Talented industrial experts to be hired as professor for business start-up
royalty income to be included in professor evaluation criteria
foster ecosystem for business start-up by establishing guidelines on students’ business start-ups

GIST introduces system to vitalize business start-up and technology commercialization

 

 

 

 

 

 

GIST(Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, President ž Young Joon Kim) decided to introduce a set of new policies in order to build a business start-up incubation system on campus and vitalize the commercialization of technologies. For instance, industrial workers who accumulate abundant field experiences at businesses will be hired as professor and royalty income from technology transfer to industries will be included in the evaluation criteria of professors’ research projects.

 

GIST said on January 26 that it will hire industrial workers who gained abundant field experiences at businesses as industry-university cooperation professor in order to encourage and support business start-ups by professors and students on campus and, to that end, internal regulations were already revised and recruiting process will kick off soon.

 

Professor Chul Seung Park, Dean of the Section of Academic & Student Affairs, said “It is ideal that creative economy and business start-ups are driven by universities which are home to intellectual knowledge such as patents. In reality, however, professors cannot afford to starting businesses as they have to focus on research and education. If experienced workforce from industries come to the campus, share their knowhow and spread the culture of business start-up, we will be able to trigger the boom of business start-up on campus.”

 

Accordingly, industrial experts who hold a doctoral degree and are capable of promoting business start-up with GIST professors and students will be hired as full-time industry-university cooperation professor. GIST will not confine candidates to science technology workers but open door to talents from non-science sectors as well, such as business start-up, marketing and planning.

 

In addition, industrial experts who have a doctoral degree and at least 10 years of work experience or those who have no doctoral degree but at least 15 years of work experience will be hired as industry-university cooperation professor.

 

To that end, GIST has recently amended internal personnel regulations on professors and will soon run an advertisement on the recruitment of industry-university cooperation professor.

 

GIST also decided to adopt royalty income from technology transfer to industries as the evaluation criteria of research projects by engineering departments and professors, for the purpose of promoting the dissemination of R&D outcomes, technology transfer and the commercialization of technologies.

 

 

Accordingly, royalty income was translated into the impact factor (IF) of academic journal and reflected in the recent evaluation of research projects by undergraduate departments which was conducted for the first time on 74 professors involved in 13 research projects. (royalty income of 10 million won: IF=1.0)

 

In addition, GIST established “guidelines on the operation of business start-ups by students” last year whereby it will foster an atmosphere conducive to business start-ups on campus, develop business items and provide support through the Business Start-up Incubation Center.

 

According to the guidelines, student clubs registered with the Business Start-up Incubation Center can receive support on club membership recruitment, space for club activities, participation in domestic exhibitions on business start-ups and prototype production of marketable business items. Currently, 4 undergraduate clubs were registered with the Center including ‘Creative Hollics’ and ‘Hot Pam’ and are working on staring new businesses.

 

President of GIST, Dr. Young Joon Kim, said “The newly introduced industry-university cooperation professor system is expected to make substantial contributions to GIST’s research outcomes being widely utilized in industrial fields and to the commercialization of business items developed by professors and students. Royalty income, now adopted as evaluation criteria, will also help emphasize the importance of technology transfer and encourage more active transfers of technologies.”