“We will continue to expand our international network with world-renowned scholars and work to elevate the global standing of Korean researchers.”
Jhon In-ho, president of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), made these remarks at a press briefing held Wednesday at Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. “Beyond short-term, results-oriented research support, we must build a research ecosystem where disruptive R&D challenges and world-class research outcomes can continuously emerge,” he stated.
Jhon stated that since taking workplace, he has set “creating an ecosystem for Nobel Prize-level scientific research” as a core job. “The Korean scientific community must more actively build the international research networks and award foundations that lead to the Nobel Prize,” he careworn. In explicit, Jhon famous that “there are about 10 major international science prizes that lie on the path to the Nobel Prize,” and expressed his intention to develop a nomination technique for main worldwide science awards generally known as “gateway prizes” to the Nobel science prizes.
Indeed, main worldwide science awards such because the Lasker Award, the Wolf Prize, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal are known as “gateways to the Nobel Prize,” as greater than 100 of their recipients have gone on to win the Nobel. While 48% of Lasker Award winners have obtained the Nobel Prize, no Korean scientist has but gained the Lasker. Regarding this, Jhon defined, “We will identify candidates with potential at an early stage and support the formation of international networks to help lead to wins in the top 10 international science prizes.”
Currently, the academy has a complete of 59 world-renowned students as overseas members, together with 34 Nobel laureates. Recently, to increase its worldwide community, KAST elected 4 feminine Nobel laureates as overseas members, together with Anne L’Huillier, a Nobel Physics Prize winner and professor at Lund University in Sweden. The academy plans to lengthen exchanges with them into numerous actions together with worldwide educational cooperation, the cultivation of younger science and know-how expertise, and public lectures. “If wins in gateway prizes continue, the international recognition of Korean researchers and their chances of winning the Nobel Prize will rise together,” Jhon stated.
Furthermore, Jhon emphasised the significance of a sustainable R&D ecosystem. “Just as it took an average of 22 years for the foreign scholars we have recruited to win the Nobel Prize, the value of great discoveries is not immediately apparent,” he stated. “Only with patient long-term investment and an unwavering research environment can we finally bear fruit.” He added, “Basic science is a field that is difficult to evaluate by short-term results. It must be supported by both consistent national investment and social trust.”