"Because mathematical biology, my field of study, was so unfamiliar in Korea, even when I was appointed as a professor I thought I might return to the United States within a year. But after being selected for the Samsung Future Technology Nurturing Project, I was able to conduct long-term research, and we developed an artificial intelligence (AI) sleep management feature called "AI Sleep Coach," which analyzes sleep patterns and suggests optimal bedtimes and wake-up times, and we were able to load it onto the Galaxy Watch8."
Kim Jae-kyung, a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at KAIST, said this on the 7th at the InterContinental Parnas Hotel in Gangnam District, Seoul, during the Future Technology Nurturing Project 2025 Annual Forum hosted by Samsung. Kim proposed research to analyze the body's 24-hour circadian rhythm, the "biological clock," through mathematical modeling and use it to identify causes of various sleep disorders, and was selected as a project in 2019. The Samsung Future Technology Nurturing Project is a pure public-interest science and technology research support program that aims to advance basic science and innovate industrial technology, solve societal challenges through science and technology, and foster world-class scientists and engineers, which Samsung Electronics has implemented since 2013 by granting 1.5 trillion won.
Samsung has held an annual forum since 2014 so that academics and industry experts can share research outcomes and discuss projects while carrying out Future Technology Nurturing Project tasks. This year, Samsung opened the event to the public for the first time to broaden exchanges among experts from academia and industry. It newly launched the Future Science and Technology Forum to give participants a venue to share diverse opinions as well as trends and directions for development.
The Future Technology Nurturing Project has supported 880 research projects in Korea to date. Over the past 12 years, it has invested 1.1419 trillion won in research funding. Ninety-one institutions and about 16,000 researchers have taken part in the projects. In addition to about 1,200 professors, it supports experimental equipment and materials so that roughly 14,000 science and engineering graduate students conducting joint research projects can focus on their work.
The Future Technology Nurturing Project does more than simply donate research funds; it provides a nurturing package that supports researchers from project selection and maximizing outcomes to technology commercialization. Researchers can receive step-by-step expert mentoring from Samsung, technology exchanges with industry, and support for tech startups. So far, 65 research projects have led to startups.
At the opening session of this year's annual forum, there were presentations of representative cases that produced results with support from the Future Technology Nurturing Project. Kim Jang-woo, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, proposed a system semiconductor technology that can solve data center overload and was selected as a project in 2015. The system semiconductor technology is being evaluated as a key technology to resolve bottlenecks between servers as AI performance rises. Based on this technology, MangoBoost, which Kim founded in 2022, is working with global big tech companies.
At the Future Science and Technology Forum, experts from Korea's science and technology community delivered presentations on a total of 64 topics. There were sessions for 50 research projects related to basic science and engineering, as well as 14 special presentation sessions on the "Top 10 Promising Technologies" jointly selected by Samsung and academic experts and on "AI utilization in basic science."