* Link : http://www.koreaherald.com/opinion/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110426000627In the wake of the tragic suicides of four KAIST students in recent months, some suggested that study in English at KAIST puts undue stress on students, contributes to academic underperformance, creates communication barriers between students and professors, and encouraged the suicides.In the past several weeks, I reflected on my English-only teaching experience at POSTECH. I asked what would happen if Caltech or MIT set up a Korean branch and offered courses in English only, except for language-specific courses? I p..

A new cooperative partnership has been established with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).President Sunggi Baik visited HKUST on April 7, 2011, to sign agreements for university-wide cooperation and a joint Ph.D. degree program with the HKUST School of Engineering.In accordance to the student exchange clauses of the cooperation agreement, POSTECH undergraduate students have HKUST added to their choice of study abroad institutions starting Spring Semester 2012.Candidates of the POSTECH-HKUST joint Ph.D. program will have co-advisors at both POSTECH and HKUST, and spend ..

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that entails hallucinations and delusions, for those who suffer it become incapable of controlling their minds. According to existing studies, the cause can be defined through genetic and environmental factors where the role of the gene called ‘Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1’ has become central in the research. DISC1 in short, implies that this specific gene is found disrupted only in those who suffer from schizophrenia. Management of the disorder depends largely on medications and psychological interventions, but unfortunately, there is no d..

PIRO, the Pohang Institute for Intelligent Robotics located on the POSTECH campus, the first independent research institute for intelligent robotics in Korea, released information on PIRO-U3, a cleaning robot that functions underwater. Under supervision, the robot can be used in various places, such as industrial water tanks, reservoirs, riverbeds and also inshore area. It is noteworthy that PIRO-U3 was completed with domestic techniques only.Before PIRO-U3, sediments at the bottom of industrial water tanks were manually removed after draining all the water; the cleaning process of riverbeds o..

Hydrogen as an alternative source of energy is one of the key elements in building environment-friendly vehicles that do not emit carbon dioxide. Currently, the market for hydrogen vehicles is fiercely competitive among countries with large automobile markets like Korea, Japan, and the United States; the drive is to develop a way to sophisticate the existing technology at low cost and for large quantities. The problem is that the vehicles are much too expensive to become commercialized and they have certain drawbacks. Mid-sized hydrogen automobiles cost up to 90,000 US dollars; the fuel cell i..

Arsenic is a poisonous metalloid that pollutes the land and drinking water in many countries in Southeast Asia, mainly in Bangladesh or Cambodia, and neither is a developed country free from this problem: it still remains in certain mining areas, timber or paper mills and industrial areas. The ingestion of crops contaminated by arsenic can cause cancer, digestive disorders and skin diseases, because it becomes accumulated in the human body instead of being digested or excreted. Professor Youngsook Lee, Department of Life Science, and her research team including Dr. Won-Yong Song, Postdoctoral ..

Electronic displays that can be rolled up like newspapers, televisions that can be hung on walls like calendars, or computers that can be put on like clothes are fascinating ideas still to be realized. But technology certainly has evolved in this direction. A research team led by Professor Chan Eon Park of POSTECH’s Chemical Engineering Department has come forth with a breakthrough with organic electronics. The team’s work focuses on a specific type of Organic Thin- Film Transistor (OTFT) called n-type organic semiconductors. The ‘n’ stands for negative, indicating the ..

Professor Hyung Joon Cha, Chemical Engineering Department, has been known for his work on cell adhesives that induce the bioactivity of cells. His adhesives were devised after special characteristics of cells by combining mussel adhesion proteins and bioactive peptides that send certain signals to cells. His work was introduced in the publication of Biomaterials, an authoritative journal in biomaterial science, in December, 2010. Professor Cha’s research team is consisted of Research Professor Yoo-sung Choi and PhD candidate Bong-hyuk Choi. Mussels use their adhesion proteins not to be s..

Professor Sung-Kee Chung (Chemistry) Awarded Chungjo Geunjung Medal and Professor Ja Kang Ku (Chemistry) Selected as Recipient of Prime Minister Award Prof. Sung-Kee Chung was brought in to POSTECH when the university was founded, and he served at various positions at POSTECH from early 1987 until he retired from his career in 2011. He also served as the third president of POSTECH. Prof. Chung is a renowned chemist who produced eminent achievements in bioorganic & medicinal chemistry and was selected as the recipient of the Chungjo Geunjung Medal for his great contributions in advancement ..

* Link : http://www.koreaherald.com/opinion/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110303000592Korean college system needs market forcesThe following was contributed by Daniel E. Suh, professor of economics and finance, Graduate Program for Technology and Innovation Management, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). ― Ed.In the first class of my investment course, I always toss out a question to my students: Have they ever made any investments?For a moment, the class usually remains silent. I tell them I know that they have all, in fact made an investment. Then a student or two understands wh..