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President Nam Pyo Suh of KAIST discussed cooperation with KUSTAR on the training of skilled manpower for research and development (R&D)
Representatives from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR), Emirate Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), and the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT) had a meeting on mutual cooperation at the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on January 14, 2009.
Participants of the meeting were President Nam Pyo Suh of KAIST, President Arif Sultan Al Hammadi of KUSTAR, President Mohamed Al Hammadi of ENEC, and Director General Abdullatif Mohamed Al Shamsi of IAT.
A press conference on the training of skilled manpower for research and development (R&D) in the UAE followed afterwards.
At the end of December in 2009, a Korean consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) beat bids from its competitors to construct four nuclear power plants in the UAE. Representing the consortium, Minister Kyung Hwan Choi of Knowledge Economy Ministry signed a comprehensive agreement with KUSTAR and the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT) for the delivery of nuclear power plants.
On his visit, President Suh discussed with KUSTAR the agreement above in greater detail on subjects, where KAIST renders its cooperation, such as research collaboration, university degree program, and training to produce qualified personnel necessary for the development of UAE’s nuclear energy industry.
On research collaboration, sharing its expertise and knowledge accumulated years from the operation of academic and research programs, KAIST agreed to provide cooperation to KUSTAR in developing the latter as a leading science, technology, and research university in ten years through mutual activities such as research collaborations, recruitment and exchange of outstanding researchers and graduate students, expansion of research facilities, and creation of major research policies. Furthermore, in support of nuclear energy program in the UAE, KAIST agreed to develop a joint research program in nuclear engineering and exchange faculty members and students for research collaboration.
On a university degree program, KAIST agreed for mutual cooperation to launch academic programs at KUSTAR, covering BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees to specialize in areas such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, nuclear engineering, biomedical engineering, nano technology, science, and information technology. To that end, KAIST will dispatch its faculty to KUSTAR; provide assistance in developing curriculum and teaching materials; and exchange students for research collaboration.
President Arif of KUSTAR mentioned that the university will cooperate with the relevant institutions in Korea, i.e., Korea Development Institute (KDI) and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), to train skilled workers required for the development of nuclear energy program in the UAE.
He also added, “These cooperative programs will introduce more educational opportunities to our students, and as a result, they can make greater contributions to the development of our nation’s future technologies in various areas. Our students will have a chance to study a broad range of academic subjects through partnership made with the Republic of Korea, and I expect to see improvements in our engineering programs by integrating KAIST’s state-of-the-art academic courses into our system.”
President Arif expressed his hope “to increase cooperation beyond the agreement made between the two countries, like allowing more exchanges and interactions with KAIST for the development of science and technology in Korea and the UAE.”
“Establishing mutual cooperation between KAIST and KUSTAR is a historic event not only for our two universities but also for our two countries. The two universities will make a great contribution to the improvement of the future of humanity by working together to solve the most important, difficult issues faced in the 21st century,” said President Suh.
He also said that “all members of KAIST community will make our utmost efforts to advance the quality of education in two schools and to implement innovative researches through mutual cooperation.”
KUSTAR, a national university in the UAE, was founded on February 13, 2007 by a mandate of the current President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to create a higher education institute.
KUSTAR has been building its permanent campus in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE since establishment and merged with the campus in Sharjah (formerly known as Etisalat University College with 18 years of history) in 2008. The University offers education and research programs in five disciplines of engineering, logistics and management, health science, homeland security, and applied science.
There are more or less 30 foreign accredited universities set up in the UAE from countries like the US, UK, Australia, France, Ireland, and Canada. Examples of such, among other things, are New York University Abu Dhabi campus and Middlesex University Dubai campus.
Many of the foreign universities in the UAE, however, have colleges of pharmacy, computer science, aviation, management information, fashion design, business management, and medical science including Harvard Medical School Dubai Center, but not many in science and research. Therefore, KAIST’s assistance in KUSTAR’s endeavor to become a leading science and research university in the UAE is timely. The current government of UAE anticipates, with a great interest, to see a leading science and research intuition built in their nation.
Attachment: Current Status of Universities in the UAE as of 2009
Background Information
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah, and Fujairah) situated on the Arabian Peninsula, which borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE has the world"s sixth largest oil reserves. As of 2008, its gross domestic product is $2,621,000.5 million and its nominal per capita gross domestic product is $5 5,028, becoming one of the most developed economies in the Middle East. The UAE’s total population as of the said year is 4,760.4 thousand, and its purchasing power per capita is 40th largest in the world. The UAE’s Human Development Index for Asian continent is relatively high, ranking 31st globally.
In 1985, the UAE launched its own airline, Emirates Airline, which has become one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. The Emirates Airline is a sponsor for Arsenal soccer club.
The Republic of Korea established full diplomatic relations with the UAE in June of 1980. On December 27, 2009, a Korean consortium led by Korea Electrical Power Corporation (KEPCO) signed a contract with the UAE to build nuclear power plants.
2010.01.15 View 17240 -
KAIST to Host ITTP Conference in Tunisia
KAIST"s Global IT Technology Program (ITTP) will host an international conference at Hammamet Hotel in Tunisia in cooperation with its counterpart at Seoul National University (SNU) on Nov. 23, university authorities said on Wednesday (Nov. 18).
The event is a pre-conference for the ICT4All Forum on Nov. 24-25 which the Tunisian government is organizing with the ADB, World Bank, Arab Society for Intellectual Property and the UTICA to deal with developing information and communication technologies.
KAIST"s ITTP which started in 2006 is designed to build global network of IT leaders around the world. The program supported by the Korean Ministry of Knowledge and Economy offers a customized master"s and doctoral degree program for foreign government officials, employees of public institutions and senior researchers at national research centers working in the IT fields. Scholarships are provided for all trainees, for up to 2 years for master"s students and up to 3 years for doctoral students.
The program focuses on transferring advanced technologies and business strategies of Korea to the global IT leaders of the next generation.
During the conference, seven government officials from as many countries currently under the KAIST or SNU programs will present international cooperation cases based on their own experiences in the IT fields. KAIST ITTP organizers will also provide an educational session on the mobile government for Tunisian experts and conference participants in the information and communications fields.
2009.11.20 View 14479 -
KAIST Ranked 21st among World's Engineering Universities
KAIST was placed 21st in the area of engineering and information technology in this year"s world university rankings released on Oct. 8 (Thursday), climbing 13 notches from last year"s 34th. Seoul National University (SNU) ranked 27th, which made KAIST and SNU the only two institutions making it to the top 50 list. POSTECH ascended to 81st from last year"s 143rd.
In the "Times Higher Education--QS World University Rankings," Korean universities showed remarkable advancement this year; all-told five Korean universities made it to the top 200 list, as Yonsei and Korea universities were included in the list for the first time.
In overall rankings, KAIST moved 26 notches upward to grab the 69th position in the list, while SNU was placed 47th (50th last year).
The list, compiled by The Times (of London) newspaper annually, is topped by Harvard University, followed by University of Cambridge and Yale University.
Again this year, the United States had most of the top 100 universities in the world, with 32 included in the list. It was followed by the United Kingdom (18), Australia (8) and Japan (6).
Now in their 6th edition, the Times Higher Education--QS World University Rankings received a record level of responses from both the academic community and employers in 2009. A total of 9,386 academics (or 47 percent over 6,354 in 2008) and 3,281 employers (compared to 2,339 in 2008) responded to the surveys.
Times Higher Education -- QS World University Rankings evaluates institutions worldwide in four main categories: quality of research, globalization, quality of education, and contributions of graduates to society. The evaluation also considers academic peer review, citations per faculty, recruiter review, international faculty, international students and faculty-student ratio.
2009.10.09 View 14740
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Prof. Cho Elected Editor-in-Chief of Systems Biology
Prof. Kwang-Hyun Cho of Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST has been recently elected editor-in-chief of the Systems Biology, an international journal published by the London-based Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the university authorities said on Wednesday (Sept. 23)
By the year 2012, Cho will oversee the editorial process of the journal covering intra- and inter-cellular dynamics, using systems- and signal-oriented approaches. IET, one of the world"s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, has a worldwide membership of more than 150,000.
Prof. Cho"s research interests cover the areas of systems science with bio-medical applications including systems biology and bio-inspired engineering based on molecular systems biology. He is currently an editorial board member of Systems and Synthetic Biology (Springer, Netherlands, from 2006), BMC Systems Biology (BMC, London, U.K., from 2007), Gene Regulation and Systems Biology (Libertas Academica, New Zealand, from 2007), and Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (Springer, New York, from 2008), and an editorial advisory board member of Molecular BioSystems (The Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K.).
2009.09.24 View 16809 -
World Research University Heads Discuss Challenges in Global Financial Turmoil at 2009 International Presidential Forum in Seoul
Leaders of the world"s major research universities discussed the impact of the global economic crisis on institutions of higher learning and their research activities in particular and exchanged opinions and visions on ways to increase cooperation with governments and industry at a symposium organized by KAIST Monday (Sept. 21) at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul.
More than 50 participants of the 2nd International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities represented institutions in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, China and Japan. They were joined by 20 presidents of Korean universities and two dozens of leaders from industry and the government.
Under the main subject of "Challenges to Global Research Universities," the international symposium proceeded in four panel sessions. The subjects of each session and their keynote speakers were:
-- "Institutional Management in Times of Financial Crisis" by Kurt Kutzler, President of Berlin Institute of Technology
-- "Innovations in Education & Research" by Brian Cantor, Vice Chancellor of University of York
-- "Globalization of Institutes of Higher Learning" by Gary Schuster, Provost and Executive Vice President of Georgia Institute of Technology
-- "The Roles of Government, University and Industry in Green Technology Development" by KAIST President Nam-Pyo Suh
KAIST President Suh expressed deep gratitude to all participants for their presentations focused on how universities weathered the difficulties from the economic turmoil and how they were continuing efforts for innovation in research and education. He observed that the 2009 International Presidential Forum was again most successful and productive after the first in 2008 and offered a precious opportunity for leaders of research universities to establish effective networking among their institutions.
"The world has witnessed a global financial turmoil of unseen magnitude and many nations are still struggling under the devastating impacts. While universities were no exception in facing economic turmoil, they have realized renewed pressures and expectations from their respective communities to provide answers to the great challenges,” he said in his welcoming remarks.
"The conference I am sure will have a far-reaching influence on the course our research universities will take to shoulder greater responsibilities for building a better future of the mankind."
Some of the participants in the 2009 International Presidential Forum came to KAIST’s Daejeon campus to take part in the EEWS (energy, environment, water and sustainability) workshop which was held on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The Chronicle of Higher Learning, the Washington-based newspaper specializing in university education, reported from Seoul that the Forum revealed that, while American universities struggle amid the harshest economic climate in a generation, institutions in much of the rest of the world are sheltered from the fallout by strong government backing.
“Delegates to a conference of university presidents (in Seoul on Monday, Sept. 22) heard that colleges in Asia and Europe are pushing ahead with expansion plans – even as their U.S. counterparts cut back.
“The 2009 International Presidential Forum… was marked by a sharp divide in the tone set by European, Asian, and U.S. college leaders. The Americans often sounded a deeply gloomy note,” The Chronicle reported. “Never before has the impact been this bad,” the paper quoted Vishwanath Prasad, vice president for research and economic development at the University of North Texas, as saying.
On the other hand, Yves Poilane, vice president of the Paris Institute of Technology, said, according to The Chronicle, “The largely state financing of most European universities has so far acted as a shelter, and higher education remains a priority for both European and French Universities.”
The Korea Herald, published in Seoul, said in its Sept. 23 editorial:
“This week in Seoul, a symposium of leaders from international and Korean research universities heard top scholars and administrators reveal how their schools have suffered through the year under reduced government subsidies and private endowments which forced them to postpone various globalization schemes and cut down on research expenditures. Applications for master"s and Ph.D. programs declined while large percentages of graduates failed to find jobs.
“With their country showing a rapid pace of recovery, universities in Korea are in a better situation than many of their overseas counterparts, especially considering the substantial government outlays for research and development in "low carbon, green growth" projects that are largely dependent on research universities. The more the government seeks their direct contributions, the harder universities should try to increase transparency and accountability in the use of taxpayer money, so as not to betray the nation"s trust in them.
“In the wake of the global economic crisis, academia, government and industry find themselves in closer ties as they share new concepts of innovation and development in a common quest for growth. The tripartite cooperation has new significance in the recovery process. To achieve any development objectives, the other two partners must prioritize the funding of universities.”
2009.09.24 View 14660 -
World Research University Heads to Discuss Challenges in Global Financial Turmoil
About 70 leaders of the world"s major research universities will discuss how to better contribute to continued development of human society in global financial turmoil at a symposium organized by KAIST Monday (Sept. 21) at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul.
Participants of the 2nd International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities are from 40 universities in 25 countries, including Stanford University and Georgia Institute of Technology of the United States, Berlin Institute of Technology of Germany, Paris Institute of Technology of France, Technical University of Denmark, National University of Singapore and Tokyo Institute of Technology. They include 20 presidents of Korean universities and two dozens of leaders from industry and the government.
Under the main subject of "Challenges to Global Research Universities," the international symposium will proceed in four panel sessions. The subjects of each session and their keynote speakers are:
-- "Institutional Management in Times of Financial Crisis" by Kurt Kutzler, President of Berlin Institute of Technology
-- "Innovations in Education & Research" by Brian Cantor, Vice Chancellor of University of York
-- "Globalization of Institutes of Higher Learning" by Gary Schuster, Provost and Executive Vice President of Georgia Institute of Technology
-- "The Roles of Government, University and Industry in Green Technology Development" by KAIST President Nam-Pyo Suh
KAIST President Suh said of the purpose of the conference: "The world has witnessed a global financial turmoil of unseen magnitude and many nations are still struggling under the devastating impacts. While universities were no exception in facing economic turmoil, they have realized renewed pressures and expectations from their respective communities to provide answers to the great challenges."
"The conference will serve as an opportunity for the representatives of research universities to compare their visions of networking among theier institutions and initiate steps for new relationships. The conference I am sure will have a far-reaching influence on the course our research universities will take to shoulder greater responsibilities for building a better future of the mankind."
For more information, visit forum.kaist.ac.kr
2009.09.16 View 17274
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KAIST Ranked Seventh in Chosun-QS 2009 Asian University Rankings
- Major Criteria in Research, Education, Globalization
KAIST ranked top in Korea and seventh in Asia in a ranking compiled jointly by the Chosun Ilbo, a major Korean daily, and global university evaluation institute QS of Britain.
In the rankings released on Tuesday (May 12), KAIST scored 94.9 based on the full 100 of the top-ranking university, the University of Hong Kong. KAIST was closely followed by Seoul National University (SNU), which ranked 8th in the Asian ranking. KAIST outpaced SNU in terms of globalization, but lagged behind in terms of peer review and recruiters review.
The Chosun Ilbo said that KAIST achieved the distinction by encouraging competition among research professors, introducing competitive educational systems such as conducting all classes in English, and speeding up globalization drive based on a strong leadership of President Nam-Pyo Suh.
In an interview with the daily published on the same day, President Nam-Pyo Suh expressed enthusiasm for stepping up his university"s drive to make it one of the world"s leading research universities, without resting on its present reputation. "The goal of KAIST is to stand at the forefront in addressing critical problems facing the humanity in the 21st century. The problems include alternative energies and transportation and logistics. If we resolve these problems, KAIST will join the ranks of the world"s best universities," Suh said.
The evaluation, the only such survey in Asia, was conducted with 463 universities in 11 countries, including 106 in Korea. The universities were ranked for competitiveness in four categories -- research quality (60 percent), teaching quality (20 percent), graduate employability (10 percent) and international outlook (10 percent).
The top-ranked University of Hong Kong was followed by Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tokyo University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Osaka University.
The top 100 Asian universities include 17 Korean universities, 33 Japanese, 11 Chinese, seven Indian, six in Hong Kong and two in Singapore.
Universities were ranked through a quantitative analysis based on data submitted by the universities in March and a qualitative analysis based on the competitiveness of professors and graduates evaluated by about 3,100 academics and businesspeople around the world.
Meanwhile, KAIST was ranked 95th among top 200 universities of the world in the Times Higher Education-QS World University rankings in 2008. It ranked 34th in the area of engineering and information technology, and 46th in natural science.
2009.05.13 View 12613
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Workshop on Biomedical IC to Be Held on March 26
KAIST will hold a workshop on "biomedical IC for future healthcare system" on March 26 at a lecture room of the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. The workshop is organized by SEECS and the Korean Institute of Next Generation Computing.
At the workshop, a variety of new technologies expected to expedite the development of biomedical systems will be presented. KAIST Prof. Hoi-Jun Yoo will speak on the "body channel communication" using the human body as the signal transmission medium and Dr. Seung-Hwan Kim of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) on a wearable vital sign monitoring system.
Other subjects are CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) fully electronic biosensor for biomolecular detection to be presented by KAIST Prof. Gyu-Hyeong Cho; nerve interface and IC (integrated circuit) system design by KAIST Prof. Yoon-gi Nam; design of neural recording and stimulation IC using time-varying magnetic field by KAIST Prof. Seong-Hwan Cho; low power multi-core digital signal processor for hearing aid by Dong-Wook Kim, senior researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology; and a non-contact cardiac sensor by KAIST Prof. Seung-Chul Hong.
With the advent of the ageing society, medical expenses of the elderly people are rapidly increasing. As a way to address the issue, interests are growing in "ubiquitous healthcare," a technology that uses a large number of environmental and patient sensors and actuators to monitor and improve patients’ physical and mental condition.
The upcoming workshop is the first academic event on biomedical integrated chips to be held in Korea. The workshop will provide a valuable opportunity for experts in biomedical area to get together and examine the present status of Korean biomedical area and discuss about its future, KAIST officials said.
2009.03.20 View 19037
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Six Organizations Join Forces to Induce Projected National Brain Institute to Daejeon
Six major organizations including KAIST have joined forces to help Daejeon City to win the government approval to build the envisioned Korean Brain Institute in Daedeok Research Complex.
The six organizations signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperating in establishing the government-funded institute built within the Daedeok Research Complex in the city of Daejeon, at KAIST on Jan. 14. The six organizations are KAIST, the Daejeon City Government, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Korea Research Institute of Standard and Science, Asan Medical Center, and SK Corp., a pioneer in effective therapeutic invention for serious brain disorders.
The partnership of the six organizations is expected to bring a broad-based cooperation opportunities and create a massive synergy effect in the brain science researches and the development of new therapeutic treatment for brain disorders by combining their resources and infrastructures.
The six organizations have also built an international research network with such globally-renowned brain research institutions as RIKEN, a large natural sciences research institute in Japan, Max Plank Institute in Germany, Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, in Switzerland and Brain Research Institute of University of Queensland in Australia. The research network is under the support and guidance of Dennis Choi, a prominent neuroscientist who once served as the President of the Society for Neuroscience and is currently a professor in the Departments of Neurology and biology at Emory University.
The tentatively titled Korea Brain Institute is envisioned to help fight brain disorders and create Korea"s new growth engine, as well as lengthening life span, by conducting convergence researches in nero science, brain science and pharmacology. If the consortium of the six organizations wins the government approval to build the proposed institute within the Daedeok complex, the central government and the Daejeon city government are expected to pour a total of 329.7 billion won into the project by 2020.
2009.01.14 View 18363 -
2008 IEEE International Conference on Humanoid Robots Opens
The 2008 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, an international gathering to identify new research trends and technology in humanoid robotics, will open a three-day session on Monday (Dec. 1) at the Hotel Rivera and KAIST in Daejeon.
The annual conference is organized by KAIST and the Robotics and Automation Society of the Institute for Electric and Electronic Engineers, a U.S.-based international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity.
The conference is expected to draw a total of 200 robotics researchers from 19 different countries. Prof. Jun-Ho Oh, at the Department of Mechanical Engineering who led the creation of Korea"s first humanoid robot Hubo, is serving as general chair of the conference. Prof. Oh was named the host of the 2008 conference at the 2007 conference held at the Carnegie Melon University of the United States. The eight-year old conference was inaugurated in Boston in 2000.
On the opening day of Dec. 1, seven lectures will be given on diverse areas of robotics including cognitive humanoid vision, and robot vision sensor and sensing. On the subsequent two days, a total of 110 papers will be presented.
During the conference period, a variety of robots produced by six local and foreign robot makers will be on demonstration, providing opportunities for researchers and industrial robot makers to share technological ideas.
Highlights of the conference will be special lectures by world-renowned robot researchers Prof. Yoshiyuki Sankai of University of Tsukuba, who has created an exoskeletal "robot suit," and Prof. Art Kuo of Univerity of Michigan who is regarded as a leading authority in dynamic walking.
Following the conference, all participants are scheduled to tour Prof. Oh"s Hubo Lab and the Human-Robot Interaction Research Center, both located at KAIST.
2008.12.01 View 15212
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KAIST, KRIBB Agree to Cooperate in Research of Convergence Technologies
Oct. 15, 2008 -- KAIST and Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) have agreed to cooperate in the research of convergence fields of biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology.
To this end, the two institutions concluded a memorandum of understanding to create a new academia-institute cooperative model in the convergence fields on Oct. 15 in Seoul, with KAIST President Nam-Pyo Suh, KRIBB Director Young-Hoon Park and Vice Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jong-Koo Park in attendance.
Under the agreement, the two institutions will set up the tentatively-named KAIST-KRIBB BINT Convergence Institute for the development of technologies and nurturing skilled manpower in the convergence fields.
The partnership of the two institutions is expected to bring broad-based cooperation opportunities and create a massive synergy effect by combining their resources and infrastructure for the development of convergence technologies, KAIST officials said..
The proposed institute is also designed to build a world-class research hub in systems biotechnology by combining strengths of the two institutions with initiatives to achieve the Korean government"s new vision for "low carbon, green growth."
The institute will also serve as a base for domestic brain convergence by concentrating the nation"s research capacities in genetics and brain technology.
KAIST also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in researches in Oriental medicine with three institutions, KRIBB, Daegu Hanny University and Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine.
The agreement calls for the four institutions to conduct joint researches in traditional sciences and Oriental medicine based on systems biology, develop manpower in related fields and share academic and research information.
The agreement is expected to provide impetus to reinforcing competitiveness in compound and convergence technologies and discover new properties in Oriental medicine, according to KAIST authorities.
2008.10.16 View 16943 -
KAIST Professor Finds Paradox in Human Behaviors on Road
-Strange as it might seem, closing roads can cut delays
A new route opened to ease traffic jam, but commuting time has not been reduced.Conversely, motorists reached their destinations in shorter times after a big street was closed. These paradoxical phenomena are the result of human selfishness, according to recent findings of a research team led by a KAIST physics professor.
Prof. Ha-Woong Jeong, 40, at the Department of Physics, conducted a joint research with a team from Santa Fe Institute of the U.S. to analyze the behaviors of drivers in Boston, New York and London. Their study found that when individual drivers, fed with traffic information via various kinds of media, try to choose the quickest route, it can cause delays for others and even worsen congestion.
Prof. Jeong and his group"s study will be published in the Sept. 18 edition of the authoritative Physical Review Letters. The London-based Economist magazine introduced Prof. Jeong"s finding in its latest edition.
Prof. Jeong, a pioneer in the study of "complex system," has published more than 70 research papers in the world"s leading science journals, including Nature, PNAS and Physical Review Letters. "Initially, my study was to reduce annoyance from traffic jam during rush hours," Prof. Jeong said. "Ultimately, it is purposed to eliminate inefficiency located in various corners of social activities, with the help of the network science."
The Economist article read (in part):
"...when individual drivers each try to choose the quickest route it can cause delays for others and even increase hold-ups in the entire road network.
"The physicists give a simplified example of how this can happen: trying to reach a destination either by using a short but narrow bridge or a longer but wide motorway. In their hypothetical case, the combined travel time of all the drivers is minimized if half use the bridge and half the motorway. But that is not what happens. Some drivers will switch to the bridge to shorten their commute, but as the traffic builds up there the motorway starts to look like a better bet, so some switch back. Eventually the traffic flow on the two routes settles into what game theory calls a Nash equilibrium, named after John Nash, the mathematician who described it. This is the point where no individual driver could arrive any faster by switching routes.
"The researchers looked at how this equilibrium could arise if travelling across Boston from Harvard Square to Boston Common. They analysed 246 different links in the road network that could be used for the journey and calculated traffic flows at different volumes to produce what they call a “price of anarchy” (POA). This is the ratio of the total cost of the Nash equilibrium to the total cost of an optimal traffic flow directed by an omniscient traffic controller. In Boston they found that at high traffic levels drivers face a POA which results in journey times 30% longer than if motorists were co-ordinated into an optimal traffic flow. Much the same thing was found in London (a POA of up to 24% for journeys between Borough and Farringdon Underground stations) and New York (a POA of up to 28% from Washington Market Park to Queens Midtown Tunnel).
"Modifying the road network could reduce delays. And contrary to popular belief, a simple way to do that might be to close certain roads. This is known as Braess’s paradox, after another mathematician, Dietrich Braess, who found that adding extra capacity to a network can sometimes reduce its overall efficiency.
"In Boston the group looked to see if the paradox could be created by closing any of the 246 links. In 240 cases their analysis showed that a closure increased traffic problems. But closing any one of the remaining six streets reduced the POA of the new Nash equilibrium. Much the same thing was found in London and New York. More work needs to be done to understand these effects, say the researchers. But even so, planners should note that there is now evidence that even a well intentioned new road may make traffic jams worse."
2008.09.18 View 14895