KAIST broke ground on an "Innovative Digital Medical Science Institute" to train physician-scientists and physician-engineers.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology announced Thursday it held a groundbreaking ceremony for the institute at its Munji Campus in Yuseong District.
The facility will serve as a hub consolidating bio and research capabilities. Construction costs total 42.2 billion won ($30 million), including 27 billion won in government funding. The building will have six above-ground floors and one basement level, spanning 9,730 square meters.
The institute aims to cultivate next-generation physician-scientists and convergence researchers by integrating medical science, life sciences, engineering, and artificial intelligence.
The building, targeted for completion next year, will house a digital-based bio drug R&D center, an AI precision medicine platform research center, digital healthcare facilities, shared bio equipment laboratories, and collaborative spaces for companies and entrepreneurs.
KAIST plans to expand its physician-scientist training capacity from approximately 20 annually to 50-70 through the new institute.
The sixth floor will host the Daejeon Bio-Medical Venture Cluster. This open innovation space will allow researchers from KAIST and government-funded research institutions in Daedeok Innopolis to share expensive research equipment with bio-medical startups and collaborate on research outcomes and technologies.