The Catholic University of Korea and Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) have signed an education and research exchange agreement. The two universities plan to strengthen a full-cycle convergent research ecosystem that trains physician-scientists and medical scientists by linking a joint degree program with research infrastructure and by commercializing research outcomes.
On the 23rd, at the agreement ceremony held at the Catholic University of Korea's Seongui Campus in Seocho-gu, Seoul, President Choi Jun-gyu of the Catholic University of Korea said, "We will combine the strengths of the two universities in medicine and in engineering and science to nurture convergent talent, and create a virtuous cycle that consolidates research results into practical commercialization."
In 2005, the two universities established a joint research institute, the "POSTECH-CUK Institute of Bio-Medical Engineering (Poga Institute)," to combine technological and clinical capabilities. As the first institute in Korea created jointly by a medical school and a science and technology-focused university, it settled in 2008 at the Catholic University's Seongui Hall and was launched based on strategic investments totaling 23 billion won by the two universities. Within five years of its founding, it became financially self-sustaining and has been operated as an independent accounting institution, and it marks its 20th anniversary this year.
The Poga Institute has secured a newly built space of 1,000 pyeong and advanced research facilities, and has worked to identify and foster key research teams through joint research projects while also focusing on nurturing venture companies. With more than 100 resident researchers and over 200 participating researchers, the institute is training physician-scientists and medical scientists on a convergence basis that spans engineering and basic medicine. They are actively continuing a range of research activities, including identifying the causes of diseases and developing diagnostic and treatment technologies.
However, as joint research at the Poga Institute was operated mainly around individual researchers, limits to sustainability emerged. To address this, the two universities decided to pursue the nation's first joint degree program between a medical school and a science and technology-focused university.
The joint degree system institutionally guarantees a structure in which the two universities cooperate as equals and share responsibility. The Catholic University of Korea and Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH will systematize a graduate joint degree (MD-Ph.D/Ph.D) program centered on an education subcommittee formed with equal representation, and will jointly operate the curriculum by introducing an academic administration system. Through this, they aim to build a structure that consolidates joint education, joint research, and even the commercialization of research results, moving beyond simple exchanges to produce tangible convergence outcomes.
Going forward, the two universities will expand the role of the institute to reinforce a joint research platform for medicine, science, and engineering, and support a practical application process that continues through technology transfer and startups. By leveraging an industry-academia-research-hospital network, they will consolidate research achievements into commercialization, overcome the reality that nonclinical physician-scientists account for only 18.6% of the total in Korea, and work to strengthen competitiveness in the advanced bio sector.
President Kim Sung-keun of Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH said, "This agreement and the pursuit of a joint degree will be a key stepping-stone to building a full-cycle ecosystem that organically consolidates education, research, and commercialization," adding, "The two universities will create a model case that raises competitiveness in advanced bio R&D together."