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KAIST Announces Class of 2026 Admissions: “Come and Play to Your Heart's Content”, President Kwang-Hyung Lee Says, “If Your Only Goal is Straight A’s, KAIST is Not for You”
< President Kwang-Hyung Lee pictured with NYU exchange students >
KAIST announced on December 15th that it has delivered a congratulatory message to the successful applicants of the 2026 undergraduate early admissions, sharing the university’s unique educational philosophy of encouraging challenge and failure, as well as its vision for cultivating global talent.
For the 2026 undergraduate admissions, KAIST selected future scientific leaders based on its core values and talent ideals: Creativity, Challenge, and Caring. KAIST plans to strengthen education focused on nurturing convergent talent who can cross disciplinary boundaries. The recent upward trend in applications to KAIST reflects the growing importance of scientific talent who will lead national competitiveness amidst intense global competition in AI, semiconductors, space, and biotechnology.
In his congratulatory message, President Kwang Hyung Lee emphasized, “KAIST is a place where you can play and study to your heart's content with friends, start your own business, and even experience failure. KAIST is a ‘playground for eccentrics’ where you can try anything.”
He specifically introduced a challenge-oriented academic culture, stating, “Do not fear failure. If you organize and share your experiences of failure well, you might even receive a ‘Failure Award.’”
President Lee further stressed, “KAIST is the perfect school for students who want to blaze new trails through creativity and inquiry, and for those who wish to change the world. If your goal is simply to get an ‘A’ in every subject or to secure a stable job, you do not need to come here. However, if you are a student who prefers defining your own problems over doing what others tell you and wants to challenge yourself beyond established frameworks, you must come to KAIST.”
He also highlighted the free, student-led environment by stating, “For a KAISTian, the only limit to challenge is imagination,” adding, “During my tenure as President, I have never once rejected an idea proposed by students.”
Regarding the global educational environment, President Lee explained, “KAIST is no longer just a domestic university; it is a platform where you can study, research, and be active on the world stage. We actively support students’ global experiences through the joint campus operation with New York University (NYU), the establishment of a Silicon Valley campus, and exchange programs with over 100 overseas universities.”
Meanwhile, to lead the AI era, KAIST recently established the nation’s first AI College and is building a full-scale education and research system covering all fields of artificial intelligence. The AI College plans to systematically foster next-generation AI leaders through a curriculum linked from undergraduate to graduate levels.
In addition, KAIST is strengthening education in humanities, culture, and the arts alongside science and technology. The university operates seven humanities and social science minor programs—Digital Humanities & Social Sciences, Economics, Culture Technology, Intellectual Property, Science & Technology Policy, Entrepreneurship, and Future Strategy. It also expands students' imagination and creativity through on-campus art museums, numerous galleries, and regular performances and cultural events.
Furthermore, KAIST encourages challenge and balanced growth through the “Mountaineering Scholarship,” which provides up to 700,000 KRW annually to students who complete designated hiking courses, regardless of grades or income level.
President Lee concluded his message of support by saying, “My heart is already racing at the thought of pioneering the 21st-century future with all of you. I look forward to seeing you grow into ‘stars,’ each with your own unique color, and shine on the global stage.”
< President Kwang Hyung Lee performing with the student lab club 'Gootos' at Innovate Korea 2024 >
2025.12.15 View 18 -
AI-Engineered "Nasal Spray Antiviral Platform" Developed to Block Flu and COVID-19
<(From Left) Professor Hyun Jung Chung, Professor Ho Min Kim, Professor Ji Eun Oh>
<(From Left) Dr. Jeongwon Yun, Dr. Seungju Yang, Ph.D candidate Jae Hyuk Kwon>
Respiratory viruses that have diverse strains and mutate rapidly, such as influenza and COVID-19, are difficult to block perfectly with vaccines alone. To solve this problem, KAIST's research team has successfully developed a nasal (intranasal) antiviral platform using AI technology to overcome the existing limitations of interferon-lambda treatments—namely, being "weak against heat and disappearing quickly from the nasal mucosa."
KAIST announced on December 15th that a joint research team—consisting of Professor Ho Min Kim and Professor Hyun Jung Chung from the Department of Biological Sciences, and Professor Ji Eun Oh from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering used AI to stably redesign the interferon-lambda protein and combined it with a delivery technology that ensures effective diffusion and long-term retention in the nasal mucosa, thereby implementing a universal prevention technology for various respiratory viruses.
Interferon-lambda is an innate immune protein produced by the body to block viral infections, playing a crucial role in stopping respiratory viruses like the common cold, flu, and COVID-19. However, when formulated as a treatment for nasal administration, its actual efficacy was limited by its vulnerability to heat, degrading enzymes, mucus, and ciliary motion.
The research team used AI protein design technology to precisely reinforce the structural weaknesses of interferon-lambda.
First, they significantly increased stability by changing the loose "loop" structures of the protein—which were prone to instability—into rigid "helix" structures that lock in place like a firm spring.
Additionally, to prevent "aggregation" (proteins sticking together to form lumps), they applied "surface engineering" to make the surface more water-compatible. They also introduced "glycoengineering," adding sugar chain (glycan) structures to the protein surface to make it even more robust and stable.
As a result, the newly produced interferon-lambda showed a massive improvement in stability, surviving for two weeks 50℃ and demonstrated the ability to diffuse rapidly even through thick nasal mucus.
The research team further protected the protein by encapsulating it in microscopic "nanoliposomes" and coated the surface with "low-molecular-weight chitosan." This significantly enhanced "mucoadhesion," allowing the treatment to stick to the nasal lining for an extended period.
When this delivery platform was applied to animal models infected with influenza, a powerful inhibitory effect was confirmed, with the virus level in the nasal cavity decreasing by more than 85%.
This technology is a mucosal immune platform that can block viral infections in their early stages simply by spraying it into the nose. It is expected to be a new therapeutic strategy that can respond quickly not only to seasonal flu but also to unexpected new or mutant viruses.
Professor Ho Min Kim stated, "Through AI-based protein design and mucosal delivery technology, we have simultaneously overcome the stability and retention time limitations of existing interferon-lambda treatments. This platform, which is stable at high temperatures and stays in the mucosa for a long time, is an innovative technology that can be used even in developing countries lacking strict cold-chain infrastructure. It also has great scalability for developing various treatments and vaccines." He added, "This is a meaningful achievement resulting from multidisciplinary convergence research, covering everything from AI protein design to drug delivery optimization and immune evaluation through infection models."
This research involved Dr. Jeongwon Yun from the KAIST InnoCORE (AI-Innovation Drug Discovery Research Group), Dr. Seungju Yang from the Department of Biological Sciences, and PhD student Jae Hyuk Kwon from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering as co-first authors. The results were published consecutively in the renowned international journals Advanced Science (Nov 20) and Biomaterials Research (Nov 21).
Paper 1: Computational Design and Glycoengineering of Interferon-Lambda for Nasal Prophylaxis against Respiratory Viruses, Advanced Science, DOI: 10.1002/advs.202506764
Paper 2: Intranasal Nanoliposomes Delivering Interferon Lambda with Enhanced Mucosal Retention as an Antiviral, Biomaterials Research, DOI: 10.34133/bmr.0287
This research was conducted with support from the KAIST InnoCORE Program, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-Career Researcher Support Program, the Bio-Medical Technology Development Program, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) Health and Medical Technology R&D Project, the KAIST Large-scale Convergence Research Institute Operation Project, and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS).
2025.12.15 View 32 -
Jaewook Myung, First Korean Selected as '40 Under 40 Recognition Program' Next Generation Environmental Engineering Leader
< Professor Jaewook Myung of KAIST Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering >
KAIST announced on December 12th that Professor Jaewook Myung of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was selected as the first Korean recipient of the '40 Under 40 Recognition Program' for Next Generation Environmental Engineering Leaders, organized by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).
< The '40 Under 40 Recognition Program' is an international award program selecting next-generation leaders in the field of Environmental Engineering and Science >
This award is presented annually by AAEES to select next-generation environmental engineering researchers who demonstrate innovative research achievements, social contribution, and educational leadership. Professor Myung's selection is particularly significant as he is the first Korean to be chosen since the program's inception. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held in Washington D.C. in April 2026.
AAEES is the world's highest-authority professional organization leading the global environmental engineering sector through operating the Professional Environmental Engineer (PEE) certification system, policy consultation, and international academic exchange. This award is highly regarded for greatly enhancing the international standing of domestic environmental engineering and sustainability research.
Amid the deepening problems of plastic waste increase and greenhouse gas emissions, where existing technologies are showing limitations in providing solutions, Professor Jaewook Myung has garnered significant attention from academia and industry by developing technology to convert greenhouse gases such as methane ($CH_4$) and carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) into biodegradable plastics. His research is highly praised for presenting a new industrial paradigm that fuses environmental microbiology and materials science to convert greenhouse gases into high-value bio-materials.
Professor Myung's research team secured microbial metabolic control technology to transform greenhouse gases into materials, an accelerated process that simultaneously enhances the synthesis and decomposition efficiency of plastics, and pilot process design and engineering technology applicable in industrial settings. This established a sustainable circular technology model capable of simultaneously addressing greenhouse gas reduction and plastic pollution issues.
Furthermore, the research team expanded these foundational technologies to develop various application products, such as biodegradable coating materials that naturally decompose in the ocean, biocompatible bio-based electronic materials, and industrial 3D printing filaments, realizing full-cycle innovation from basic research to application and industrialization. These achievements are recognized as world-class sustainable technology alternatives that can simultaneously overcome the problems of plastic downcycling and the economic limitations of greenhouse gas utilization technology.
Professor Myung also shows excellent performance in nurturing talent. His advised students are growing into next-generation environmental and sustainability researchers, having won major awards both domestically and internationally, including the American Chemical Society (ACS) Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award, the Presidential Science Scholarship, the Merck Innovation Cup Prize, and the Republic of Korea Talent Award. He is also establishing himself as a leading researcher in the commercialization of sustainable technology by expanding his research achievements into the social and industrial ecosystem through technology collaboration with industries, patents, and consultation with public institutions.
The AAEES Selection Committee evaluated Professor Jaewook Myung as "a researcher possessing technical excellence, social responsibility, and educational leadership, and an innovator who has pioneered new areas of environmental engineering." Professor Myung expressed his thoughts, saying, "This award is a result made possible by the students who researched and challenged alongside me and the collaborative research culture of KAIST," and added, "I will contribute to brightening the future of humanity and the planet through sustainable resource circulation technology."
2025.12.12 View 205 -
KAIST-KakaoBank Speeds Up 'Explainable AI' by 11 Times: "Boosts Financial AI Reliability
< (From left) Professor Jaesik Choi of the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, Ph.D candidate Chanwoo Lee, Ph.D candidate Youngjin Park >
The research team led by Professor Jaesik Choi of KAIST's Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, in collaboration with KakaoBank Corp, announced that they have developed an accelerated explanation technology that can explain the basis of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model's judgment in real-time. This research achievement significantly increases the practical applicability of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter XAI) technology in fields requiring real-time decision-making, such as financial services, by achieving an average processing speed 8.5 times faster, and up to 11 times faster, than existing explanation algorithms for AI model predictions.
In the financial sector, a clear explanation for decisions made by AI systems is essential. Especially in services directly related to customer rights, such as loan screening and anomaly detection, regulatory demands to transparently present the basis for the AI model's judgment are increasingly stringent. However, conventional Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) technologies required the repeated calculation of hundreds to thousands of baselines to generate accurate explanations, resulting in massive computational costs. This was a major factor limiting the application of XAI technology in real-time service environments.
To address this issue, Professor Choi's research team developed the 'ABSQR (Amortized Baseline Selection via Rank-Revealing QR)' framework for accelerating explanation algorithms. ABSQR noticed that the value function matrix generated during the AI model explanation process has a low-rank structure. It introduced a method to select only a critical few baselines from the hundreds available. This drastically reduced the computation complexity, which was previously proportional to the number of baselines, to be proportional only to the number of selected critical baselines, thereby maximizing computational efficiency while maintaining explanatory accuracy.
Specifically, ABSQR operates in two stages. The first stage systematically selects important baselines using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Rank-Revealing QR decomposition techniques. Unlike existing random sampling methods, this is a deterministic selection method aimed at preserving information recovery, which guarantees the accuracy of the explanation while significantly reducing computation. The second stage introduces an amortized inference mechanism, which reuses the pre-calculated weights of the baselines through cluster-based search, allowing the system to provide an explanation for the model's prediction result in real-time service environments without repeatedly evaluating the model. The research team verified the superiority of ABSQR through experiments on various real-world datasets. Tests on standard datasets across five sectors—finance, marketing, and demographics—showed that ABSQR achieved an average processing speed 8.5 times faster than existing explanation algorithms that use all baselines, with a maximum speed improvement of over 11 times. Furthermore, the degradation of explanatory accuracy due to speed acceleration was minimized, maintaining up to 93.5% of the explanation accuracy compared to the baseline algorithm. This level is sufficient to meet the explanation quality required in real-world applications.
< ABSQR Framework Overview. (1) The baseline selection stage utilizes the low-rank structure of the value function matrix to select only a small number of key baselines, and (2) the accelerated search stage reuses the pre-calculated baseline weight coefficients based on clusters. This dramatically reduces the computation complexity, which was proportional to the number of baselines, to be proportional only to the number of selected key baselines. >
A KakaoBank official stated, "We will continue relentless research and development to enhance the reliability and convenience of financial services and introduce innovative financial technologies that customers can experience." Chanwoo Lee and Youngjin Park, co-first authors from KAIST, explained the significance of the research: "This methodology solves the crucial acceleration problem for real-time application in the financial sector, proving that it is possible to provide users with the reasons behind a learning model's decision in real-time." They added, "This research provides new insights into what constitutes unnecessary computation and the selection of important baselines in explanation algorithms, practically contributing to the improvement of explanation technology efficiency." This research, co-authored by PhD candidates Chanwoo Lee and Youngjin Park from the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, and researchers Hyeongeun Lee and Yeeun Yoo from the KakaoBank Financial Technology Research Institute, was presented on November 12 at the 'CIKM 2025 (ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management)', the world's highest-authority academic conference in the field of information and knowledge management. ※ Paper Title: Amortized Baseline Selection via Rank-Revealing QR for Efficient Model Explanation
※ Author Information:
※ Author Information: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3746252.3761036
Co-First Authors: Chanwoo Lee (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI), Youngjin Park (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI), Hyeogeun Lee (KakaoBank), Yeeun Yoo (KakaoBank)
Co-Authors: Daehee Han (KakaoBank), Junho Choi (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI), Kunhyung Kim (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI)
Corresponding Authors: Nari Kim (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI), Jaesik Choi (KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI)
Meanwhile, this research achievement was conducted through KakaoBank's industry-academia research project 'Advanced Research on Explainable Artificial Intelligence Algorithms in the Financial Sector' and the Ministry of Science and ICT/Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP) supported project 'Development of Explainable Artificial Intelligence Technology Providing Explainability in a Plug-and-Play Manner and Verification of Explanation Provision for AI Systems.'
2025.12.12 View 309 -
Octopus-Inspired 3D Micro-LEDs Pave the Way for Selective Pancreatic Cancer Therapy
<(From Left) Professor Keon Jae Lee, Professor Tae-Hyuk Kwon, Ph.D candidate Min Seo Kim, Dr. Jae Hee Lee, Dr. Chae Gyu Lee>
-KAIST and UNIST Researchers Develop Shape-Morphing Device to Overcome Pancreatic Tumor Microenvironment Barriers
Conventional pancreatic cancer treatments face a critical hurdle due to the dense tumor microenvironment (TME). This biological barrier surrounds the tumor, severely limiting the infiltration of chemotherapy agents and immune cells. While photodynamic therapy (PDT) offers a promising alternative, existing external light sources, such as lasers, fail to penetrate deep tissues effectively and pose risks of thermal damage and inflammation to healthy organs
To address these challenges, Professor Keon Jae Lee’s team at KAIST, in collaboration with Professor Tae-Hyuk Kwon at UNIST, developed an implantable, shape-morphing 3D micro-LED device capable of effectively delivering light to deep tissues. The key technology lies in the device’s flexible, octopus-like architecture, which allows it to wrap around the entire pancreatic tumor. This mechanical compliance ensures uniform light delivery to the tumor despite the tumor’s physiological expansion or contraction, enabling continuous, low intensity photostimulation that precisely targets cancer cells while preserving normal tissue.
In in-vivo experiments involving mouse models, the device demonstrated remarkable therapeutic efficacy. Within just three days, tumor fibrous tissue was reduced by 64%, and the pancreatic tissue successfully reverted to normal tissue, overcoming the limitations of conventional PDT.
Prof. Keon Jae Lee said, "This research presents a new therapeutic paradigm by directly disrupting the tumor microenvironment, the primary obstacle in pancreatic cancer treatment." He added, "We aim to expand this technology into a smart platform integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time tumor monitoring and personalized treatment. We are currently seeking partners to advance clinical trials and commercialization for human application."
<Overall concept of 3D Shape-morphing micro-LEDs (SMLEDs). The 3D long-term, low-intensity photodynamic therapy (PDT) system attaches to the pancreatic surface, ensuring stable and continuous light delivery. Initially maintaining a 2D structure, the system morphs into a 3D structure upon implantation to conform to the shape of the pancreas. In in vivo experiments, the device maintained stable adhesion without detachment for four weeks and reduced the pancreatic tumor size by 64%.>
Professor Tae-Hyuk Kwon commented, "While phototherapy is effective for selective cancer treatment, conventional technologies have been limited by the challenges of delivering light to deep tissues and developing suitable photosensitizers." He added, "Building on this breakthrough, we aim to expand effective immune-based therapeutic strategies for targeting intractable cancers."
<Cover Image. The 3D long-term, low-intensity photodynamic therapy (PDT) system, developed by Professor Keon Jae Lee's team at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST, was featured as the cover article of the international journal Advanced Materials>
The result, titled "Deeply Implantable, Shape-Morphing, 3D MicroLEDs for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy," was featured as the cover article in Advanced Materials (Volume 37) on December 10, 2025.
2025.12.11 View 231 -
Robot Valley Project Activation of the Korean style Robot and AI Startup Ecosystem Fully Underway
< From left: Top Excellence Award winner Robolight (Pre-startup Founder Han-seol Choi), Top Excellence Award winner Coils (CEO Seong-ryeol Heo), Professor Jung Kim of KAIST, Grand Prize winner Noman (CEO Jung-wook Moon), Professor Kyoungchul Kong of KAIST, CEO Dae-hee Park of Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, Excellence Award winner Gigaflops (CEO Min-tae Kim), Excellence Award winner BLUE APEX (Pre-startup Founder Na-hyeon Kwon) >
KAIST announced on December 10th that KAIST Holdings (CEO Hyeonmin Bae), a specialized technology commercialization investment institution, successfully held the '2025 KAIST Hu-Robotics Startup Cup' on the 9th at the main building of Daejeon Startup Park. This was held as part of the Robot Valley Project, aiming to discover and foster promising startup teams in the robotics field and establish a robot scale-up ecosystem based on a technology platform.
This competition was conducted as a core program of the Robot Valley Project (Deep-Tech Scale-up Valley Fostering Project), which is promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and supported by Daejeon Metropolitan City. The competition proceeded through a meet-up day with KAIST Mechanical Engineering researchers, robotics companies like Angel Robotics and Twinny, and startup experts such as Bluepoint, leading to the final round. Throughout this process, a support system for the scale-up of robot startups was established, linking technology verification, strengthening entrepreneurial capabilities, and investment linkage.
KAIST Holdings and the Deep-Tech Valley Project Group (hereinafter referred to as the Project Group) stated that this competition marks the beginning of 'establishing a Korean-style Robot and AI startup ecosystem.' Their goal through the Robot Valley Project is to create a Korean-style robot scale-up ecosystem centered around Daejeon and KAIST, and furthermore, to build a technology circulation structure utilizing verified technology platforms.
KAIST has produced successful scale-up cases in the robotics field, such as Rainbow Robotics and Angel Robotics. However, the recent robotics industry has seen a rapid increase in technological difficulty due to the convergence of mechanical engineering, AI, and control software, creating structural limitations for early-stage founders to challenge alone.
To solve this, the Project Group proposed the 'Scale-up Valley Construction Strategy,' which opens up the verified technologies of established senior companies to junior founders. This strategy focuses on supporting startups to concentrate on developing market-ready robot services and applications on top of verified technology platforms, rather than consuming excessive time on developing basic hardware like motors and controllers.
The Angel Robotics technology platform, presented as the core underlying technology of this strategy, consists of actuators, control modules, and core software. KAIST plans to gradually open up these foundational technologies for use by early-stage startup teams.
The Project Group emphasized that enabling startup teams to utilize such technology platforms from the initial stage is the core infrastructure for accelerating the Korean-style robot startup ecosystem.
A total of 21 teams participated in this competition, including pre-startup founders (Track A) and early-stage startups established within 3 years (Track B), all possessing human-centered robotics technology and convergence business models.
After fierce preliminaries, 8 teams advanced to the final round, and a total of 5 teams were finally selected: one Grand Prize winner, two Choi Woo-sung (Top Excellence Award) winners, and two Excellence Award winners.
The Grand Prize was awarded to 'Noman' for proposing an integrated system for a strawberry farm work robot and a rotating vertical cultivation module.
The Woo-sung Choi (Top Excellence Award) went to 'Robolight' and 'Coils.'
The Excellence Award was awarded to BLUE APEX and Gigaflops.
Professor Jung Kim, Head of the KAIST Mechanical Engineering Department and General Manager of the Robot Valley Project, said, "This competition has become the starting point for discovering future robot unicorns. For the next three years, we will continue to provide practical support for the growth of robot startups, and KAIST will play a leading role in building and expanding the deep-tech robot ecosystem centered in Daejeon."
< Group Photo of Award Winners >
Meanwhile, this competition was jointly hosted and organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Daejeon Metropolitan City, and the Research and Business Development Special Zone Foundation, as well as startup support organizations including KAIST, KAIST Holdings, Daejeon Technopark, and Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center.
2025.12.10 View 208 -
KAIST Predicts Human Group Behavior with AI! 1st Place at the World’s Top Conference… Major Success after 23 Years
<(From Left) Ph.D candidate Geon Lee, Ph.D candidate Minyoung Choe, M.S candidate Jaewan Chun, Professor Kijung Shin, M.S candidate Seokbum Yoon>
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 9th of December that Professor Kijung Shin’s research team at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI has developed a groundbreaking AI technology that predicts complex social group behavior by analyzing how individual attributes such as age and role influence group relationships.
With this technology, the research team achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Best Paper Award at the world-renowned data mining conference “IEEE ICDM,” hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This is the highest honor awarded to only one paper out of 785 submissions worldwide, and marks the first time in 23 years that a Korean university research team has received this award, once again demonstrating KAIST’s technological leadership on the global research stage.
Today, group interactions involving many participants at the same time—such as online communities, research collaborations, and group chats—are rapidly increasing across society. However, there has been a lack of technology that can precisely explain both how such group behavior is structured and how individual characteristics influence it at the same time.
To overcome this limitation, Professor Kijung Shin’s research team developed an AI model called “NoAH (Node Attribute-based Hypergraph Generator),” which realistically reproduces the interplay between individual attributes and group structure.
NoAH is an artificial intelligence that explains and imitates what kinds of group behaviors emerge when people’s characteristics come together. For example, it can analyze and faithfully reproduce how information such as a person’s interests and roles actually combine to form group behavior.
As such, NoAH is an AI that generates “realistic group behavior” by simultaneously reflecting human traits and relationships. It was shown to reproduce various real-world group behaviors—such as product purchase combinations in e-commerce, the spread of online discussions, and co-authorship networks among researchers—far more realistically than existing models.
< The process of generating group interactions using NoAH >
Professor Kijung Shin stated, “This study opens a new AI paradigm that enables a richer understanding of complex interactions by considering not only the structure of groups but also individual attributes together,” and added, “Analyses of online communities, messengers, and social networks will become far more precise.”
This research was conducted by a team consisting of Professor Kijung Shin and KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI students: master’s students Jaewan Chun and Seokbum Yoon, and doctoral students Minyoung Choe and Geon Lee, and was presented at IEEE ICDM on November 18.
※ Paper title: “Attributed Hypergraph Generation with Realistic Interplay Between Structure and Attributes” Original paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.21838
< Photo from the award ceremony held on November 14 at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.>
Meanwhile, including this award-winning paper, Professor Shin’s research team presented a total of four papers at IEEE ICDM this year. In addition, in 2023, the team also received the Best Student Paper Runner-up (4th place) at the same conference.
This work was supported by Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. RS-202400457882, AI Research Hub Project) (RS-2019-II190075, Artificial Intelligence Graduate School Program (KAIST)) (No. RS-2022-II220871, Development of AI Autonomy and Knowledge Enhancement for AI Agent Collaboration).
2025.12.09 View 447 -
Driving National Competitiveness with a 'Killing Two Birds with One Stone' Model: Enhancing AI Research Capabilities and Promoting Regional Innovation
<Photo of KAIST Students>
KAIST announced on December 9th that it will accelerate the nurturing of world-class scientific talent and regional balanced development. This follows the government's recent announcement on 'Leaping to a Science and Technology Powerhouse, the Republic of Korea, Where People Dream of Becoming Science and Technology Professionals Again (Nov. 7),' which explicitly named the four major science and technology institutes, including KAIST, as AX (AI Transformation) innovation hubs and key leading institutions for regional innovation.
This move aligns with the policy direction of President Jae-myung Lee. On November 4th, President Jae-myung Lee stated in a Cabinet meeting, "STEM talent is the core of national competitiveness," adding that "the increase in applicants for early admissions to the four major science and technology institutes is a very desirable phenomenon for the nation's future." In particular, the President requested that the government "actively seek concrete policies, such as expanding the allowance for transfers between STEM fields, increasing budget support, securing excellent faculty, and upgrading research and education infrastructure, because science and technology institutes can also significantly contribute to regional balanced development."
KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee responded, stating, "Strengthening AI research capabilities and regional balanced development is a 'killing two birds with one stone' strategy that boosts national competitiveness." He confirmed that through the government's policy direction, the innovation philosophy KAIST has pursued—that 'the region is national competitiveness'—has been established as a core national direction.
In reality, KAIST continues to firmly play a central role in nurturing the talent that sustains South Korea's science and technology sector, even amid the deepening phenomenon of students flocking to medical schools. The increase in early admission applicants to the four science and technology institutes proves the successful establishment of education and research foundations where students can choose the dream of becoming science and technology professionals instead of doctors. To accelerate this trend, KAIST is focusing on establishing a National AI Research Lab and pioneering the next-generation AI research paradigm with the goal of becoming one of the top three AI powerhouses (G3) globally.
Our university was selected not only to lead the development of the next-generation bio-AI model 'K-Fold'—which surpasses Google DeepMind—and as a key participating institution in the Lunit consortium, but also as a core research team in the national AI flagship project, the 'Generative AI Leading Talent Cultivation Program.' Through discovering research topics that reflect diverse technological demands from industries, nurturing advanced AI talent, and demonstrating research outcomes in industrial settings, KAIST is being reborn as a field-ready leader guiding the AI Transformation (AX) across all of South Korea's industries.
KAIST's AI research competitiveness has also been officially recognized overseas. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang personally introduced KAIST as an "Amazing University" during his keynote speech at the 2025 APEC CEO Summit (Oct. 31), highly evaluating KAIST's world-class research capabilities and global collaboration potential.
Regional innovation is also gaining momentum. Our university is expanding physical AI-based research infrastructure in regions like Jeonbuk and Gyeongnam, centered around its main campus in Daejeon. Through the AI and robot-based 'Robot Valley Project' and the 'Global Innovation Startup Growth Hub Project,' in cooperation with Daejeon City, KAIST is supporting the advancement of local industries and the growth and global expansion of startups.
<ANGEL SUIT, a gait-training robot>
In particular, Sovagen—a bio-company founded on the technology of Professor Jeong Ho Lee of the KAIST Graduate School of Medical Science—recently succeeded in an overseas technology transfer of an RNA new drug for epilepsy valued at 750 billion KRW, proving a virtuous cycle model of innovation where university research translates into actual industry success.
Furthermore, the foundation for future talent development is being strengthened through efforts like promoting a culture of challenging research via the 'Failure Lab,' and early nurturing of outstanding talent through the 'Junior KAIST' and '3+4 TUBE Programs.' While setting the direction for regional university innovation through the specialized and performance-centric 'KAIST Model,' the university is also taking the lead in popularizing science and fulfilling its social responsibilities.
President Kwang Hyung Lee emphasized, "We will continue to pursue the expansion of the AI research budget and the establishment of international joint research infrastructure through close cooperation with the government." He concluded, "We will cultivate young talents who have chosen the future to be the main players in South Korean science and technology, fulfilling our central role in the 'AI Powerhouse Republic of Korea,' where the nation and the regions grow together."
2025.12.09 View 304 -
KAIST Removes 99.9% of Ultrafine Dust Using Nano Water Droplet Technology
<(From Left) Ph.D candidate Sungyoon Woo, Professor Il-Doo Kim, Professor Seung S.Lee, Ph.D candiate Jihwan Chae, Researcher Jiyeon Yu, (Upper Right) Dr. Yujang Cho>
A KAIST research team has drawn attention by developing a new water-based air purification technology that combines “nano water droplets that capture dust” with a “nano sponge structure that autonomously draws up water,” enabling dust removal using nano water droplets without filters, self-supplied water operation, and long-term, quiet, and safe performance.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the December 8 that a joint research team led by Professor Il-Doo Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor Seung S. Lee of the Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a new water electrospray–based air purification device that rapidly removes ultrafine dust without filters, generates no ozone, and operates with ultra-low power consumption.
The research team confirmed that this device overcomes the limitations of conventional air purifiers by eliminating the need for filter replacement, producing no ozone, and removing even extremely fine ultrafine dust as small as PM0.3 (diameter 0.3 μm), which is about 1/200 the thickness of a human hair, within a short time. In addition, it demonstrated high stability and durability without performance degradation even during long-term use.
This device was created by combining Professor Seung S. Lee’s “ozone-free water electrospray” technology with Professor Il-Doo Kim’s “hygroscopic nanofiber Emitter” technology.
Inside the device are a high-voltage electrode, a nanofiber absorber that autonomously draws up water, and polymer microchannels that transport water via capillary action. Thanks to this structure, a self-pumped configuration is achieved in which water is automatically supplied without a pump, enabling stable long-term water electrospray operation.
Tests conducted by the research team in a 0.1 m3 experimental chamber showed that the device removed 99.9% of various particles in the PM0.3–PM10 range within 20 minutes. In particular, it exhibited outstanding performance by removing 97% of PM0.3 ultrafine dust, which is difficult to eliminate using conventional filter-based air purifiers, within just 5 minutes.
Even after 30 consecutive tests and 50 hours of continuous operation, the device operated stably without performance degradation, and its power consumption was approximately 1.3 W, which is lower than that of a smartphone charger and only about 1/20 that of conventional HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter–based air purifiers.
In addition, because there is no filter, there is no pressure loss in airflow and almost no noise is generated.
This technology maintains high-efficiency purification performance while generating no ozone at all, presenting the potential for a next-generation eco-friendly air purification platform.
In particular, with advantages such as elimination of filter replacement costs, ultra-low power operation, and secured long-term stability, it is expected to expand into various fields including indoor environments as well as automotive, cleanroom, portable, and wearable air purification modules.
Commercialization of this technology is currently underway through A2US Co., Ltd., a university spin-off company from Professor Seung S. Lee’s laboratory.
A2US Co., Ltd. won a CES 2025 Innovation Award and plans to launch a portable air purifier product in 2026. The product is equipped not only with fine dust removal using nano water droplets but also with odor removal and pathogen sterilization functions.
<Figure1.Design and Operating Mechanism of a Miniature Air-Purification Device Based on Cone-Jet Water Electrospray Using a Self-Pumping Hygroscopic (PVA–PAA–MMT) Nanofiber Membrane (PPM-NFM) Emitter.>
<Figure 2. (a) Schematic of the Self-Pumping Hygroscopic Nanofiber Membrane (PPM-NFM) Emitter, and (b) Corresponding Photograph and Surface Scanning Microscopy Images.>
This research was conducted with Jihwan Chae (Ph.D. candidate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST) and Yujang Cho (Ph.D., Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST) as co–first authors, and with Professor Seung S. Lee (Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Professor Il-Doo Kim (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) as corresponding authors. The research results were published on November 14 in the international journal Advanced Functional Materials (AFM), published by Wiley, a world-renowned publisher in materials science and nanotechnology.
※ Paper title: “Self-Pumped Hygroscopic Nanofiber Emitter for Ozone-Free Water Electrospray-Based Air Purification,” DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202523456
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the KAIST–MIT Future Energy Frontier Research Center (AI-robotics–based energy materials innovation) program.
2025.12.08 View 569 -
KAIST, Production Temperature ↓ by 500°C, Power Output ↑ 2x… Next-Generation Ceramic Electrochemical Cell Reborn
<(Top row, from left) Professor Kang Taek Lee, Ph.D candidate Yejin Kang, Dr. Dongyeon Kim, (Bottom row, from left) M.S candidate Mincheol Lee, Ph.D candidate Seeun Oh, Ph.D candidate Seungsoo Jang, Ph.D candidate Hyeonggeun Kim>
As power demand surges in the AI era, the “protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC),” which can simultaneously produce electricity and hydrogen, is gaining attention as a next-generation energy technology. However, this cell has faced the technical limitation of requiring an ultra-high production temperature of 1,500°C. A KAIST research team has succeeded in establishing a new manufacturing process that lowers this limit by more than 500°C for the first time in the world.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 4th of December that Professor Kang Taek Lee’s research team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a new process that enables the fabrication of high-performance protonic ceramic electrochemical cells at temperatures more than 500°C lower than before, using “microwave + vapor control technology” that leverages microwave heating principles and the diffusion environment of chemical vapor generated from specific chemical components.
The electrolyte—the key material of protonic ceramic electrochemical cells—contains barium (Ba), and barium easily evaporates at temperatures above 1,500°C, which has been the main cause of performance degradation. Therefore, the ability to harden the ceramic electrolyte at a lower temperature has been the core issue that determines cell performance.
As power demand surges in the AI era, the “protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC),” which can simultaneously produce electricity and hydrogen, is gaining attention as a next-generation energy technology. However, this cell has faced the technical limitation of requiring an ultra-high production temperature of 1,500°C. A KAIST research team has succeeded in establishing a new manufacturing process that lowers this limit by more than 500°C for the first time in the world.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 4th of December that Professor Kang Taek Lee’s research team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a new process that enables the fabrication of high-performance protonic ceramic electrochemical cells at temperatures more than 500°C lower than before, using “microwave + vapor control technology” that leverages microwave heating principles and the diffusion environment of chemical vapor generated from specific chemical components.
The electrolyte—the key material of protonic ceramic electrochemical cells—contains barium (Ba), and barium easily evaporates at temperatures above 1,500°C, which has been the main cause of performance degradation. Therefore, the ability to harden the ceramic electrolyte at a lower temperature has been the core issue that determines cell performance.
To solve this, the research team devised a new heat-treatment method called “vapor-phase diffusion.” This technique places a special auxiliary material (a vapor source) next to the cell and irradiates it with microwaves to quickly diffuse vapor. When the temperature reaches approximately 800°C, the vapor released from the auxiliary material moves toward the electrolyte and tightly bonds the ceramic particles. Thanks to this technology, a process that previously required 1,500°C can now be completed at just 980°C. In other words, a world-first ceramic electrochemical cell fabrication technology has been created that produces high-performance electricity at a “low temperature” without damaging the electrolyte.
A cell fabricated with this process produced 2 W of power stably from a 1 cm² cell (roughly the size of a fingernail) at 600°C and generated 205 mL of hydrogen per hour at 600°C (about the volume of a small paper cup, among the highest in the industry). It also maintained stability without performance degradation during 500 hours of continuous operation.
In other words, this technology reduces the production temperature (−500°C), lowers the operating temperature (600°C), doubles performance (2 W/cm²), and extends the lifespan (500-hour stability), achieving world-class performance in ceramic cell technology.
The research team also enhanced the reliability of the technology by using digital twins (virtual simulations) to analyze gas-transport phenomena occurring in the microscopic internal structure of the cell − phenomena that are difficult to observe in actual experiments.
<Figure 1. (a) Schematic of the vapor-diffusion-based process; (b) Surface microstructure of the electrolyte; (c) Internal barium composition ratio of the electrolyte according to processing conditions; (d) Comparison of power-generation performance with previous studies>
< Figure 2. (a) Three-dimensional reconstructed image of the protonic ceramic electrochemical cell fuel electrode according to processing conditions (b) Pore structure (c) Gas-transport simulation results >
Professor Kang Taek Lee emphasized, “This study is the world’s first case of using vapor to lower the heat-treatment temperature by more than 500°C while still producing a high-performance, high-stability cell.” He added, “It is expected to become a key manufacturing technology that addresses the power challenges of the AI era and accelerates the hydrogen society.”
Dongyeon Kim (KAIST PhD) and Yejin Kang (KAIST PhD candidate) participated as co–first authors. The research results were published in Advanced Materials (IF: 26.8), one of the world’s leading journals in energy and materials science, and were selected as the Inside Front Cover article on October 29.
(Paper title: “Sub-1000°C Sintering of Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells via Microwave-Driven Vapor Phase Diffusion,” DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202506905)
This research was supported by the MSIT’s Mid-career Researcher Program and the H2 Next Round Program.
2025.12.05 View 502 -
KAIST, National Quantum Fab Research Institute Opening Ceremony and Research Building Groundbreaking Ceremony Held
<Groundbreaking Ceremony Shovel Scene for the KAIST National Quantum Fab Research Building>
KAIST announced on December 3rd that it held the opening ceremony for the National Quantum Fab Research Institute and the groundbreaking ceremony for the Quantum Fab Research Building at the KAIST main campus in Daejeon, officially commencing the construction of the nation's core infrastructure to enhance South Korea's quantum technology competitiveness.
The event began with a progress report and introduction of the institute by Yong Hoon Cho, Director of the Quantum Fab Research Institute, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the official start of the Quantum Fab Research Building's construction and an unveiling of the plaque. Approximately 50 officials attended the event, including Jang-woo Lee, Mayor of Daejeon, Kwang Hyung Lee, President of KAIST, and the presidents of the National Nanofab Center and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, representing government, local government, and collaborating organizations.
<Plaque-Unveiling Scene at the Opening of the KAIST National Quantum Fab Research Institute>
Since being selected as the lead institution for the Quantum Fab in a competition held by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation last year, our university secured a commitment of 20 billion KRW from the Daejeon Metropolitan City for construction costs and completed the institute's establishment and design. The new Quantum Fab Research Building, with a total floor area of 2,498 ㎡, is targeted for completion in 2027.
The new building will house South Korea's largest specialized, open-access cleanroom fab for quantum devices. A total of 45 billion KRW or more will be invested by 2031, including national funds, local government funds, and KAIST's budget. Over 37 units of advanced equipment will be installed in the 1st and 3rd-floor FAB cleanrooms in stages, along with stability facilities such as Class 100-1,000 cleanliness standards, constant temperature/humidity, and emergency power supply.
The KAIST Quantum Fab operates on a fully open-access system allowing researchers to directly carry out processes. It will support processing technologies for various quantum platforms, including photons, point defects, and neutral atoms, and will also enhance user programs such as training and workshops. Phase 1 service began in July of this year, and Phase 2 full-scale operation, based on the newly installed equipment, will start in 2028.
Jang-woo Lee, Mayor of Daejeon, stated, "The KAIST open-access Quantum Fab is a core platform that will lead the industrialization of quantum technology in South Korea," adding, "Especially since the US and South Korea have designated quantum computing as a strategic field in their $350 billion technology cooperation package, Daejeon's role is becoming even more crucial."
Director Yong-Hoon Cho said, "Through a user-centric process support system, we will play a central role in the national quantum research ecosystem," adding, "Based on our research capabilities and support system, we will expand industry-academia-research cooperation and aim to leap forward as a pilot quantum fab."
President Kwang Hyung Lee remarked, "Quantum science and technology is a core strategic area that will determine the future technological hegemony," and "We will take this opening and groundbreaking ceremony as an opportunity for industry, academia, research, and government to join forces and strengthen the competitiveness of the national quantum ecosystem."
KAIST plans to focus on establishing a self-sustainable virtuous cycle system centered around the Quantum Fab, and will further dedicate efforts to enhancing national strategic technology competitiveness through the nurturing of specialized talent and the development of processing technologies for each platform.
<Bird’s Eye View of the KAIST National Quantum Fab Research Building>
2025.12.04 View 707 -
KAIST Unveils Cause of Performance Degradation in Electric Vehicle High-Nickel Batteries: "Added with Good Intentions
<(From left in the front row) Professor Nam-Soon Choi, Professor Dong-Hwa Seo, (back row, from left) Ph.D candidate Gihoon Lee, Ph.D candidate Seung Hee Han, Ph.D candidate Jae-Seung Kim, (top) M.S candidate Junyoung Kim>
High-nickel batteries, which are high-energy lithium-ion batteries primarily used in electric vehicles, offer high energy density but suffer from rapid performance degradation. A research team from KAIST has, for the first time globally, identified the fundamental cause of the rapid deterioration (degradation) of high-nickel batteries and proposed a new approach to solve it.
KAIST announced on December 3rd that a research team led by Professor Nam-Soon Choi of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Dong-Hwa Seo of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has revealed that the electrolyte additive 'succinonitrile (CN4), which has been used to improve battery stability and lifespan, is actually the key culprit causing performance degradation in high-nickel batteries.
In a battery, electricity is generated as lithium ions travel between the cathode and the anode. A small amount of CN4 is included in the electrolyte to facilitate the movement of lithium. The research team confirmed through computer calculations that CN4, which has two nitrile (-CN) structures, attaches excessively strongly to the nickel ions on the surface of the high-nickel cathode.
The nitrile structure is a 'hook-like' structure, where carbon and nitrogen are bound by a triple bond, making it adhere well to metal ions. This strong bonding destroys the protective electrical double layer (EDL) that should form on the cathode surface. During the charging and discharging process, the cathode structure is distorted (Jahn-Teller distortion), and even electrons from the cathode are drawn out to the CN4, leading to rapid damage of the cathode.
Nickel ions that leak out during this process migrate through the electrolyte to the anode surface, where they accumulate. This nickel acts as a 'bad catalyst' that accelerates electrolyte decomposition and wastes lithium, further speeding up battery degradation.
Various analyses confirmed that CN4 transforms the high-nickel cathode surface into an abnormal layer deficient in nickel, and changes the normally stable structure into an abnormal 'rock-salt structure'.
This proves the dual nature of CN4: while useful in LCO batteries (lithium cobalt oxide), it actually causes the structural collapse in high-nickel batteries with a high nickel ratio.
This research holds significant meaning as a precise analysis that goes beyond simple control of charging/discharging conditions, to even elucidating the actual electron transfer occurring between metal ions and electrolyte molecules. Based on this achievement, the research team plans to develop a new electrolyte additive optimized for high-nickel cathodes.
<Schematic diagram of the ligand coordination between CN₄ molecules and Ni³⁺ on the high-nickel cathode surface and the cathode structural degradation process>
Professor Nam-Soon Choi stated, "A precise, molecular-level understanding is essential to enhance battery lifespan and stability. This research will pave the way for the development of new additives that do not excessively bond with nickel, significantly contributing to the commercialization of next-generation high-capacity batteries."
This research, jointly led by Professor Nam-Soon Choi, Seung Hee Han, Junyoung Kim, and Gihoon Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Professor Dong-Hwa Seo and Jae-Seung Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as co-first authors, was published online on November 14th in the prestigious international journal 'ACS Energy Letters' and was selected as the cover article.
※ Paper Title: Unveiling Bidentate Nitrile-Driven Structural Degradation in Ultra-High-Nickel Cathodes,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c02845
<Cover Page of International Journal(ACS Energy Letters)>
The research was supported by Samsung SDI.
2025.12.03 View 570