Science magazine, Interview with Jung-Ho SONU, president of GIST  

 

"Double the school"s size and focus on specialized areas"

 

 

 

Q. It"s been one and a half years since you became the president of GIST, how have you been?

 

I have been so busy that I"ve hardly realized that one and a half years has already passed. To put it in one phrase, I"ve come here smiling but I"m weeping tears right now—that’s a joke!

 

Before I came here, I had thought GIST was a small institution so I could work while enjoying it, but I was way wrong. There is no difference between big and small universities, actually.

 

These days, there is a great deal of enthusiasm among our faculty and I am busy trying to support and help them, as their long efforts are generating fruitful results. In addition, I spend a fair amount of time preparing for the success of the undergraduate program, which is about to start in March.

 

Q. GIST ranked No.1 in Asia and 14th in the world in Citations per Paper in the QS World University Rankings 2009. GIST also maintains its No. 1 position in SCI publications in Korea for the past twelve years. What do you think is the driving force behind this remarkable success?

 

Our Institution started well from the beginning. Although there have been a few bumps along the way, the faculty members agreed at the institution"s foundation that GIST should advance into a global university, and based on this they have made strenuous efforts to achieve the goal. No one can deny that the achievements of universities can be made overnight.

  

A good example of our resolve is that standards in recruiting, promotion of faculty and reemploying professors in each major are higher than in other institutions, which proves that each department strives to be the world"s best.

 

Also, it shows that GIST’s reputation is being established by professors, not the university itself. For this reason, it"s critical that there is agreement among faculty and that we should highly praise that fact that they have actually delivered on their commitment.

 

 Q. It is said that this year"s government budget for supporting GIST will exceed 100 billion won for the first time. There must been tasks that GIST should address even though external growth is vital. Could you elaborate on what tasks GIST is facing, if any, in addition to the mid- and long-term plans GIST is taking to advance into a global educational institution?

 

Research performance per faculty in the institution has been on the world"s best. However, there are many other things that we have to tackle.

 

The institution needs to reach a certain size for our research capability to have a significant impact on academia. Our current size is not sufficient, so we need to continue to expand and maximize it. To this end, we are making plans to double the current size of GIST.

 

Take small but strong foreign universities, for example. We are not yet capable of competing with them. An appropriate size would be 800 undergraduate students (full enrollment of each year numbers 200) and 1200 graduate students. Given that the number has already increased in 2010, there are 400 undergraduates and 1200 graduates. So, 400 more undergraduates would be necessary to reach the goal, which should not be a tough job to complete.

 

However, in tandem with the increasing number of students, the number of professors should also be increased. We now have 131 professors, so about 79 more professors should be added.

 

It is true that a high Citation per Faculty is a barometer of research quality. However, the institution needs to lure prominent foreign scholars in order to earn an even higher reputation on the world stage.

 

We have to be specialized in a certain area, which is one of our weak points because we are not. However, from last year the institution has been doing its best to develop a specialized area, though it is likely to take some time to ultimately achieve this goal. In any case, we will focus on our advantages.

 

 

 Q.  It was reported that GIST is planning to join in international cooperation and joint research with ETH Zurich, which produced the famous scientist Albert Einstein. Could you tell us more?

 

Korea"s human capital in science and technology is currently putting too much emphasis on an American-type of education. So, we"re pursuing more active exchanges with European universities as part of a plan to supplement the current situation.

 

We"ve contacted ETH Zurich since it is in a science circle similar to us and one of the world"s best universities. Last November, a delegation of ETH that included its president made a visit to GIST.

 

During this visit, we agreed in principle on exchanging students but I think it will take time to make realize these exchanges because of the language issue. However, we hope that progress in research areas will be made fast.

Among other things, they are interested in lasers—which GIST has the one of the best facilities and research capability in Korea. ETH has also recognized this fact. I look forward to a deeper and more active collaboration with ETH Zurich.

 

 

Q. The undergraduate program that GIST has been working for the past decade to implement will start in March. What made you think the institution should establish an undergraduate program?

 

The main purpose of the institution since its foundation has been to nurture talented people in science and technology. Of course we engage in research in sophisticated academic areas as a research-oriented university but the most basic goal is to develop human resources. 

 

Developing human capital is vital in producing MS and PhD students, but also undergraduate students.

 

By offering MS and PhD degrees, we have accumulated valuable experiences and capabilities, so it"s natural to produce undergraduate students. Unfortunately, Korean universities have put less focus on quality growth than on developing and expanding departments like a conglomerate. Under this circumstance, it is difficult to produce superior talents. 

 

That"s why there is an ongoing active brain-drain in Korea. It"s our duty to address this gloomy situation and nurture human resources that will lead future Korean science and technology development.

 

We willingly take on this duty and plan to generate future talents in science technology.

 

All experts in science circles have no doubt that those who lead in science and technology become more creative and diversified.

 

 

Q. How is selection process going? Is there any special way to attract talent students?

 

Our aim has been to focus our education on a small number of students, and to this end we have had no problem attracting superior students. Professors also played an important role and many would-be students applied by considering our curriculum and prospects.

 

We selected some students through an Admissions Officer Program and the rest were chosen based on their Korean SATs, high school records, essays and interviews. Lots of students visited our institution and our faculty members also visited high schools to introduce the program.

 

Q. You introduced a Caltech-type of educational system. Could you explain it more?

 

The fastest way to enhance global competitiveness is to look into the educational curriculums of global universities and tailor them to our culture.

 

It is widely known that Caltech is an advanced science technology university that provides a small but strong education program. So we"re trying to introduce a similar system and contents.

 

Our faculty members visited Caltech, saw and discussed Caltech"s experimental curriculum. Some professors from Caltech will visit GIST during the upcoming winter vacation. We"re planning to assign them a few projects if they"re available.

 

 Q. Is there any special reason why you highlight humanity and social science?

 

I believe that there is little educational difference between humanity or social science subjects and natural science.

 

Every subject should open doors to other areas if there is something to learn. The biggest shortcoming of those who study science and technology is that they are not capable of viewing things from a broad perspective.

 

Though knowledge related to humanity and social sciences is important, having a wider point of view is vital in studying natural science. In other words, looking at things from a broader perspective is directly associated with creativity in natural science.

 

Studying humanity and social sciences can complement these drawbacks so it"s essential to provide this education to students even though we are a science and technology university.

 

 

Q. Whereas GISTY provides diverse benefits and opportunities to students such as free tuition and sending student to foreign countries for English, the management of academic records seems to be very strict.

 

There is a need to manage academic records from both professors’ and students" sides. First of all, before scolding students, we try to make clear the content of the professors" curriculum, how to teach students and manage subjects.

 

Our professors think their class contents can"t be interrupted by anyone, which is wrong. Freedom of study and what they have to teach students are very different issues.

 

Therefore, we plan to assess lectures more regularly through an Academic Review Committee.

 

We will provide stronger and more powerful education for our students than any other foreign prestigious university. We will focus on essays—rather than multiple-choice tests— and applied knowledge as we lead students to the majors in graduate school.

 

If we spot students lagging behind others we"ll even provide private tutoring so that they can improve their performance. We choose our students by strict standards and once they get admitted, we take responsibility for leading them to becoming the best talents in the world. This is our principle.

 

Q. How can universities have improved their competitiveness?

 

It"s hard to advance into a global competitive university with only the current financing structure.

 

In the total expenses of foreign prestigious universities, two-thirds is spent on working expenses and one third is for research. However, even in Korean national universities, one third of the total budget goes to operating costs and two thirds is for research, which doesn"t make sense.

 

Korean universities having this kind of budget structure can"t be comparable with universities in advanced nations in terms of the student per faculty ratio, education cost per students, or expenses for libraries and facilities.

 

Private universities face a harsher situation. Their total budget, for a notable few, is too small to be compared to foreign universities so they have no capacity to improve upon their current situation.

 

There are only superficial adjectives to describe Korean universities, which are a ways off from improving their overall quality. The most urgent task is to change the way of thinking among professors. There is room to be improved if we try by facing inferior circumstance, but it"s not easy to do due to deep-rooted complacency.

 

If all the staff at universities are willing, they can ultimately be competitive.

 

Q. What kind of policies can attract more talented students to the science and engineering fields?

 

Korea is not alone in attracting students to study science; this is also seen in other nations. However, in countries like Korea where the process of full social development is ongoing, it"s very tough to shift the overall social trend.

 

As part of the solution, we can infuse life philosophy about work worth living into the young and educate them; I believe that more students will be interested in science in order to lead a more valuable and worthy life. Another way is to encourage them think that science and technology is our future.

 

Q. What do you think of Korea"s science future? Is there any idea that you think of to enhance Korea"s science and engineering education?

 

There must be innovation. It"s sad that the government has turned its back on science education in all universities despite remarkable economic growth.

 

Regardless of whether they are national, state-funded or private universities, the government must step in increase funding for science education. The current budget, which runs mostly on students" tuition can be used to provide competitive science education.

 

Equipment for experiments should be regularly updated and added in step with fast developing science and technology. Assistants and technicians who support experiments should be appropriately deployed, which are unfortunately not currently available at GIST.

 

Plus, another big issue is that Korean students generally think of university education in the wrong way. Although this is not the case with all of the students, but some think universities are the only pathway to pursuing a career as a government official, diplomat, or getting a job in society rather than as a means to deep learning and studying.

 

This kind of thought doesn"t guarantee a rosy future for science education.