Pohang University of Science and Technology

History

POSTECH was established in 1986 in Pohang, Korea by POSCO, one of the world's leading steel companies, for the purpose of providing advanced education for budding engineers and laying the groundwork for future technological development.

The founder of POSCO and the founding chairman of POSTECH, Park Tae-joon realized the need for Korea to educate their youth in science and technology to ensure Korea's position in the high technology arena. Park wanted to use the California Institute of Technology as a model for POSTECH and visited the university on a business trip to Los Angeles in 1985. He noted characteristics of CALTECH and requested to the POSTECH founding team to establish a contemporary research university that had: a low student-faculty ratio, a greater proportion of graduate students to undergraduates, a low net education cost, student on-campus housing, and a high-quality campus environment. These features represented a drastic departure from the Korean universities of the 1980s.

POSCO organized a task force on February 21, 1984 made up of POSCO employees selected by the company. Construction work began on August 17, 1985. On May 4, 1986, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited POSTECH and donated an Inmos transputer, one of the leading edge computer parts at the time. The first matriculation ceremony was held on March 5, 1987. A group of 249 freshman were selected from the top one percent of all graduating seniors in Korea to be taught by an international faculty recruited by POSTECH founding president Hogil Kim and POSTECH task force head manager Dai Kong Lee. The first degree awarding ceremony was on February 20, 1991. Diplomas were awarded to 146 graduating seniors, 123 (84%) of whom went on to pursue graduate studies. The remaining 23 graduates were employed by the nation's major corporations including POSCO, Samsung, LG, and Hyundai.

To facilitate translational research and active academia-industry collaboration, POSTECH hosted POSCO's Research Institute of Science and Technology (RIST) on campus. In 1994, POSTECH set up the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), a 3rd-generation synchrotron light source and now a national facility. Currently, the 4th-generation light source X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) is under construction (to be completed in 2015) at the cost of US$400 million, which will be the third one in the world and will open up new frontiers and research areas in life sciences, materials, chemistry, and physics.

University rankings

In 1998, POSTECH was ranked by Asiaweek as the best science and technology university in Asia. From 2002 to 2006, one of Korea's most circulated daily newspapers, JoongAng Ilbo, ranked POSTECH as the leading university in Korea. In 2010, the Times Higher Education ranked POSTECH 28th in the world. In 2011, the Times Higher Education ranked the university as the 53rd best university in the world, the 6th best in Asia, and the best in South Korea. In 2011, QS World University Rankings ranked POSTECH 98th overall in the world. It remains third best ranked in Korea, after Seoul National University and KAIST, in the QS Asian University Rankings. However, in the Times Higher Education rankings, it scored highly after compilers placed less emphasis on "reputation and heritage" and gave more weight to objective measures including the influence of universities' research, placing 53rd. In 2012 and 2013, the Times Higher Education ranked POSTECH 1st in its "100 Under 50 Young Universities" rankings. The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune cited POSTECH's rapid ascent as a young university to top the world rankings in less than 50 years.

Campus

POSTECH is a 400-acre campus located twenty minutes by car from downtown Pohang, a forty-minute drive from the eastern coast, ninety minutes by bus from Busan, and approximately four hours by bus or train from Seoul.

Tae-Joon Park Digital Library

Completed in 2003, the Tae-Joon Park Library is 24,420 square meters with 352,977 volumes and 8,324 digital and paper journals. As of 2005, the library collection consists of approximately 320,000 books, 3,500 journals, 7,000 e-journals 25 databases, and 4,400 multimedia materials. The Library shares materials with industrial-educational-research cooperation and is part of an intercollegiate data exchange program with approximately 150 other research and educational institutions throughout the nation.

Smart campus

POSTECH operates a Smart Campus where the scientific and technological information of the world is accessible anywhere on campus using different types of smart phones and mobile devices as well as laptops. In 2010, for the first time among Korean universities, POSTECH implemented a Desktop Cloud Service, providing a convenient and secure computing environment.

On-campus dormitories and family housing

POSTECH offers students living on-campus in affordable dormitories and apartments for married graduate students. The student housing complex is composed of 23 five-story student dormitories, one 13-story undergraduate student dormitory, and 4 graduate student apartments. All POSTECH undergraduate students are required to live in one of the on-campus dormitories and many graduate students prefer to stay on campus, either in the student dormitories or in one of the four high-rise graduate student apartments.

Gymnasium and sports complex

POSTECH has a range of sports facilities, from a gymnasium equipped with racquetball, basketball and badminton courts to POSPLEX, a sports center with a swimming pool, a fitness center and an indoor golf driving range, and outdoor sports fields for tennis, futsal, and soccer.

First bilingual campus in Korea

In March 2010, POSTECH declared the initiation of a bilingual campus. All notices and announcements are made in both English and Korean. Major official events (e.g., commencement) are run in both English and Korean. Most junior and senior level courses as well as all graduate courses are taught in English.

Admissions

POSTECH admits approximately 300 undergraduate students each year. POSTECH received 1,987 applicants for freshman admission and admitted 323 for the 2014 school year. POSTECH provides the highest educational investment and the most per-student scholarship support in Korea, allowing students from all economic backgrounds the opportunity to obtain a POSTECH education.

Graduate admissions

A growing number of international students attend POSTECH as it expands its recruiting efforts abroad. POSTECH offers full tuition fellowships to excellent graduate students from the following countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

All graduate students receive teaching assistant scholarships and the university provides the Tae-Joon Park Graduate Fellowship, which provides the highest level of scholarship (approximately 25 million South Korean won) to about 50 top graduate students each year. The POSCO Fellowship is available for students recommended by a POSTECH departmental committee and then selected by the POSCO TJ Park Foundation. POSTECH offers a one-time settlement grant of approximately $2,800 USD to all incoming international graduate students during the first semester of enrollment.

Graduate students have the option of enrolling in the MS-Ph.D. integrated program. Under this program, students can work towards a Ph.D. degree after passing the Ph.D. qualifying exam without going through the MS program. Ph.D. applicants must have earned a master's degree before enrolling at POSTECH.

Undergraduate education

The undergraduate research program provides students with opportunities to participate in research under the guidance and mentorship of professors. Scholarships are offered to encourage student participation in research. In several departments such as Chemistry and Mathematics, it is mandatory for all students to participate in the undergraduate research program.

Courses and activities on entrepreneurship are available, and efforts to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit and start-up support are being developed including club activities, start-up prep group, training on patents, and leave of absence for creating a new venture.

Through the Science & Technology Core (STC), courses that extend beyond departmental boundaries, students are allowed to take classes in different departments for an interdisciplinary and broad academic foundation.

POSTECH operates the Residential College program for all freshman and sophomores. In addition to the Residential College program, it provides assistance for personal development, social and cultural experiences, extracurricular group activities, and volunteer opportunities for students to participate in and enhance their undergraduate experience.

Cultural programs

POSTECH's partnership with Korea National University of Arts allows students to take courses on both campuses and organize performances.

Undergraduate departments

11 Undergraduate departments

Graduate departments

11 graduate departments, 4 divisions, 5 graduate schools, and 4 specialized graduate schools

Research

Four research centers of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), which were recently established by the Korean government to promote research in basic sciences, are located at POSTECH. Four scientists and their teams in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry and life sciences are currently carrying out research on campus.

Pohang Light Source (PLS-II)

The 3rd generation light source at POSTECH is the 5th in the world and the only synchrotron radiation accelerator in Korea. This national research facility, the heart of Korea’s cutting-edge science, enables studies on various structural characteristics of materials using light. The facility is utilized in various basic science to high-tech industrial research. Its performance improvement to PLS-II was successfully completed in 2012. Thousands of users visit yearly to conduct their research using PLS-ll.

4th generation light source

The 4th generation light source (PAL-XFEL), which is currently under construction on the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL) premises and scheduled to be operational in 2015, is 10 billion times brighter than the 3rd generation light source. PAL-XFEL will generate new knowledge and discoveries in almost all technical and scientific disciplines including medicine, pharmaceutics, chemistry, material science, nanotechnology, power engineering and electronics.

Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative

The Max Planck Society of Germany and POSTECH established two Max Planck Centers at POSTECH: the Max Planck-POSTECH Center for Attosecond Science and the Max Planck-POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials. This collaboration is not only a testament to POSTECH’s internationally renowned research excellence but, with the introduction of advanced research institute operation and management methods, also lays a foundation for the further strengthening Korea's competitiveness in basic science research.

POSTECH Biotech Center

The POSTECH Biotech Center was founded in 2000 with the goal of becoming the hub of biotechnology research and business development (R&BD). The primary goal of the POSTECH Biotech Center is to incubate disruptive technologies in biotechnology areas for the development of immunology, pharmaceuticals, and nanobiotechnology. The Center has been participating actively in academia-industry collaboration both nationally and internationally.

National Institute for Nanomaterials Technology

The National Institute for Nanomaterials Technology, a core research center for advancement and commercialization of nanotechnology, is developing the next-generation semiconductor and display materials, etc. With its cutting-edge facilities, the Institute provides valuable technical support and assistance to industry, from research and development to commercialization. The Institute also supports and enables POSTECH researchers to actively carry out nanotechnology and other related areas.

C5(Creative・Collaborative・Cultivating・Convergence・Center)

C⁵ plays a pivotal role in catalyzing world-first convergence education and research, and fostering future global leaders with a creative and challenging spirit. C⁵ was named after Creative, Collaborative, Cultivating, Convergence, and Center. C⁵ has 7-stories with a size of 16,000 square meters per floor. The construction of C⁵ came at an investment of 31.5 billion won. Construction began in October 2013 and its inauguration ceremony was held on January 30, 2015.

The first three floors of C⁵ is filled by the Department of Creative IT Engineering (CiTE) and the POSETCH Future IT Innovation Laboratory (i-Lab). CiTE and i-Lab use interdisciplinary-oriented education and innovative research. The remaining three floors house POSTECH research teams that work for POSTECH's strategic promotion of research areas and subjects with huge growth potential. A modern open-space design allows various research teams to rearrange work areas freely to facilitate and promote dynamic collaboration.

The POSCO Pohang Center for Creative Economy occupies the 5th floor of C⁵. The Center, led by POSCO, was established to maintain the competitiveness of the steel industry, promote source technology development, and nurture regionally-based "hidden champions" to vitalize venture businesses.

Sunrise Festival

Since 1987, POSTECH has hosted the annual Sunrise Festival to celebrate the spirit of unity and harmony of the POSTECH members and the local community. It is run in mid-May for three days immediately after the midterm of the spring semester. This festival is financially supported by the university, and is prepared by the entire student body and the POSTECH Student Club Association. Participants at the festival can enjoy movies, performances, singing contests, quiz shows, as well as traditional Korean drinks sold at cafes, beer gardens, and food stalls set up by student clubs.

POSTECH-KAIST Science War

Science War is an event held together by the KAIST and Pohang University of Science and Technology every year in the fall. The first tournament was held in 2002 at KAIST. Every year since, both schools held it alternately. The competition name is determined depending by the home university. If held at KAIST, it is called "Pocajeon"; at the Pohang University of Science and Technology, it is called "kapojeon". Events include football, baseball, basketball, athletics and hacking competitions, League of Legend, and a science quiz.

Hyungsan Academic Festival

The Hyungsan Academic Festival, organized by the Federation of Student Circles, takes place at the end of October after the midterm of the second semester. Originally designed to provide venues for academic presentations by students' circles and departments, this festival now provides various programs including sports competition, plays and movie festivals, as well as academic conferences.

Revenue (total USD $277.5M, USD $1=KRW1,105)

Expenses (total USD $277.5M, US$1=KRW1,105)