■Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) said that Senior Research Fellow Seon In-gyeong was elected the next chair of UNESCO's "Asia-Pacific Science, Technology, Engineering and Innovation Policy Network (STEPAN)." Senior Research Fellow Seon was recommended as a chair candidate at the 2025 STEPAN annual meeting and was elected as the final chair by consensus of member states at the coordination committee held online on the 13th. Chair-elect Seon will oversee STEPAN activities together with three vice chairs during a five-year term from 2026 to 2030.
■Korea AeroSpace Administration will host the 19th annual meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) in Busan from the 19th to the 24th, bringing together more than 200 satellite navigation experts from around the world. The meeting will involve 15 member states and 21 associate members and observers that possess or are developing global navigation satellite systems or satellite-based augmentation systems, and will discuss ways to utilize and enhance satellite navigation systems while conducting consultations and coordination among member states on signals and services. Countries will share trends in research and development and policy on satellite navigation systems and also discuss future navigation technologies such as low Earth orbit and lunar navigation.
■The Ministry of Science and ICT and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will co-host, with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) as organizer, the "Korea-IAEA Multilateral Joint Meeting on Radiation Technology" in Daejeon from Oct. 20 to 24. The meeting will bring together more than 150 experts from 35 countries, including major international organizations, to discuss ways to strengthen global cooperation through nuclear application technologies. On the first day, a panel discussion will be held under the theme "Nuclear application technologies and their role for a sustainable future." Meanwhile, during the opening ceremony period, 10 domestic institutions will run exhibition booths to showcase achievements in radiation research and development and the state of the industry.
■The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) has selected "AI × new materials: Innovative design of future industrial materials" as the fourth theme of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Frontier Series and will hold the 242nd KAST roundtable at 4 p.m. on the 21st both online and offline. The thematic presentations will be given by Master Choi Yoon-seok of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Professor Han Seung-woo of Seoul National University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Shin Jeong-ho, head of the Digital Chemistry Research Center at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT). The designated discussion will then take a multifaceted look at strategies for introducing and operating AI laboratories, the importance of combining domain knowledge and AI technologies, and the ethical and technical challenges of data openness in industry.
■Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) said it will hold the "Dokdo Panorama," a special exhibition marking the 20th anniversary of Dokdo research, in the lobby exhibition space of the National Maritime Museum of Korea in Yeongdo-gu, Busan, from the 21st to Nov. 9. The exhibition, under the theme "Living Dokdo, 20 years of records unfolded through marine science," brings together in one place KIOST's Dokdo research achievements over the past 20 years. The exhibition consists of four sub-themes in total, and offers a variety of content that visitors can participate in and experience firsthand, including microscopic photo observations, auditory experiences, and virtual reality (VR) video experiences.
■Gwacheon National Science Museum will hold a special event, "Seon.Neom.Gwa The Festa (The Festa)," based on the science communication lecture series "Scientists who cross the line," on the 25th. The theme for October is AI. Two lectures will address the ethical issues and social impacts that citizens should consider together amid technological advances in the AI era. The event will also operate a total of eight AI experience booths in which citizens can participate directly. The participation fee is 10,000 won, and details can be found on the Gwacheon National Science Museum website (www.sciencecenter.go.kr).
■The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said it held the "4th ETRI Human Understanding AI Paper Competition," following last year. This year's competition was held under the theme "Predicting sleep quality and state using lifelog data." A total of 370 teams, 1,034 participants, took part in the competition, of which 11 teams made it through to the final paper review. The grand prize, first prize, and excellence prize went to the sch_csm team of Soonchunhyang University, the wanniboy team of Sungkyunkwan University and Yeungnam University, and the Danmers team, respectively, and the Ministry of Science and ICT minister's award and prize money were presented.