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KIST Holds Commemorative Ceremony for 58th Anniversary (February 7, 2024)
- Date : 2024-03-25
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KIST Holds Commemorative Ceremony for 58th Anniversary
On February 7, 2024, KIST (President: Seok-Jin Yoon) held a commemorative ceremony to celebrate its 58th anniversary at its headquarters in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The event kicked off at 10:50 AM with an awards ceremony to recognize outstanding research achievements by KIST personnel, and was followed by an opening ceremony for the Choi Hyung-Seop Memorial Hall, and a climate and environmental seminar for local diplomatic missions, adding depth to the occasion.
Among this month’s KIST Excellence Award recipients, the KIST Grand Prize went to Dr. Jee-Hye Byun from the Center for Water Cycle Research for her contributions toward elucidating the photochemical production mechanism within organic reaction media during hydrogen peroxide production reactions using solar photocatalysts, resulting in the world's highest solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency.
Meanwhile, in recognition of his contributions to research in the field of science and technology policy management, Duk-Rok Suh, Manager of the Policy Planning Team at KIST, received a Songgok Science and Technology Award, which are funded by donations from KIST’s first President, Dr. Choi Hyung-Seop.
After the awards ceremony, an event to honor the achievements of Dr. Choi Hyung-Seop, the inaugural President of KIST and the person who laid the foundation for science and technology administration in Korea, was held in the lobby of KIST’s L7 Research Building. This was followed by a seminar with a total of 39 ambassadors from various countries, 6 international organizations, and 3 participating companies in attendance, who had gathered to discuss global agendas related to exploring solutions to climate and environmental issues. Co-hosted by KIST and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the seminar addressed not only climate prediction, artificial rainfall, and water resource technologies at KIST, but also climate and environmental policies and technology issues in various other countries, including the UK, Germany, Vietnam, and India.
In his commemorative speech, the President of KIST, Seok-Jin Yoon, stated, "In response to the rapidly changing research environment, KIST has spent the past four years establishing a leading R&D system, fostering a research-centered culture of excellence, and laying the groundwork to make the leap to become a national R&D hub and international specialized R&D zone," adding, "Let us work together so that KIST can lead the way to pioneering world's best and world's first technologies, and serve as the focal point and coordinator of an open international cooperation ecosystem."
Established in 1966, KIST has been dedicated to research for the advancement of national science and technology over the past 58 years, striving to develop a national think tank for industrialization, bring Korean research up to par with advanced global technologies, and lead efforts to pursue fundamental technology research.