'Who would want to work here?': Scientists at Nobel-aspirant institute blast poor cafeteria food

A lunch consisting of yellowed rice, fish sausage and pickled radish is served at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) cafeteria in Daejeon. Captured from Kim Byung-min's social media

The Institute for Basic Science (IBS), a state-run facility aimed at producing Nobel-caliber research, is facing a backlash after researchers exposed poor-quality cafeteria meals they say hurt their productivity.

Established in 2011 and modeled after Germany's Max Planck Institute, the IBS has set its sights on world-class research.

However, a viral photograph of a 5,000 won ($3.30) lunch featuring yellowed rice, pickled radish and three pieces of fish sausage revealed a stark disconnect between the institute's lofty ambitions and its basic administrative support.

Koo Bon-kyoung, director of the IBS Center for Genome Engineering, publicly criticized the meals on Facebook last month.

Koo said the poor food disrupts their work and drives researchers outside the institute, where a single lunch easily costs more than 10,000 won.

"The issue with the cafeteria at the IBS headquarters is no longer a simple welfare complaint," Koo said. "This is a matter of the research environment, a matter of productivity and a matter of the community."

While scientists engage in painstaking work, many are left scrambling to find adequate food outside the facility.

Koo said these external trips add to commute and waiting times, disrupting afternoon productivity.

"It leaves the impression that while research requires advanced resources, the most basic way of treating people remains at the lowest level," Koo said.

He added that nothing reveals how an institute treats its people more clearly than how it feeds them.

A researcher at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) conducts an experiment using a gene amplification device. Courtesy of IBS

The controversy escalated when Kim Byung-min, an adjunct professor at Hallym University, posted the viral photograph of the meal on social media after dining with Koo.

Kim questioned the institute's priorities, pointing out the need for administrative reform despite claims of treating scientists well and increasing research and development costs.

"Who would want to work at a research institute that serves this kind of lunch?" Kim asked.

Online commenters compared the meals to prison food. Some joked that the scientists would suffer from malnutrition before achieving a Nobel Prize.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.