The University of Science and Technology (UST) announced on the 3rd that it has appointed 165 top-tier researchers from 24 national research institute schools as new faculty members for the second half of 2026, including Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) and Global TOP Strategic Research Group directors.
The new faculty members are elite researchers who have produced world-class research achievements in their respective fields.
Professor Jang Mi of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) School is a UST-KIOST School doctoral graduate who has been named among Clarivate's "2025 Highly Cited Researchers (HCR)" as a young authority in the environmental and ecological fields. Over the past 11 years, she has published the most Highly Cited Papers—those ranking in the top 1% globally by citation count. HCR researchers represent just 0.1% of the world's total researchers by headcount.
"I want to give back the experiences I gained learning and growing at my alma mater school to junior students through UST's degree programs, helping them develop into world-class researchers," Professor Jang said.
Professor Park Sung-kyu of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) School serves as director of the "Ultra-High Sensitivity Precision Cancer Gene Analysis Research Group," a project selected for the 2025 Global TOP Strategic Research Initiative. He developed foundational technology for rapid and accurate early diagnosis (up to 99% accuracy) of ultra-fine residual cancer cells using urine and blood samples. His work led to technology transfers worth 4 billion won in 2023 and selection among the Top 100 National R&D Achievements in 2024.
"I will help students organically understand everything from basic theory to cutting-edge applied research and grow into independent researchers who contribute to solving national and social problems," Professor Park said.
Professor Ko Kyung-chul of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) School is a health security expert who served as secretary-general of the COVID-19 Response R&D Support Council during the pandemic. He spearheaded the establishment of the National Preclinical Trial Support Center and received consecutive ministerial awards from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Science and ICT.
"Based on the convergence of AI and digital bio technology, I hope to cultivate advanced bio-convergence talent to prepare for potential next pandemics," Professor Ko said.
Professor Lee Dong-geun of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) School is an emerging researcher in quantum information, a field called next-generation game-changer technology. He has conducted research on designing "practical quantum algorithms" that maintain accuracy while reducing computational costs in the current error-prone Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer environment.
"I want to nurture talent who can make core contributions as quantum computing transitions from 'possibility' to 'application,'" Professor Lee said.
The new faculty members were selected from institutions including the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), and Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT). More than 50% of the new faculty are early-career researchers under age 40, raising expectations for challenging and dynamic research and stronger rapport with students.
Additionally, five of the new faculty members are alumni who earned doctoral degrees from their alma mater UST schools, demonstrating a virtuous cycle in UST's talent development system where researchers trained at national research institute universities grow into core researchers and faculty members who nurture new generations of scholars.
UST also appointed 114 researchers as "tenured faculty" for their outstanding contributions to cultivating future scholars. The tenured faculty system, introduced for the first time this year, recognizes faculty members with at least 10 years of service at UST who have produced three or more doctoral graduates and demonstrated excellent research performance. These 114 faculty members became the first to receive the tenured faculty title in recognition of their achievements.
UST President Kang Dae-im said, "The large-scale appointment of top-tier early-career researchers and first tenured faculty means UST's faculty pool is expanding to include the best researchers from national research institutes across various generations." He added, "We will continue to appoint the best researchers and experts in unique research fields from 30 national research institute schools as faculty to cultivate world-class, value-creating global R&D talent."