By Park Si-soo
South Korea’s top tech and science university KAIST will demonstrate the school’s achievements and potential to foreign diplomats here as part of efforts to lure talented overseas students and professors.
The Daejeon-based Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology will hold the event dubbed “Embassy Day” at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Seoul on Friday. Nearly 100 foreign diplomats from 65 countries were invited to the event. KAIST President Shin Sung-chul and other faculty members in charge of the school’s admission, external and other key affairs will also attend.
Like other Korean universities, KAIST has ramped up efforts to have more foreign students and professors, believing it will help bolster its international competitiveness.
KAIST has 54 foreign professors, 8.7 percent of its 627 faculty members. It has 710 foreign students -- 198 in undergraduate courses, 364 in master’s or doctor’s degree courses and 148 exchange students. They account for 6.6 percent of its 10,703 students.
Early this month, KAIST topped the “Asia-Pacific region’s Most Innovative Universities” list for two straight years. KAIST submitted 923 patent filings from 2010 to 2015 and was the most cited in research papers, topping the 75 top-ranked universities in Asia. Reuters and research firm Clarivate Analytics compiled the list.