200104), and by the grant for the “KAIST Grand Challenge 30 Program” funded by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (N11250072)
2026.07.29 View 2782 -
KAIST Teams Win Both International Challenges at ICRA 2026 and CVPR 2026
Two research teams from KAIST have claimed first place in international challenge competitions held at the world’s premier robotics and computer vision conferences.
KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced that the ACDC-K Team and the Curaytor Team, both from the laboratory of Prof. Hyun Myung in the School of Electrical Engineering, won first place in international challenge competitions held in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2026) and the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR 2026), respectively.
The achievement highlights the global competitiveness of KAIST’s robotic perception and spatial intelligence technologies, with two teams from the same laboratory securing victories in leading international competitions across distinct research fields.
The ACDC-K Team won first place among more than 60 participating teams in the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) category of the Hilti×Trimble SLAM Challenge 2026, held during the Open Challenges in Robotics for Asset Inspection (OCRAIM) Workshop at ICRA 2026 in Vienna, Austria, from June 1 to 5.
Jointly organized by Hilti, Trimble, and the University of Oxford, the challenge evaluates robotic localization and mapping performance using sensor data collected from real construction sites. Participants were required to address practical challenges frequently encountered in construction environments, including non-overlapping front and rear fisheye camera configurations, low-texture indoor scenes, and rapid camera motion.
To tackle these challenges, the ACDC-K Team developed a robust visual-inertial SLAM system that fuses front and rear fisheye camera data with inertial measurements. By integrating feature-point and feature-line observations with adaptive constraints and correction mechanisms, the team achieved highly reliable localization and mapping performance in complex construction environments.
Meanwhile, the Curaytor Team won first place among eight participating teams in the Nothing Stands Still (NSS) Challenge 2026, held during the Computer Vision for the Built World (CV4AEC) Workshop at CVPR 2026 in Denver, Colorado, from June 3 to 7.
Jointly organized by Stanford University, ETH Zurich, and Oregon State University, the NSS Challenge evaluates 3D point cloud registration technologies for construction and industrial environments that evolve over time.
The Curaytor Team developed a novel multi-registration framework capable of aligning multiple LiDAR scans collected across different times and locations. The framework integrates feature extraction, correspondence estimation, robust global registration, registration confidence assessment, and change-aware refinement techniques. As a result, the team achieved highly accurate registration performance even in environments containing structural changes and dynamic objects.
“This achievement demonstrates the robustness of our visual-inertial SLAM and 3D LiDAR registration technologies in complex and constantly changing real-world environments,” said Prof. Hyun Myung. “It is particularly meaningful that our students secured first-place finishes in highly competitive international challenges hosted at two of the world’s most prestigious conferences in robotics and computer vision.”
Prof. Hyun Myung’s laboratory has consistently demonstrated excellence in spatial intelligence research. The laboratory previously won first place in the LiDAR track and ranked first among academic teams in the vision track of the Hilti SLAM Challenge in 2023. In addition, the Curaytor Team successfully defended its title in the NSS Challenge, securing back-to-back championships in 2025 and 2026.
2026.06.19 View 7750 -
"What if there is no one to farm? KAIST reveals a hidden risk to future food security
<(From Left) Professor Nicklas Forsell, Professor Hyungjun Kim, Ph.D candidate Hongtak Lee, Professor Haewon Chon>
The cause of future food shortages may not be a lack of farmland, but a shortage of agricultural workforce." Amid the reality of low birth rates and rural extinction, a joint international research team from KAIST has developed a new data-driven model that reflects the decline in the agricultural workforce into the analysis of future food security (the ability to stably produce and supply food required by the public). The research findings show that in the future, a shortage of agricultural workforce could act as a key constraint on farmland utilization in most regions of the world.
KAIST announced on June 12th that a research team led by Professor Hyungjun Kim from the Department of AI Future (adjunct at the Moon Soul Graduate School of Future Strategy), in joint research with Professor Haewon Chon from the KI Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy (Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability), Professor Nicklas Forsell, and Professor Taikan Oki from the University of Tokyo in Japan, analyzed the impact of the agricultural workforce decline on future food production.
< Regional Farmland Supply, Demand, and Shortage Outlook for 2030 and 2100 >
Until now, food security and climate change research have mainly focused on "how much farmland can be secured." The approach was to predict the future by calculating whether the climate and soil are suitable for farming and how much food demand will increase in the future.
However, the research team asked a different question: "What if there is farmland, but no one to farm it?" In fact, as low birth rates and urban concentration manifest in many countries, the rural population is declining. As economies develop, there is also a stronger tendency for people to move from agriculture to the manufacturing or service sectors. The research team determined that these changes could have a significant impact on future food production.
The research team performed the analysis using five future scenarios that combine SSP (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) and RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways), which are representative international scenario frameworks that predict how future society and climate change will unfold. SSP is a scenario that assumes the direction of societal changes such as population growth, economic growth, and technological development, while RCP is a scenario that shows how the future climate will change depending on greenhouse gas emissions.
The research team newly reflected the agricultural workforce variable into these future outlooks. While previous predictions were mainly based on the land available for farming and food demand, this study simultaneously considered the actual number of people who will farm. In other words, the reality that food production can be limited if the agricultural workforce is insufficient, even if farmland and climate conditions are adequate, was reflected in the model.
The results of the analysis were even clearer than expected. In the future, it was shown that the farmland area that can actually be utilized will decrease due to the shortage of agricultural workforce in most regions of the world. In some regions, the lack of agricultural workforce was analyzed to act as a greater limiting factor than climate or soil.
The research team explained that the agricultural workforce problem may not be easily resolved even in a future where technological development occurs rapidly. Technological development increases the cultivable area per person. However, as industries grow, more people move to the manufacturing and service sectors, which conversely accelerates the decline of the rural population, leading to a reduced workforce and a phenomenon where farmland utilization becomes more restricted. These results suggest the importance of a sustainable development model.
In addition, it was confirmed that if international migration is restricted, developed countries will experience a shortage of agricultural workforce, while conversely, the agricultural population in some low-income countries may increase excessively. This shows that migration policies are also closely linked to food security. Professor Hyungjun Kim explained, "This study analyzed future food issues by considering not only climate and land, but also changes in people. It is a study showing that realistic social problems such as low birth rates and the avoidance of rural areas can have a significant impact on future food security and climate change responses."
This study, in which Ph.D. student Hongtak Lee from the Moon Soul Graduate School of Future Strategy participated as the first author and Professor Hyungjun Kim from the Department of AI Future conducted as the corresponding author, was published on June 1 in the international academic journal 'Nature Sustainability'. Furthermore, in recognition of its academic importance, the study was prominently highlighted in a separate commentary titled "Farming needs more hands" (News & Views; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01841-8) in the same journal. The commentary evaluated this research as "a first step that shifted the conventional question of 'how much land is there' to whether there are enough people and productivity per worker to cultivate that land." ※ Title of Paper: Agricultural Workforce as a Potential Bottleneck of Future Cropland Availability, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01824-9 ※ Main Authors: Hongtak Lee (KAIST, First Author), Nicklas Forsell (KAIST), Taikan Oki (University of Tokyo), Haewon Chon (KAIST), Hyungjun Kim (KAIST, Corresponding Author)
<Research Image(AI-generated)>
This research was conducted with the support of the AI-based Future Climate Technology Development Framework Program, the Brain Pool Program, and the Plus Project (Ministry of Science and ICT) through the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.06.15 View 3192 -
Professor Hoon Sohn of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Selected as the June Winner of the 'Korea Scientist and Engineer Award'
Professor Hoon Sohn from KAIST Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been selected as the June winner of the 'Korea Scientist and Engineer Award.'
The Korea Scientist and Engineer Award is presented monthly by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) to a researcher who has made significant contributions to the advancement of science and technology through original research achievements over the past three years. The award includes a commendation from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, along with a cash prize of 10 million KRW.
Professor Hoon Sohn was recognized for his contributions to developing an affordable, high-precision displacement sensor technology capable of detecting disaster and hazard risks in small-to-medium-sized infrastructure in real-time.
With the rapid aging of infrastructure such as bridges and buildings in recent years, the importance of technology that continuously monitors the structural safety of facilities has been growing. However, small-to-medium-sized structures—which make up the vast majority of infrastructure worldwide—exhibit very subtle movements on a millimeter scale, requiring highly precise measurement. Moreover, existing equipment is prohibitively expensive, making widespread adoption difficult.
To overcome these limitations, Professor Sohn combined millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar with Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers and applied signal processing algorithms. Through this, he successfully developed a technology that can simultaneously measure a structure's vibration, tilt, and displacement with a single sensor.
The production cost of this sensor is under 1 million KRW, which is approximately 1/40th the cost of conventional equipment, yet it boasts a high precision of 0.026 mm. Its power consumption has also been reduced to 1/100th of existing systems. Furthermore, it incorporates energy harvesting technology that utilizes ambient wasted energy, allowing for completely wireless operation.
The reliability of this technology has been proven through field demonstrations at more than 13 domestic and international sites, including a parking garage at Stanford University (USA), a highway in San Jose (USA), a bridge in Weifang (China), and the Geumgang Pedestrian Bridge in Sejong (South Korea).
Professor Sohn stated, "The significance of this research lies in establishing a technological foundation to precisely manage small-to-medium-sized structures that have previously been excluded from continuous, routine monitoring." He added, "Moving forward, I will continue my research on AI-based digital twins to lead the automation, unmanned operation, and intelligent advancement of the safety diagnosis market, thereby contributing to public safety and disaster prevention."
2026.06.04 View 3791 -
“Entrepreneurial Mutual Growth Fair 2026” to be Held... KAIST Super Star Companies Gather for AI Solopreneurship, Tech Commercialization, Investment, and Youth Job Fair
KAIST announced that it will host the ‘AI Agent-Based Solopreneurship Program Information Session’ and the ‘Entrepreneurial Mutual Growth Fair 2026’ for two days from May 18th to 19th.
In this event, KAIST’s new AI-based solopreneurship model, which utilizes AI not merely as an operational tool but as a ‘Co-founder,’ will be introduced in depth. The university will hold an information session for the ‘AI Solopreneur Support Project,’ which enables a single individual to carry out the entire entrepreneurial process—including planning, development, marketing, and fundraising—using AI agents prepared by the university.
In this program, 100 prospective entrepreneurs will be selected nationwide, and faculty from the KAIST Institute for Entrepreneurship and the KAIST Graduate School of AI will provide eight weeks of intensive training. Additionally, a network of top-tier domestic and global mentors will be established to support business optimization and linkage with overseas investments.
In particular, outstanding teams will be provided with seed investment of up to 100 million KRW, prototype production support, and infrastructure for GPU and AI services. By fostering world-class AI utilization skills in prospective entrepreneurs with diverse domain knowledge, KAIST plans to accelerate the introduction of AI into various domestic industries while nurturing AI business models with global competitiveness.
This event is organized as a venue to introduce the KAIST-style full-cycle entrepreneurial ecosystem, encompassing artificial intelligence (AI)-based entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, industry-academic cooperation, investment linkage, and youth job creation. In particular, it will showcase the competitiveness of the deep-tech (advanced technology-based) startup ecosystem from multiple perspectives, focusing on the technological prowess and industrial application cases of KAIST startup companies.
Global big tech companies' choice of AI solution providers will also participate to reveal various technologies reflecting the AX (AI Transformation) trend across industries. Actual application cases that supported the digital transformation of major domestic corporations through factory and office automation solutions will also be announced.
In the field of robotics, Lion Robotics will introduce field-application technologies based on quadruped robots and leading R&D cases for humanoid robots. In addition, next-generation AI semiconductor startups such as Panmnesia and HyperAccel will present next-generation chip design technologies for implementing On-Device AI. These companies will showcase technologies and business models that can run Large Language Model (LLM)-based AI services faster while reducing dependence on GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). In the deep-tech bio and healthcare AI field, Barreleye will introduce an innovative solution that complements the limitations of traditional MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)-centered diagnosis through AI-based quantitative ultrasound analysis technology. In the bio and medical robot field, Roen Surgical will present next-generation medical innovation cases based on precision surgical robot technology.
On the first day of the event, May 18th, the ‘Entrepreneurial Mutual Growth Fair’ will be held in the main hall on the 1st floor of the KI Building along with the ‘AI Agent-Based Solopreneurship Program Information Session.’ Representative startup companies that have led KAIST’s technology commercialization success will participate in this session to share successful technology commercialization models that connected R&D achievements to actual market results.
Through this, they plan to present a virtuous cycle for the KAIST startup ecosystem leading from ‘Research → Startup → Investment → Growth.’ Furthermore, KAIST startup companies will operate recruitment sessions alongside technology exhibitions. Participating companies will conduct direct recruitment consultations and talent discovery on-site, providing youth with high-quality, technology-based job opportunities. Through this event, the university plans to support scientific and technological talents so they can advance into startups and industrial fields rather than staying in research, and to lead technology-based entrepreneurship and employment creation. On the second day, May 19th, an ‘Open Innovation Information Session’ will be held to connect KAIST’s research capabilities with industrial demand.
At the event, the ‘1 Lab N Startup’ model, which connects KAIST faculty’s technology with corporate R&D needs to promote joint research and commercialization, will be introduced. Industry-academic cooperation strategies that expand beyond technology transfer to joint entrepreneurship and new business creation will also be announced. Following this, in the ‘KAIST Startup Investment Linkage IR Pitching Session,’ the investment attraction program ‘Tech Plaza’ will be operated, featuring five Korean deep-tech bio companies. Companies selected based on the KAIST Startup Platform (KSTP) will present their business models and technological prowess to investors, and tangible investment results are expected through linkage with venture capital (VC) and accelerators. Bae Hyeon-min, Dean of the KAIST Institute for Entrepreneurship, said, “This Entrepreneurial Mutual Growth Fair is an integrated startup platform that connects the entire process from AI-based individual entrepreneurship to technology commercialization, industry-academic cooperation, investment, and job creation.
We expect it to serve as an opportunity to present a new direction for the domestic deep-tech startup ecosystem through the success stories of KAIST’s representative startups.” This event is open to students, the general public, corporations, and investment institutions interested in entrepreneurship, and is prepared as a place to directly confirm the innovative achievements and expansion possibilities of the KAIST startup ecosystem. Information regarding the KAIST AI Solopreneurship Program information session and participation applications can be found on the website (https://www.kaist-overedge.com/).
By accessing the website, people can watch the information session on YouTube and apply for participation.
2026.05.13 View 5396 -
KAIST, Making Pharmaceuticals with Light and Air… Solving a Long-Standing Challenge in Chemical Synthesis
<(From Left) Professor Sang Woo Han, Researcher Jin Wook Baek>
In chemical processes for producing pharmaceuticals, catalysts are the key to determine production speed and cost. However, until now, there has been a trade-off between “precise but disposable catalysts” and “reusable catalysts.” A KAIST research team has developed an eco-friendly catalytic technology that combines these two types, operating with light and air. This opens a pathway to producing pharmaceutical ingredients more cheaply and cleanly, with expected reductions in carbon emissions and environmental pollution.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 30th of March that a research team led by Professor Sang Woo Han of the Department of Chemistry has succeeded in combining two different types of catalysts into one system. One is a silver (Ag)-based catalyst that operates in a solid state, and the other is an organic photocatalyst, DDQ (a substance that triggers chemical reactions upon absorbing light), which operates in solution. By enabling these two catalysts to function together, the team made it possible to carry out previously difficult reactions more efficiently.
< Schematic diagram of the operation of a heterogeneous–homogeneous hybrid photocatalytic system >
Using this technology, the researchers successfully produced amines—key raw materials for pharmaceuticals—through an environmentally friendly process using light and air. This demonstrated that the desired substances can be synthesized without additional chemical reagents, proving the practicality of the technology.
Conventional organic photocatalysis required additional chemicals to reuse catalysts after reactions, or suffered from reduced efficiency due to slow reaction rates when using oxygen from air.
To address this, the research team proposed a method of reusing byproducts generated during the reaction. These byproducts restore the catalyst to a reusable state, while oxygen in the air helps sustain this cycle. In other words, instead of being used once and discarded, the catalyst regenerates itself and continues operating in a “cyclic system.”
As a result, they established a “cyclic catalytic system” that continues functioning without the need for additional chemical inputs. Notably, this system operates with light and air. Light activates the catalyst to initiate the reaction, while air restores the used catalyst to its active state. In essence, the catalyst continuously “recharges” and operates repeatedly. Since air leaves only water as a byproduct in this process, the environmental burden is significantly reduced.
In addition, to solve the issue of reduced performance when different catalysts interact, the team introduced lithium salt (LiClO₄). This substance helps regulate interactions between the two catalysts, significantly improving their stability and lifespan.
< A hybrid catalyst powered by light and air as energy sources >
Professor Sang Woo Han stated, “This research is the first to successfully integrate an inorganic photochemical loop system—where a metal-based catalyst reacts under light and returns to its original state—into the field of organic synthesis,” adding, “It represents an important advancement that combines the advantages of different catalytic systems to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the chemical industry.” He further noted, “It opens a new pathway for producing high-value compounds, such as pharmaceutical ingredients, in the most environmentally friendly way.”
This research was conducted with Jin Wook Baek of the KAIST Department of Chemistry as the first author, and the results were published on March 18 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), a leading journal in chemistry.
※ Paper title: “Merger of heterogeneous and homogeneous photocatalysis for arene C–H Amination”
※ DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c20824
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Mid-career Researcher Program.
2026.03.30 View 3270 -
World’s First AI-Managed Unmanned Factory Implemented... Construction of Physical AI KAIROS
< Integrated Operation of Heterogeneous Logistics Robot Systems >
KAIST announced on March 23rd that Professor Young Jae Jang's team from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering has constructed ‘KAIROS’ (KAIST AI Robot Orchestration Systems), a physical AI testbed that integrates and controls heterogeneous robots, sensors, facilities, and digital twins into a single system.
KAIROS is a 100% unmanned factory platform based on physical AI and is the first integrated testbed of its kind in Korea, developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). It is particularly noteworthy as a domestic integrated solution aimed at exporting "Dark Factories" in the future.
The most significant feature of KAIROS is its structure, which integrates and controls various factory equipment through a single AI agent-based Operating System (OS). While existing factory automation was operated around individual devices, KAIROS integrates Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), humanoid robots, collaborative robots, and automation facilities into a single intelligent platform. Through this, the concept of ‘Physical AI-based factory operation’—where the entire factory is operated like a single AI system—has been realized.
The core of this testbed is the 100% domestic integration of the entire process from sensors and control to data processing. By integrating key elements of a Dark Factory—including logistics robots (AMR), OHT, 3D shuttles, humanoid robots, collaborative robots, industrial sensors and PC controllers, wireless charging systems, digital twins and simulations, and AI-based integrated control and safety management systems—using domestic technology, the project has replaced factory automation equipment and software that were heavily dependent on foreign technology and laid the foundation for a ‘K-Manufacturing Factory Export Model.’
As part of the Physical AI Pre-verification Project, the MSIT has supported the establishment of a demonstration lab within the KAIST Industrial Management Building. On March 23, Vice Minister Bae Gyeong-hoon (Minister of Science and ICT) visited KAIST to announce the National Physical AI Strategy (Draft) and unveil the KAIROS-based Dark Factory demonstration site.
At the event, the factory operating system of the KAIST demonstration lab, joint physical AI demonstration results with Chonbuk National University, and the direction of the ‘Team Korea Physical AI (TK-PAI)’ alliance—a cooperative structure of domestic companies—were discussed.
< KAIROS Operation Plan Announcement >
< KAIROS Demonstration >
< KAIROS Factory Site >
KAIST plans to further advance the next-generation factory operating system (OS), covering the design, construction, and operation of Dark Factories through KAIROS, and to develop simulation and virtual verification environments.
In addition, the university intends to utilize the platform as a testing and evaluation site where domestic robot and automation companies can pre-verify highly reliable equipment, thereby increasing industrial applicability. Furthermore, the goal is to develop physical AI-based Dark Factory solutions capable of competing with global companies such as Siemens (Germany), FANUC (Japan), and Yaskawa (Japan) to pursue entry into the global market.
Kwang Hyung Lee, President of KAIST, stated, “KAIROS is the beginning of a new industrial paradigm where AI directly operates factories. KAIST will lead manufacturing innovation based on physical AI and contribute to ensuring South Korea’s leadership in global industrial competition.”
Professor Young Jae Jang, who led the construction of KAIROS, explained, “KAIROS goes beyond individual automation technologies to implement the concept of a factory operating system (OS) that integrates diverse robots and facilities into one system. It will serve as a foundation for domestic companies to verify physical AI technologies applicable to actual industrial sites and expand into the global market.”
2026.03.23 View 7571 -
Secret to Drug Addiction Relapse Found: Brain's Addiction Circuit Identified
<(From Left) Dr. Minju Jeong,(UCSD), Prof. Byung Kook Lim (UCSD), Prof. Se-Bum Paik (KAIST)>
Drug addiction carries an extremely high risk of relapse, as cravings can be reignited by minor stimuli even long after one has stopped using. Previously, this phenomenon was attributed to a decline in the function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which regulates impulses. However, a joint international research team has recently revealed that the cause of addiction relapse is not a simple decline in brain function, but rather an imbalance in specific neural circuits.
KAIST announced on March 9th that a research team led by Prof. Se-Bum Paik from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Prof. Byung Kook Lim from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has identified the core principle by which specific inhibitory neurons in the prefrontal cortex regulate cocaine-seeking behavior.
In particular, the research team focused on parvalbumin-positive (PV) inhibitory neurons, which regulate the balance of neural signals by suppressing the activity of other neurons in the brain. They confirmed that these cells act as a "brake gate" that controls excitatory signals in the brain and serve as a crucial factor in determining drug-seeking behavior that emerges after withdrawal.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) of our brain can properly perform its "braking" function to suppress impulses when excitatory and inhibitory signals are in balance. To investigate how chronic drug exposure disrupts this balance, the research team conducted cocaine administration experiments on mice. During this process, they tracked when inhibitory neurons in the PFC were activated and how they sent signals to downstream brain regions.
The experimental results showed that parvalbumin (PV) cells, which account for about 60-70% of the inhibitory neurons in the PFC, were highly active when the mice attempted to seek cocaine. However, when "extinction training"—training to stop seeking the drug—was conducted, the activity of these cells significantly decreased. This demonstrates that the activity patterns of PV cells are not permanently fixed by addiction but can be readjusted through the extinction process.
<Figure 1. Experimental design illustrating cocaine self-administration and longitudinal tracking of prefrontal cortical neural activity during cocaine-seeking behavior>
The research team confirmed that artificially suppressing PV cell activity significantly reduced cocaine-seeking behavior in mice. Conversely, activating these cells caused the drug-seeking behavior to persist even after the extinction process. This effect was specifically observed in drug-addiction behavior and did not appear with general rewards like sugar water. Furthermore, this phenomenon was not observed in somatostatin (SOM) cells—another type of inhibitory neuron—indicating that PV cells selectively regulate drug addiction behavior.
<Figure 2. Comparison of single-neuron activity, population activity patterns, and behavioral modulation of prefrontal inhibitory neurons across different stages of cocaine-seeking behavior>
The team also identified the specific brain circuit through which these PV cells operate. Signals originating from the prefrontal cortex are transmitted to the reward circuit of the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA), a key brain region related to reward. This pathway emerged as the central channel for regulating addiction behavior, determining whether or not to seek the drug again. In this process, PV neurons act as a "regulatory switch," controlling the flow of signals to influence dopamine signaling and deciding whether to maintain or suppress addictive behavior.
In short, the study revealed that addiction relapse is not due to an overall functional decline of the prefrontal cortex, but is determined by whether PV neurons regulate the neural pathway connecting the PFC to the reward circuit.
<Figure 3. Schematic illustrating the prefrontal–reward circuit mechanism that determines drug-seeking behavior>
Prof. Se-Bum Paik stated, "This research shows that drug addiction is a circuit-level problem arising from a collapse in the regulatory balance of specific neurons and downstream neural circuits. The discovery that parvalbumin (PV) cells act as a 'gate' for addictive behavior will provide a crucial lead for developing precision-targeted treatment strategies in the future."
This study was led by Dr. Minju Jeong (UCSD) as the first author, with Prof. Byung Kook Lim (UCSD) and Prof. Se-Bum Paik (KAIST) serving as co-corresponding authors. The findings were published online on February 26 in Neuron, a premier journal in the field of neuroscience.
Paper Title: Distinct Interneuronal Dynamics Selectively Gate Target-Specific Cortical Projections in Drug Seeking
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2026.01.002
Full Author List: Minju Jeong, Seungdae Baek, Qingdi Wang, Li Yao, Eun Ji Lee, Arturo Marroquin Rivera, Joann Jocelynn Lee, Hyeonseok Jang, Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Christine Hyun-Seung Mun, Tyler Boesen, Sumit Nanda, Cheol Ryong Ku, Hong-wei Dong, Benoit Labonté, Se-Bum Paik, and Byung Kook Lim.
This research was conducted with the support of the Basic Research Program in Science and Engineering of the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.03.10 View 4044