Sungkyunkwan University professor named Asian Young Scientist Fellow
Summary
Shin Mi-kyung, an associate professor at Sungkyunkwan University, has been selected as one of 12 fellows for the 2026 Asian Young Scientists Fellowship in the physical sciences category. She was recognized for her work on adhesive and conductive hydrogels and will receive $100,000 in research funding over two years. The fellowship also gives her access to an annual conference at the University of Hong Kong on Nov. 9 and a broader network of scientists. The university said she plans to extend her research into central nervous system treatments.
Key Facts
- The Asian Young Scientists Fellowship is a privately funded academic support program for outstanding early-career researchers in Asia.
- Eligibility is limited to scientists with full-time academic positions in Asia who are within 10 years of earning their doctoral degrees.
- Shin’s research includes a multilayered electronic patch study titled Adhesive bioelectronics for sutureless epicardial interfacing, published in Nature Electronics in 2023.
- She also published an injectable hydrogel study titled Injectable tissue prosthesis for instantaneous closed-loop rehabilitation in Nature in 2023.
Shin Mi-kyung recognized for developing adhesive, conductive hydrogels
Shin Mi-kyung, an associate professor in the Department of Global Biomedical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute for Cross-disciplinary Studies / Courtesy of Sungkyunkwan University
Shin Mi-kyung, an associate professor in the Department of Global Biomedical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute for Cross-disciplinary Studies, has been selected as one of 12 fellows for the 2026 Asian Young Scientists Fellowship (AYSF).
The university said Friday that Shin was named an “Asian Young Scientist Fellow” in the physical sciences category for her contributions to adhesive and conductive hydrogels.
The university added that she will receive $100,000 (135 million won) in research funding over the next two years.
She will also have opportunities to participate in the AYSF annual conference scheduled for Nov. 9 at the University of Hong Kong, as well as engage with a network of young scientists across Asia and around the world.
The AYSF is a privately funded academic support program designed to identify and support outstanding early-career researchers in Asia who conduct creative and transformative research.
The fellowship is open to promising scientists with full-time academic positions in Asia who are within 10 years of earning their doctoral degrees.
Sungkyunkwan University said Shin was recognized for her innovative research achievements in muscle and tissue regeneration through the development of adhesive, conductive hydrogels.
These hydrogels are next-generation biomaterials that are soft like biological tissue, highly electrically conductive and capable of strongly adhering to damaged areas.
The university noted that conventional implantable devices, typically made of rigid metals or rubber, have struggled to maintain seamless contact with the body’s soft, constantly moving organs.
To overcome these technological limitations, she drew inspiration from adhesive mechanisms found in nature to develop materials that closely mimic human tissue while enabling stable transmission of electrical signals.
A multilayered electronic patch was attatched to a beating heart in a study conducted by Shin Mi-kyung, an associate professor in the Department of Global Biomedical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute for Cross-disciplinary Studies. The study was published in Nature Electronics in 2023. Courtesy of Sungkyunkwan University.
The university said that with support from the AYSF, Shin plans to expand her research into treatments for the central nervous system.
She will focus on developing a dual-function hydrogel filler that can be injected into the cavity left after brain tumor surgery to help prevent tumor recurrence while promoting the recovery of brain neurons, which have limited capacity for self-regeneration.
One of Shin’s research achievements is a multilayered electronic patch developed as part of a study titled “Adhesive bioelectronics for sutureless epicardial interfacing,” published in Nature Electronics in 2023. She served as the corresponding author of the study.
The patch combines self-healing polymers, liquid metal and mussel-inspired adhesive components. It successfully adhered to a beating heart in less than 0.5 seconds and enabled precise measurement of electrocardiogram signals in patients with heart disease.
Also in 2023, she published a study on an injectable hydrogel, titled “Injectable tissue prosthesis for instantaneous closed-loop rehabilitation,” in Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals.
When injected into injured muscle tissue, the hydrogel immediately restored disrupted electrical signaling, paving the way for advanced rehabilitation therapies that enable real-time interfaces between robotic systems and patients’ nervous systems.
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