Prof. Chun Jang-Soo (CDRC Director)

The Cell Dynamics Research Center (CDRC, Director Chun Jang-Soo, professor in the Department of Life Science at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), President SONU Jung-Ho, was selected as the best institute (Grade A) from the result of an evaluation performed by the Scientific Research Center (SRC) of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), the affiliated organization of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST).

This result will lead to expanding support of research funds from the MEST for the next three years, which confirms the public’s perception of the center’s excellence.

The CDRC, founded in 2007, aims to develop therapeutic technologies for cell-related diseases by controlling cell functions. The center will play a leading role in the area of cytology, based on industry academic cooperation and research centers at home and abroad. It is a Scientific Research Center (SRC) supported by the NRF and supervised by the MEST.

The NRF carried out this evaluation by targeting eight SRCs. The evaluation dealt with the sectors of administration and presentation during the site visit, and the administrative evaluation included the management of administration and research funds. The following presentation evaluation mainly focused on the standard of support from universities, the performance of research and development for the last three years, the performance of cooperation with the industry, academy and research institute, the current situation of the establishment since its foundation and future research plans.

The NRF assessed eight leading research centers that have been operating more than 3 years. Its assessment was carried out in two ways: administrative reviews by visiting the centers and reviews on presentation. In administrative reviews, it focused on the administrative procedures and execution of research expenses. In reviews on presentation, it estimated the financial support for the centers by universities, R&D activities and performance over the past 3 years, level of industry/academic cooperation, status quo of basic facilities and future research plans.

For the last 3 years, CDRC published fifty papers, with each paper earning 4.95 points in the Impact Factor (IF) index. It applied for or registered 8 international and 19 domestic patents last year. As such, the NRF rated CDRC high in: publishing papers in world leading academic journals frequently cited by others, effective management of research team by introducing the effective project evaluation system, and systematic plans and operations for achieving project goals. For these reasons, CDRC was selected as the best institute.