SNU Set to Launch Nobel Prize Project
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
The state-run Seoul National University (SNU) said it will launch a project to nurture a Nobel laureate from the school.
In a speech to celebrate the school's 62nd anniversary, SNU President Lee Jang-moo said university members should seek to win the award as neighboring countries Japan and China have already seen many Nobel Prize laureates. ``If our faculty, alumni and supporters closely network and put their hands together for the goal, I’m confident that SNU faculty and graduates can attain the award, which all Korean people are dreaming of,'' Lee said.
Lee requested SNU members to design a long-term master plan and give full support to it. He also stressed three words, ``openness’’ to accept foreign culture and talent; ``flexibility,’’ for each department to cooperate and change the formation of its organization; and ``excellence’’ in order to solve problems facing mankind.
As conditions for the three key requirements, Lee stressed the importance of autonomy. ``The government's policy to incorporate state-run universities is the most efficient plan to make the university a world top school,'' he said.
However, the president’s address lacked a specific action plan and ways to raise funds for the project.