"Universities can no longer remain ivory towers. They must become outposts that directly cultivate talent capable of changing the world through disruptive innovation."
Lee Kun-woo, president of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), made the remarks Wednesday at a press conference held at a restaurant in Jung-gu, central Seoul. "Starting with Daegu and Gyeongbuk, we will make all of southern Korea an 'AI and deep-tech heartland' rivaling Silicon Valley in the United States," he said.
DGIST plans to build a full-cycle talent development platform spanning from gifted-student discovery to AI education and deep-tech entrepreneurship, in order to cultivate global talent like Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In particular, the AI college to be established next year will select 200 new students annually, including 100 undergraduates and 100 master's and doctoral students. It will operate around three fields: physical AI, medical AI, and X-AI, which applies AI across science and engineering. A "fast track" allowing students to obtain both bachelor's and master's degrees within five years will also be offered, if students wish.
"What sets DGIST's AI college apart is that we are inviting people from industry as adjunct professors to develop the entire curriculum," President Lee stressed. "It will be a university that prioritizes practicality over theory."
DGIST has also decided to establish the "DGIST Innovation and Startup Institute" as a control tower to strengthen entrepreneurship support. "The Innovation and Startup Institute is a key platform that connects research achievements to actual industrial innovation," Lee explained. "We will deploy global entrepreneurship experts across the board and, through organic linkage with the technology holding company and professional graduate schools, actively build an action-oriented innovation startup ecosystem in which excellent technology grows into global deep-tech companies."
DGIST is also putting effort into discovering gifted students. In March this year, DGIST launched an "AI and SW (Software) School" for students from sixth grade in elementary school to first grade in high school. "A non-graded, level-based curriculum is possible, allowing students to learn according to their abilities regardless of grade level," a DGIST official said.
