Fine dust-dedicated graduate schools to open soon

Seoul's Jongno District is foggy with particulate matter, also known as fine dust, on Mar. 18, 2020, when the PM10 concentration level recorded "bad," or between 81 and 150 micrometers per square meters. Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Graduate schools dedicated to studying airborne particulate matters open later this year, as the government and an environmental state researcher try to push forward a country often blanketed by clouds of fine dust all year around.

The Ministry of Environment and Korea Environmental Industry Technology Institute (KEITI), in a behind-the-curtain signing, have agreed to designate three local universities and introduce masters and doctoral programs as well as non-degree track programs dedicated to the issue, the ministry said on June 12.

The schools are Chung Ang University in Seoul, Hanseo University in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, and Pukyong National University in Busan.

Each school is in a different air quality monitoring region determined by the government last April. While Chung Ang is in the capital region covering Seoul, Incheon and 28 cities of Gyeonggi Province, Hanseo is in the central region for Daejeon, Sejong, North and South Chungcheong Provinces and North Jeolla Province. Pukyong is in the southeastern region covering Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and North and South Gyeongsang Provinces.

The schools signed the agreement with the ministry and KEITI on June 15, accepting state support funding of 600 million won ($496,000) for three years for each school. They began enrollments accepting 16 or more students for this year and will start the programs in September.

The government expects graduates of the programs will be of a significant use in resolving the pollution issues in local communities nationwide, as well as acting as a liaison between related firms and public companies.

Such a prospect is possible because the students, after learning about backtracking causes of PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter with micrometers of 10 and 2.5) and monitoring and modeling sources of the pollution, will "go straight to related industries following completion of their studies," according to the ministry.

The ministry's Air Quality Policy Division official Keum Han-seung said that to resolve the air pollution problems, "what is most urgent is educating an industry-wise future workforce to scrutinize and oversee the pollution's sources."

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