Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
LX chairman launches fellowship to support basic science education
LX Group Chairman Koo Bon-joon, right, poses with Seoul National University President Ryu Hong-lim at the school, Friday, after signing an agreement to establish the LX Science Fellowship. Courtesy of LX Holdings
By Nam Hyun-woo
Group commits $500,000 to Seoul National University over 5 years
LX Group is partnering with Seoul National University (SNU) to invest 700 million won ($496,000) over the next five years to unearth and nurture the next generation of scientists.
LX Holdings announced Sunday that the group signed an agreement with SNU on Friday to establish the LX Science Fellowship.
The signing ceremony at the university was attended by LX Group Chairman Koo Bon-joon, SNU President Ryu Hong-lim and other dignitaries from both parties.
The LX Science Fellowship is a tailored scholarship program for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as degree holders, affiliated with SNU’s College of Natural Sciences. Starting this year, LX Group will contribute 700 million won over five years to support the identification and development of outstanding young scientists in basic science fields, which are expected to drive future scientific and technological progress.
Through the program, 40 undergraduate students from SNU’s College of Natural Sciences will receive annual research internships and scholarships. Each semester, LX Group will also recognize outstanding interns with awards and special recognition ceremonies.
Graduate students and degree holders will also be eligible for academic encouragement grants. LX Group will select 10 individuals over five years, based on criteria such as originality and creativity in research topics and experiments, and provide approximately 200 million won in funding.
The establishment of the fellowship reflects Koo’s strong commitment to bolstering research in the sciences. A graduate of SNU’s Department of Computational Statistics, he developed his interest in basic science while studying alongside his classmate Huh Myung-hoe, now professor emeritus at Korea University’s Department of Statistics.
Koo’s long-standing friendship with Huh extended to his son, Huh June, a Princeton University professor and the first Korean recipient of the Fields Medal, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics. Inspired by Huh’s comments in an interview after receiving the Fields Medal, in which he highlighted the importance of fellowships for supporting research, Koo began developing the concept of the fellowship.
“I am honored to help my juniors at my alma mater focus fully on their studies and research. I also hope this initiative will contribute to strengthening research capabilities in basic sciences, which are the source of scientific and technological competitiveness, as well as to securing and fostering outstanding talent,” the chairman said at the ceremony.
The SNU president welcomed the donation. “LX Group’s meaningful donation to advance basic science in our country will provide great encouragement and pride to students and researchers who quietly devote themselves to their work,” he said.