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Ajou University received an A-grade on the annual assessment, conducted by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), for the University Innovation Support Program (UISP). Landing this top grade on the assessment will enable Ajou to receive KRW 5.43 billion in government funding as it goes into the second year of the program. The MoE and NRF announced the results of their annual assessment of universities’ performance in the first year of the UISP on June 10. Of the 53 universities in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon region, 16, including Ajou, received a grade of A. The MoE launched the UISP with the aim of enhancing the basic capabilities and strategic specialization of universities and also promoting universities’ own efforts to achieve innovation toward developing creative future leaders. The program will be conducted for a period of three years, with the participation of some 140 universities nationwide. Ajou University is participating with the objective of fostering an open and connected ecosystem for innovation. The grant amount each university is to receive in the second and third years of the program, 2020 and 2021, respectively, will be determined on the basis of how the university fared in the previous year. Universities are given grades of A, B, or C depending on their performance. Of the universities in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon region, 16, including Ajou, received the A grade. Another 26 received B, and the remaining 11, C. The MoE and NRF commented on Ajou’s performance, stating: “The university has presented a detailed explanation of how its mid- to long-term growth plan and innovation strategy are intertwined, in addition to having achieved effective and substantial results in the operation of its own innovation programs.” The assessment also remarked that Ajou’s leading examples of innovation, such as its Blue Semester Extreme, Ajou Gap Fund, and Ajou IE Corps, “satisfied the key criteria, including boldness, excellence, and factors of success.” In addition, the MoE and NRF explained: “Ajou University is expected to generate significant ripple effects at both the national and local levels with its Ajou Gap Fund, which injects the university’s own financial resources into industrial-academic collaboration programs to facilitate the marketization of university-owned technologies and catalyze venture enterprises, and Ajou IE Corps, which expedites the market application of original research results achieved by the university’s labs.”
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Ajou University has managed to elevate its standing on the QS World University Rankings for two consecutive years. Published annually by Quacquarelli Symonds, based in Britain, the QS Rankings include over 5,500 universities around the world. Ajou found itself in the 551st to 560th ranking on QS World University Rankings 2020, released on May 10. Ranking between the 651st and the 700th in 2018, Ajou has managed to rise since then, first to the 601st to the 650th in 2019, and now to the 551st to the 560th. Stepping up over 100 ranks in just two years makes Ajou the highest Korean university in the rankings. Ajou has been making innovations to higher education, particularly with its Blue Semester Program, enabling students to plan and design their own credit requirements. Last year, the university even launched Blue Semester Extreme, encouraging students to identify social and industrial problems and crowd-source solutions. Ajou has also been supporting large-scale interdisciplinary research groups to promote research innovation, paving the way for faculty members from diverse departments to work together on cutting-edge subjects, such as big data and self-driving cars. The university has also increased its research grants for new faculty members (up to KRW 100 million each in sciences and engineering, and up to KRW 50 million each in the humanities and social sciences) to encourage young researchers to take on bold and long-term research projects. The university’s support for post-doctoral fellows has increased likewise. University President Park Hyung-ju commented: “Universities today are not simple channels for imparting knowledge. They have a new mission to prepare individuals to connect the dots across disciplines and solve actual problems. Universities should go over and beyond their traditional role of producing and imparting knowledge, and take active interest in solving social and industrial problems.” Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President at QS, also picked Ajou as the most attention-worthy university in this year’s rankings. He explained: “Ajou University has risen up the ranks at a remarkable pace, performing particularly well in terms of academic reputation and education settings. It is a university that deserves to be known, not just in Asia, but around the world.” QS World University Rankings rank universities worldwide across four categories—research, education, globalization, and graduates—using six metrics. Academic reputation, based on the opinions of over 100,000 researchers and scholars worldwide (40 percent) and employer reputation, based on assessment by over 50,000 industry insiders (10 percent), together make up 50 percent of the score. The other metrics are faculty-student ratio (20 percent), international faculty ratio (five percent), international student ratio (five percent), and number of citations per faculty (20 percent) based on the SCOPUS database. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped this year’s rankings, followed Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Stanford University, Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the University of Oxford. The National University of Singapore (11th) was the highest-ranking Asian university, followed by Nanyang Technological University (13th), Tsinghua University (15th), the University of Hong Kong (22nd), and Peking University (23rd). # View QS World University Rankings
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Ajou University has recently won a series of government grants and projects. On May 28, the Ministry of Education announced its 2020 Program for Supporting Universities Contributing to High School Education. The program, which will provide a total of KRW 69.8 billion over two years for universities who work to enhance the fairness and transparency of the admissions process, now has 75 universities, including Ajou, on its list. Participating universities will increase the fairness of their admissions process, organize events for reaching out to high school students, provide information on and simplify admissions categories, and introduce a Social Cohesion category into their admissions. The Ministry of Education has chosen the 75 universities based on their business plans for 2020 as well as their 2022 admissions plans. Ajou was among the Seoul-Gyeonggi-based Type-1 universities chosen. Type-1 universities are not bound by specific eligibility requirements. Type-2 universities are those that have never been included in the Program for Supporting Universities Contributing to High School Education. Type-1 universities expect to receive KRW 1 billion in grants from the Ministry on average. Ajou University has also been named the Regional Unification Education Center (RUEC) for the Gyeonggi-Incheon region. The Ministry of Unification and the Institute for Unification Education appoint and support an RUEC for each of seven regions in Korea. Ajou will serve as an RUEC for the Gyeonggi-Incheon region until February 28, 2022. As an RUEC, the university will organize unification education for local residents and develop a network of relations with local governments and unification organizations.
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New graduates of the Department of Military Digital Convergence have been commissioned as new officers in the Republic of Korea (ROK) Air Force. The 144th commissioning ceremony for college graduate cadets took place on the main training grounds of the Air Force Education and Training Command in Jinju, Gyeongnam, on May 28, presided over by Chief of Staff Won In-choul. The ceremony took place with the cadets and military officers only, without family members, due to the need for social distancing. The newly commissioned cadets, who represent the second round of graduates from Ajou’s Department of Military Digital Convergence, are ROK Air Force scholars who studied information and communications technology (ICT) for the last four years, with a specialization in national defense and aviation. Each cadet graduated with excellent papers, TOEIC scores and a host of IT-related licenses. The 17 second lieutenants will be assigned to various positions in artillery, including information and communications, weapons maintenance, air control, and air defense, and begin their specialized training on June 2. Chief of Staff Won remarked: “I am delighted to welcome each and every one of you who have chosen to honor your fatherland and fulfill your duty of defending it by walking this path as Air Force officers. As future leaders of the ROK Air Force, I want you to reach your potential while serving in the military.”The Department of Military Digital Convergence was created in 2015 in partnership between Ajou University and the ROK Air Force. All enrolled students are on four-year scholarships from the Air Force, on condition that they serve as commissioned officers upon graduation for seven years. After serving the seven years, they can choose either to remain in the military or seek other career opportunities in the defense industry or research community. # What to study: Click to view the Department of Military Digital Convergence featured in the Spring Issue of Ajou Insights 2018.
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May 28, 2020 A roundtable discussion was held on boosting the local economy in Suwon, hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. The discussion took place at Yeonam Hall on campus on May 27, with officials and members from the Yeongtong-gu District Office, Ajou University and Ajou University Hospitals attending. Attending from the district office were Song Yeong-wan, district head; Lee Cheol-su, head of the Economics and Transportation Division; Choi Gwang-bin, Local Economy Team manager; and Chu Hye-gyeong, Planning and Audit Team manager. Present from Ajou University were Kim Heung-sik, Provost, Sim Gyu-cheol, head of the Planning Bureau, and Kim Jong-hyeon, Planning Team manager and from the Graduate School of Public Affairs. Lim Hong-sik, Vice-President of Administration at Ajou University Hospital, was also there. The Yeongtong-gu officials shared a map of popular local restaurants and diners they had recently developed to boost local businesses. The map features restaurants, diners and cafes across seven neighborhoods in the district. All these businesses also accept Suwon Pay, a local currency. The participants exchanged opinions and agreed to work together closely to support the local economy. # View the map of local eateries in your neighborhood.# View the map of local eateries in the Ajou University area.
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May 26, 2020 The president of Ajou University, Park Hyung-ju, was featured in an episode of YTN Science’s Bravo, K-Scientists! The show focuses on the lives and research achievements of leading scientists in the Korean academic and research community. The episode devoted to Park, entitled “Using Math to Solve Everyday Problems,” was aired at 9 p.m. KST on May 18. Park’s achievements as a mathematician were highlighted in the episode, including his campaign to popularize mathematics and help organize the International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul in 2014. It also featured Prof. Park’s efforts, since his inauguration as University president in 2018, to reform and innovate higher learning as an educator. Park can be seen emphasizing on the show: “Math education, of course, helps with training scientists and engineers, but it is also an essential component of universal civic education that strives to foster independent thinking. An education in math allows us to learn methods of logical thinking.” The episode also introduced the activities and plans of the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Career Development Center at Ajou University. Park remarked: “It is my job as a decision-maker at the university to find answers in data and prioritize decision-making accordingly. We need to utilize data in order to identify what society and businesses require of us and reflect their demands in our university curriculum.” # Watch YTN Science’s Bravo, K-Scientists!
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May 20, 2020 A team of researchers led by Ajou’s Prof. Lee Beom-jin (College of Pharmacy) successfully identified a new mechanism for optimizing the efficacy of cancer cell therapies. Their study, entitled “Importance of the fatty acid chain length on in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity of fattigation-platform albumin nanoparticles in human colorectal cancer xenograft mice model,” was published in The Journal of Controlled Release, a prestigious publication for pharmaceutical and pharmacological research. Prof. Lee’s team sought to design fatty acid-conjugated albumin nanoparticles (ANPs) of different chain lengths so as to test and compare their anticancer activities in mice with overactive free-fatty acid receptors (FFARs) and HCT116 human colorectal cancer xenografted. ANPs conjugated with fatty acids of different chain lengths (C4 for butyric acid; C18 for stearic acid) exhibited physicochemical characteristics and anticancer activity different from those of self-assembled structures. In particular, ANPs with long-chain fatty acids including doxorubicin, a known anticancer drug, activated interaction with FFARs in the HCT 116 human colorectal cancer xenograft mouse model, providing better anticancer activity and fewer side effects than either nanoparticles without fatty acids conjugated or ANPs with short-chain fatty acids. Prof. Lee explained: “The uniqueness of our achievement lies in our fattigation platform technology, which conjugates fatty acids of diverse lengths with large molecules. We expect to apply this technology to experiments with fatty acids of varying lengths and accelerate the research on and development of new drug delivery systems, including diverse target cancer therapies and drugs with improved solubility.” An illustration of how Prof. Lee’s team’s technique was applied to improve the efficacy of an anticancer drug in a mouse model
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May 15, 2020 J&J PharmaTech, a LINC Project group of Ajou University, visited the COVID-19 clinic at Ajou University Hospital to deliver snacks, drinks, and 3,000 personal hand sanitizers to the staff. J&J PharmaTech is a startup run by Jeong Hye-jeong, currently enrolled as a student in the Graduate School of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics. The Graduate School revealed that Jeong, along with the school’s dean, Kim Su-dong, and other school officials visited Ajou University Hospital on May 7 to thank the medical staff and deliver donations in person. They were welcomed by the hospital’s president, Dr. Han Sang-uk, and other medical workers on site. Neo Trans, the company operating the Sinbundang Line on the metropolitan transit network across Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, also joined in with delivery of the donations. Jeong explained: “As a LINC Project group of Ajou University’s bio and healthcare industrial cooperation center (ICC), we wanted to do something for the medical staff at the university hospital working on the front line in the current COVID-19 crisis, and thought bringing 3,000 sanitizers was the way to do it.” The ICCs at Ajou University were established with the mission of promoting the University’s research strengths in partnership with local businesses. Faculty members and local firms participate in R&D projects in biotechnology and healthcare, smart mobility, new and renewable energy, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. Ajou continues to aid local businesses through a wide range of support, including R&D infrastructure, advice, and personnel training.
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May 12, 2020 A delegation of ROK Air Force officers, including the Air Force Chief of Staff, visited Ajou University to discuss matters pertaining to the Department of Military Digital Convergence and terms of cooperation. On May 12, ROK Air Force Chief of Staff, Won In-choul, and other Air Force officers met with a group of faculty members, including University president Park Hyung-ju, in the president’s office at Yulgok Hall. Also present were Prof. Lim Jae-seong, Vice-President of Industrial-Academic Cooperation and Dean of the Department of Military Digital Convergence; Prof. Kim Sang-in, Provost of the College of Information Technology; and Prof. Kim Jeong-sik from the Department of Military Digital Convergence. After exchanging greetings at Yulgok, the officers and the professors then moved to Yeonam Hall to discuss the matters at hand. The Department of Military Digital Convergence came into being in 2015 under a contract between Ajou and the ROK Air Force. All students enrolled in the department are on four-year full scholarships from the Air Force, on the condition that they will serve as commissioned officers for seven years after graduation. Upon completion of all seven years, they may choose to continue their careers in the military or find new opportunities in the defense industry or research. The ROK Air Force Chief of Staff and other high-level officers have been visiting Ajou every year since the department’s creation to meet and encourage the students. This year’s event was downsized from usual in terms of scope and reach due to COVID-19 and the need for social distancing. #What to Study: Department of Military Digital ConvergenceExcerpted from Ajou Insight Spring Edition, 2018
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May 12, 2020 A team of researchers led by Ajou University’s Prof. Kim Jong-hyun has unraveled the mechanism behind the design of a conjugated polymer. Capable of maximizing conductivity, these polymers are emerging as key next-generation components for electronics. The team included two professors from Ajou - Kim (Dept. of Applied Chemistry and Biological Engineering and Graduate Dept. of Molecular Science and Technology, pictured) and Seo Hyung-tak (Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering and Graduate Dept. of Energy Systems) - as well as Prof. Kim Bong-gi of Konkuk University and Prof. Park Hui-joon of Hanyang University. The team’s study was published as part of the online version of Advanced Functional Materials, dated May 4. Entitled “Unraveling Doping Capability of Conjugated Polymers for Strategic Manipulation of Electric Dipole Layer toward Efficient Charge Collection in Perovskite Solar Cells,” the article also featured Yoon Sang-eun, currently enrolled in the postgraduate program in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Ajou, as principal investigator. The conjugated polymers at the heart of the article are organic compounds recently drawing significant attention as the potential next-generation alternative to semiconductors. These conductive organic compounds boast properties superior to those of inorganic ones. Chemical doping, in particular, can enhance the conductivity of these polymers to a par with that of metals, making them even more likely as a candidate material for dipoles in electronic devices. These polymers also have the added benefits of being lightweight, pliable, and not so costly to manufacture. The team’s work is noteworthy for unraveling the exact mechanism behind the design of the conjugated polymers, and particularly why they are so highly conductive. The researchers identified the skeleton of the conjugated polymer capable of exchanging charges at maximum efficiency with the dopant (a substance added to the semiconductor-manufacturing process). They also introduced a substituent able to optimize diffusion of the dopant, creating a highly conductive (200 S/cm) membrane and determining the doping mechanism. The team then added the highly conductive conjugated polymers to the hole transporting layer to develop a high efficiency (20 percent or more) perovskite solar cell. Prof. Kim commented: “Our latest study documents the groundbreaking discovery of a new mechanism that can dramatically improve the conductivity of polymers. Our findings will lead to the development of polymer-based, pliable and stretchable highly conductive dipoles.” The study was possible with support from the Ministry of Education’s University-Centered Research Lab Support Program (for Molecular Science & Technology Research Center).
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Prof. Park Rae-woong (Dept. of Biomedical Informatics) at Ajou University’s School of Medicine has joined the growing number of research teams worldwide analyzing big data in an attempt to fight COVID-19. To that end, the professor has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With the new flow of funding from the foundation, Prof. Park and his team intend to convert COVID-19 clinical testing data into medical big data to be shared with medical professionals and researchers worldwide. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a well-known charity fund established and run by Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda. Prof. Park will spend the seven months from March 26 to October 1 this year converting the COVID-19 clinical test data from two general hospitals in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region into a medical big data platform based on the common data model (CDM). The CDM renders patients’ digital medical data anonymous and standardized on a par with the global standard. Using such a model, researchers worldwide can develop analytical programs, also in line with the global standard, and share them with other participating researchers and organizations in return for analyzed statistics. The CDM, in other words, simultaneously ensures the protection of privacy and the multiplication of useful data and resources for researchers. Prof. Park and his team expect to achieve timely conversion of COVID-19 medical data using their platform for comprehensive analysis of big data (“FeederNet”) and thereby enable medical and science communities worldwide to identify the key characteristics and risk factors of the disease, and gain a better understanding of the effects and side effects of the diverse treatments being attempted. “We expect the latest partnership to promote the global community’s understanding of COVID-19, generate real-world evidence on the disease, and foment collaboration among researchers worldwide toward finding solutions,” said Prof. Park. As leader of the Federated E- Health Big Data for Evidence Renovation Network, a major national R&D project funded by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Prof. Park has already been standardizing clinical big data from 63 medical institutions across the country. As a well-known medical big data expert, Prof. Park is also one of the founding members of Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI), a multi-agency research network that encompasses over 200 research institutes worldwide. OHDSI has helped to convert clinical data on over two billion people worldwide into a CDM. #Prof. Park’s Column: “[Ajou Insights] Medicine and Big Data”
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