Faculty Information

College of Economics Signs Academic Exchange Agreement with World-Renowned Toulouse School of Economics (TSE)

College of Economics Signs Academic Exchange Agreement with World-Renowned Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) The College of Economics at Sungkyunkwan University (Dean: Kim Sung-hyun) has signed an academic exchange agreement with the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), a globally renowned institution for economics education and research. This agreement is expected to further strengthen academic collaboration between the two institutions and open a new chapter in global economics education and research. TSE, located in Toulouse in southern France, is one of the world’s leading centers for economics. It ranks 8th globally in the IDEAS/RePEc rankings and 16th in Economics in the 2024 Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. The school boasts an exceptional faculty that includes numerous distinguished scholars, notably Professor Jean Tirole, recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. TSE faculty members consistently publish in top-tier journals such as Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics. TSE's programs are research-oriented and primarily focused on graduate-level education. With approximately 2,400 students from over 90 nationalities, the institution is highly international. In addition, TSE engages in policy advising and collaborative research with bodies such as the French Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the European Commission. The newly signed academic exchange agreement includes the following areas of collaboration: ▲Student exchange programs between the two institutions▲Academic exchanges involving faculty, graduate students, and researchers▲Joint research projects and seminar hosting. Both institutions are currently developing detailed implementation plans to initiate actual student and researcher exchanges starting in 2026. Moving forward, they aim to build a sustainable and effective framework for continued cooperation.

2025-06-10

Professor Nam-Gyu Park Awarded Germany’s Prestigious Humboldt Research Award

Professor Nam-Gyu Park Awarded Germany’s Prestigious Humboldt Research Award -Selected by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, joining the ranks of the world’s top scholars -Recognized for outstanding achievements including the world’s first development of solid-state perovskite solar cells ▲Professor Nam-Gyu Park, School of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering Professor Nam-Gyu Park from the School of Chemical and Polymer Engineering has been selected as a recipient of the Humboldt Research Award, presented by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. The award, which includes a prize of €80,000, is granted to internationally renowned researchers in the humanities, natural sciences, and engineering for their exceptional contributions. The prestige of the award is further underscored by the fact that 61 of its past recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Professor Park is a pioneer in the development of third-generation solar cells using perovskite materials. He has consistently conducted research to improve the stability and efficiency of these materials. His work has significantly advanced the commercialization potential of perovskite solar cells and is considered a game-changer in the renewable energy market. In 2023, Professor Park was also honored with the Eni Award in the Energy Frontiers category during the awards ceremony held in Rome, Italy, recognizing his global contributions to next-generation solar technology. Furthermore, he has been appointed as the first Distinguished Lifetime Chair Professor at our university—an honor that allows him to continue his research and mentor future scholars without the constraints of retirement. Professor Park remarked, “I hope that more opportunities will be available for senior researchers to continue and expand their work without age-related limitations.” President Jibeom Yoo stated, “This Humboldt Research Award not only highlights Professor Park’s individual achievements but also elevates our university’s academic standing on the global stage. His continued research is expected to make significant contributions to the advancement of sustainable energy technologies and to strengthening global research leadership.” The official Humboldt Research Award ceremony will take place in March 2026 in Bamberg, Germany. Professor Park plans to further expand his international research collaborations and academic exchanges with German scholars as part of this recognition.

2025-05-12

Prof. Hanjung Lee’s Team Identifies the Principles Behind English Sentence Structure Choices Through Big Data Analysis

Professor Hanjung Lee’s Research Team Identifies the Principles Behind English Sentence Structure Choices Through Big Data Analysis - First to identify contextual factors influencing realization of causal event structures ▲(From left) First author: Ph.D. candidate Ji-Yeon Kim, Corresponding author: Professor Hanjung Lee, Co-author: Ph.D. candidate Ye-Eun Cho A research team led by Professor Hanjung Lee from the Department of English Language and Literature at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) has published a paper in the internationally renowned journal Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, revealing the key factors that influence the choice of causal event structures in English sentences. The study was conducted by the Language, Cognition, and Artificial Intelligence research group, consisting of Professor Hanjung Lee (Department of English Language and Literature), Ph.D. candidate Ji-Yeon Kim (Department of German Language and Literature), and Ph.D. candidate Ye-Eun Cho (Department of English Language and Literature). The team extracted approximately 15,000 sentences describing events caused by direct causes from the British National Corpus (BNC)—a corpus of about 100 million words commonly used in English language research—using natural language processing (NLP) tools. They then conducted both qualitative analyses and machine-learning-based multifactorial analyses. The results showed that the clarity and intentionality of the cause are the most significant factors influencing how causal event structures are realized. For instance, structures where the agent is explicitly mentioned, such as "The protesters broke the window," are influenced by different factors than structures where the cause is implicit, such as "The window broke" or "The window was broken." In addition, the study identified various contextual conditions affecting the choice between active and passive constructions, empirically demonstrating how linguistic informativeness, contextual appropriateness, and communicative efficiency interact to govern language use. This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea. As a follow-up, the team is currently investigating how non-verbal perceptual factors influence language expression across English and Korean speakers, as well as artificial intelligence language models. Professor Lee stated, “We plan to continue pioneering research that explores the intersection of language, cognition, emotion, perception, and culture, utilizing large language models such as GPT and BERT.” ※ Title: Semantic and contextual constraints on the causative alternation in English: A multifactorial analysis ※ Journal: Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory (De Gruyter Brill) ※ Author: Ji-Yeon Kim (First Author), Hanjung Lee (Corresponding Author), Ye-Eun Cho (Co-Author) ※ Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2024-0047

2025-04-28

SKKU Signs MOU with City University of Hong Kong to Strengthen International Collaboration and Joint Research

SKKU Signs MOU with City University of Hong Kong to Strengthen International Collaboration and Joint Research – Establishing a foundation for diverse partnerships including faculty and student exchange, joint research, and academic information sharing – Enhancing cooperation in advanced fields such as energy, environment, and healthcare through the 1st SKKU-CityU Joint Workshop ▲ SKKU President Ji-Beom Yoo (left) and CityU Vice President Chun Sing LEE (right) On April 7, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with City University of Hong Kong (CityU) to promote academic and research collaboration. This agreement aims to enhance international exchanges and expand joint research initiatives between the two institutions. Key areas of cooperation include faculty, staff, and student exchange programs, joint research projects, sharing of academic information and publications, and other mutually beneficial activities. Representing CityU at the MOU signing ceremony were Professor Chun Sing LEE (Vice President), Professor Anderson SHUM (Vice-President for Research), Ms. Shirley Chong (Director of Institutional Research and External Engagement), and Professors Patrick BUTAYE, Hua ZHANG, and Edwin Chi-Yan TSO. ▲ Professor Edwin TSO of City University of Hong Kong presents his research on carbon neutrality and environmental technology at the 1st SKKU-CityU Joint Workshop, held at the Live Virtual Studio. On the following day, April 8, the 1st CityU-SKKU Workshop on Innovative Research Advances was held at SKKU's Natural Sciences Campus, bringing together researchers from both institutions to explore collaboration opportunities in cutting-edge fields. The workshop featured three sessions: ▲Advanced Medicine, ▲Future Materials/Nanochemistry, ▲Carbon Neutrality/Environmental Technologies. In the Advanced Medicine session, Professor Kyungkyu Kim (SKKU School of Medicine / Director of BICs) and Professor Patrick BUTAYE (CityU Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences) discussed potential collaborations in structural biology and genomic sequencing. In the Future Materials/Nanochemistry session, Professor Hyun Seok Shin (SKKU Department of Energy Science / Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, IBS) and Professor Hua ZHANG (CityU Department of Chemistry / Director of the Center for Clean Energy) shared the latest advancements in nanomaterials research. In the Carbon Neutrality/Environmental Technologies session, Professor Seunghyun Baek (SKKU School of Mechanical Engineering / Director of the Center for Nanotubes and Nanocomposites) and Professor Edwin Chi-Yan TSO (CityU Associate Vice-President for Institutional Advancement / School of Energy and Environment) presented on sustainable energy technologies and environmental applications. The event was also attended by key university leaders, including Vice President Young Wook Kwon (SKKU Natural Sciences Campus), Planning and Coordination Officer Pil Jin Yoo, Dean Doo Sun Park (College of Science), and Department Chair Jinwoong Kim (Chemical Engineering), who discussed long-term strategies for meaningful and sustainable collaboration between the two universities. This MOU builds on a previous agreement signed on March 18 between SKKU’s Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology (SAIHST) and CityU’s IDM Research Center, focusing on digital health. With the new university-level partnership, the scope of collaboration is expected to expand further into energy, environment, and materials research. SKKU remains committed to strengthening its global partnerships and aims to become a leading hub for world-class research and international education.

2025-04-10

Undergraduates of English Language and Literature and Library and Information Science majors published an SSCI paper

Undergraduate student majoring in English Language and Literature and Library and Information Science, published an SSCI paper (supervised by Professor Na-yeon Kim) ▲ (from left) Ziying Li, a doctoral student, Professor Na-yeon Kim, Chaejin Lee (English Language and Literature), Seong-hyun Byun (Library and Information Science) The research paper led by Professor Na-yeon Kim of the Department of English Language and Literature, titled "Zero-derivation in Korean: the effect of covert structure in real-time processing," has been published in the December issue of the SSCI journal 'Frontiers in Psychology: Psychology Of Language.' The paper explores the linguistic and cognitive aspects of words with ambiguous grammatical categories, revealing their subtle syntactic structures through both linguistic and cognitive psychological methodologies. Notably, this paper holds significant meaning as it is a collaborative effort, not only involving Ziying Li, a doctoral student, but also featuring contributions from undergraduate students, Chae-jin Lee, a third-year English Language and Literature major, and Seong-hyun Byun, a fourth-year student majoring in Library and Information Science. The research focuses on the phenomenon of 'zero-derivation' in Korean. For instance, in Korean, the word '밝다' ('bright') can be used both as an adjective and a verb. While previous studies have explored the phenomenon of adjectives and verbs sharing grammatical categories, there has been no experimental study determining whether such categories are distinct or if the verb '밝다' derives from the adjective '밝다.' This study analyzes the process by which the verb '밝다' is derived from the adjective '밝다' through cognitive psychological methodologies. It reveals that we can easily understand sentences by being sensitive to the unseen syntactic structures and the derivation process of grammatical categories. The study suggests that sentences with omitted words, i.e., those not visible or audible, also possess delicate and intricate syntactic structures. Humans can recognize these structures, enabling them to quickly comprehend sentences involving omissions. The research team is currently collaborating with professors from foreign language departments at the University of Toronto, Northwestern University, and the National University of Singapore to systematize various syntactic experiments that elucidate the interaction mechanism between these subtle syntactic structures and cognitive processes. Additionally, ongoing research at our university's Artificial Intelligence Convergence Institute, led by Professor Kwang-soo Kim, explores whether artificial intelligence can acquire these unique language characteristics exhibited by humans. Professor Na-yeon Kim expressed, "It's commendable that two undergraduate research students and a doctoral student have passionately contributed to this research for over a year, dedicating weekends. In the future, I plan to further expand opportunities for collaborative research with students in the field of interdisciplinary research between English language and cognitive psychology through the Language and Cognition Lab." ※ Author: Kim, N., Li, Z., Byeon, S., & Lee, C. ※ Title: Zero-derivation in Korean: The Effect of Covert Structure in Real-time Processing. ※ Journal: Frontiers in Psychology,14, 1230927

2023-12-15

Professor Jae Wook Jeon's team Wins First Place in AI City Challenge at CVPR

Professor Jae Wook Jeon's team Wins First Place in AI City Challenge at CVPR -Envisioning Future Intelligent Traffic Surveillance System Utilization In June 2023, Professor Jae Wook Jeon’s team from the Department of Semiconductor Systems Engineering achieved 1st place in the 7th AI City Challenge, titled "Detecting Violation of Helmet Rule for Motorcyclists," hosted by CVPR (Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition), the world's leading conference in the field of artificial intelligence and computer vision, which took place in Vancouver, Canada. In this inaugural competition held in 2023, a total of 39 teams from around the world participated, competing from January to June over a span of five months to develop technology to find out whether motorcycle riders were wearing their helmets. Professor Jeon Jae Wook's team devised an artificial intelligence system with a two-stage structure. First, they identified the positions of various motorcycles and their riders. Then, they detected whether the riders were wearing helmets. This innovative approach earned them the highest detection performance score. This victory has allowed Professor Jae Wook Jeon's team to showcase their technological prowess on the global stage. The developed technology is expected to find widespread application in future intelligent traffic surveillance systems. The technology, led by graduate students from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering participating in the BK21 program, is the result of the research project "Real-time Intelligent Traffic Surveillance System on Edge Devices." This project was conducted under the auspices of SW StarLab (Software StarLab), an initiative by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency to secure global software technology and cultivate master's and doctoral-level talents in the field of software.

2023-08-07

Professor Jong-seo Chai selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT's leading research center (CRC) new project

Professor Jong-seo Chai (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering) has been selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT's leading research center (CRC) new project in 2023 -focus on developing broadband precision radiation measurement and utilizing metaverse for visualization -creating detailed radiation maps in emergency situations Professor Jong-seo Chai from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has been selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT's leading research center (CRC) new project in 2023. The project, titled "Metaverse-Based Radiation Safety ICT Research Center," will conduct groundbreaking research on fully visualizing radiation for the first time in the world. The goal is to implement radiation data measured in a specific space into virtual reality or mixed reality and visualize it using metaverse technologies such as AR and VR. This aims to provide a realistic radiation map. Creating accurate and reliable models of radiation levels has been a challenging task in academia, requiring vast amounts of data collection and complex calculations. To pursue research on radiation visualization based on metaverse, the research team will explore innovative approaches to visual representation based on engineering technologies for safety. The team aims to establish a new approach to radiation safety by securing independent technology that combines efficiency and stability in radiation work and utilizing radiation visualization technology. This is expected to contribute to the safe utilization of radiation in our society, including public health, radiation safety, and safety education. Professor Jong-seo Chai, who oversees the research, stated, "By creating detailed radiation maps, even in national emergencies such as radiation terrorism, we will be able to effectively prepare and plan for such situations."

2023-06-08

Development of a highly transparent and multifunctional wearable nanogenerator

SAINT faculty Seongpil An and Il Jeon co-research team, developed a highly transparent and multifunctional wearable nanogenerator -Multifunctional piezoelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting and motion sensing in next-generation wearable electronics -Winner of 2022 SKKU Graduate Student Paper Award ▲ (From left) Professor Seongpil An, Doctoral student Kiyong Kim, Doctoral student Sangsu Lee, Professor Il Jeon. Profs. Seongpil An and Il Jeon’s co-research team from SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) announced that they have developed a multifunctional transparent composite that can harvest energy, composed of piezoelectric polymer nanofibers and high-purity carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the core materials. In previous studies, silver nanowires or electrically conductive polymers, such as PEDOT:PSS, were used as electrodes for transparent PENGs. However, metal-based transparent PENGs have inherent issues of opacity due to their natural light reflection and scattering, while electrically conductive polymer-based PENGs have shown material limitations in mechanical properties with insufficient electrical conductivity. The co-research team developed a multifunctional transparent composite capable of harvesting energy using a silicon-based elastomer embedded with piezoelectric polymer nanofibers and high-purity CNTs. The team developed piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers with a diameter of 500 nm, 200 times thinner than a human hair, using the electrospinning technique and embedded them in a transparent silicon-bsed elastomer PDMS. They also used a differentiated aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method to produce transparent CNT films for their use as electrodes in the development of a transparent PENG. The electrospinning and aerosol CVD methods used in this study are not only simple to use but also easily scalable to larger production scales compared to other methods. Based on these excellent process advantages, it is expected to have a positive impact on the commercialization of related technologies in the future. In particular, in this study, the conductivity of the CNT electrode could be improved by 3.1 times through a simple chemical doping method. The developed high-transparency PENG demonstrated decent energy harvesting performance that generated a voltage of 10 V or more even with relatively weak external force (F = 10 N). Additionally, it showed high energy harvesting performance under repetitive external force conditions of over 50,000 cycles, proving excellent mechanical durability and stability. Furthermore, when the external force was applied through a body part, such as fingers, it exhibited higher energy harvesting performance of up to 26.8 V through an additional effect of triboelectricity. ▲ Transparent PENG developed and its fabrication process It is expected that the newly developed transparent PENG can be applied extensively in the rapidly growing fields of metaverse, virtual/augmented reality, as it can not only detect subtle movements of the human body in real time by attaching it to various parts of the body, but also generate voltage signals sensitively in response to changing external forces. This study was published on January 18th in Advanced Functional Materials (IF: 19.924), a world-renowned academic journal in the top 5% of the material science field, based on the results that won the SKKU Graduate Student Paper Award. The lead authors of this paper are beginner in doctoral course, so their future research activities are highly anticipated. ※ Title: Highly Transparent and Mechanically Robust Energy-harvestable Piezocomposite with Embedded 1D P(VDF-TrFE) Nanofibers and Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes ※ Journal: Advanced Functional Materials ※ DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202213374

2023-02-23

Prof. Yong Taik Lim’s Research Team (SAINT) Developed the World’s First K-nanoadjuvant

Prof. Yong Taik Lim’s Research Team (SAINT) Developed the World’s First K-nanoadjuvant Prof. Yong Taik Lim’s research team (SAINT) developed the world’s first kinetically activating nanoadjuvant (K-nanoadjuvant), which enables therapeutic immune cells to generate effective antitumor immunity without exhaustion. The research results were published in Nature Nanotechnology (IF: 39.213), a world-renowned academic journal in the field of multidisciplinary science. Various drugs capable of effective innate immune induction, such as toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, have been developed throughout the history of oncology. Although these drugs contribute to immune activation, they also cause immunotoxicity and exhaustion of immune cells, resulting in ineffective cancer immunotherapy overall. To address these issues, Prof. Lim's team designed a nanoliposome-based novel TLR7/8a (timely activating TLR7/8 agonist; t-TLR7/8a) for the first time and revealed the efficacy of K-nanoadjuvant fabricated in combination with various TLR agonists. A nanoliposome-based K-nanoadjuvant is a novel immune function-modulating platform that not only maximizes immune cell activation but also overcomes immune cell exhaustion induced by excessive immune responses. Such effect was achieved by coordinating optimized time, order, and combinatorial code of two different immunostimulants with different mechanisms of action which induce different signal transduction routes. K-nanoadjuvant solves the problem of current immunostimulants and has a high potential for clinical application, as previous research has proven the safety of nanoliposome-based platforms in the human body. Researchers expect K-nanoadjuvant to be applied to immune checkpoint inhibitors unresponsive patient group, the latest anticancer therapeutic drug, and can be used as a next-generation anticancer therapeutic drug that can prevent recurrence/metastasis. ※ Paper Title: A nanoadjuvant that dynamically coordinates innate immune stimuli activation enhances cancer immunotherapy and reduces immune cell exhaustion ※ Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

2023-01-16

Unveiling the Hidden Secrets to Crystal Facets–Perovskite Solar Cell Stability against Moistures Improved Dramatically

Unveiling the Hidden Secrets to Crystal Facets – Perovskite Solar Cell Stability against Moistures Improved Dramatically - Discovered the most stable facet (111) against moistures, posted exclusively on US weekly scientific journal, Science - Prof. Nam Gyu Park’s research team, the first to discover Perovskite Crystal Facet (exposed side of crystal) stable against humidity - Maintaining more than 95% of initial efficiency in 2000 hours of moisture exposure experiment ▲ (from the left) Prof. Nam-Gyu Park, Prof. Seok Jun Kwon, Prof. Michael Grätzel, Dr. ChunQing Ma Prof. Nam-Gyu Park, (SKKU Department of Chemical Engineering Chair and Institute of Sungkyun Energy Science Technology Director, corresponding author) and Dr. ChunQing Ma (first author), cooperated with Prof. Seok Jun Kwon (SKKU Department of Chemical Engineering, co-corresponding author), and Prof. Michael Grätzel (Switzerland École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) to announce their research result about their success in the discovery of stability against moisture depending on Perovskite* Crystal Facets**, producing the film with the most humidity-stable facet (111) and, finally the developing the solar cell that maintained 95% of its original capacity during 2000 hours of humidity exposure experiment on journal Science, January 13th (local time). * Perovskite: Crystal with chemical formula ABX3. In the crystal, A and X have 12-fold coordination while B and X have 6-fold coordination. ** Crystal Facet: The geometrically flat side of a crystal that has a patterned structure of atom arrangement. Perovskite solar cells are solar cell technologies that include organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite light-absorbing materials. In 2012, Prof. Park’s research team first developed a solid Perovskite Solar Cell with 9.7% efficiency, pioneering a new academic field called ‘Perovskite Photovoltaics’. Due to this Perovskite Solar Cell development research credits, Clarivate nominated him for the 2017 Novel Prize candidate. The perovskite light absorption layer for solar cells can be manufactured at a relatively low temperature of 150°C or less using a simple solution process. When a generally known solution process is used, perovskite crystals have polycrystalline properties in the formed film, and crystal facets are not well developed. Prof. Park’s research team succeeded in producing perovskite films with well-developed (100) and (111) crystal facets using additive methods, revealing the photoelectric current dependence according to the facets. In this study, for the first time, they found that moisture stability depends on the facet when the perovskite film is exposed to moisture. In particular, (100) facets are very vulnerable to moisture, but (111) facets are found to be stable to moisture. Theoretical calculations have shown that (111) facets have better water stability than (100) facets because the adhesion (or wetting energy) of water is relatively low on (111) facets. Also, spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to find that a strong bond with water occurs in the moisture-sensitive (100) facet, resulting in a perovskite phase transition from alpha to delta phase, resulting in loss of light absorption characteristics. Based on the investigation of the cause of the difference in moisture stability according to facets, it is necessary to develop a film composed of (111) facets to enhance the water stability of the Perovskite Solar Cell. Thus, Prof. Park used an additive called ‘Cyclohexylamine’ to create a Perovskite film of more than 98% (111) facet composition. Testing the stability against moistures under a relative humidity of 30%~40% environment for about 2000 hours (1938 hours), the results showed that solar cells with (111) facet dominant Perovskite film maintained 95% of initial efficiency. The results of this study were supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Research Foundation (NRF-2021R1A3B1076723) and are expected to significantly improve the life of perovskite solar cells and contribute to commercialization. ※ Paper Title : Unveiling facet-dependent degradation and facet engineering for stable perovskite solar cells ※ Journal: Science

2023-01-16