Korea`s Future Depends on Science Leaders

‘Produce Hu Jintaos in Korea’

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is now pursuing a project to cultivate science leaders who will lead future Korean society, the first project by a university.

According to the KAIST on Tuesday, the project provides science and engineering students with programs that would help them with management and decision-making when they work in various fields in society. In other words, those programs are about culturing science leaders.

This project, if it succeeds, is expected to have an impact on curriculum at science and engineering colleges because it could reduce high school students’ inclination to avoid science and engineering colleges.

A team of 12 KAIST professors are studying foreign colleges such as China`s Ching Hua University from which Chinese president Hu Jintao graduated and France’s Ecole Polytechnique where the former French President Valery Giscard d`Estaing studied.

Though Ching Hua University is a university for science and engineering only, students at this university study economics and business administration. In effect, this university produced more than 300 vice-minister level officials. The first science and engineering college Ecole Polytechnique in France, founded by Napoleon, also produced a lot of leaders, including presidents, ministers and CEOs. This school also teaches politics and economics to its students.

The KAIST plans to hold a academic fair on May 6 in which it will explain the project. Under the project, students should complete six programs for four semesters. The project will start with 50 undergraduate students first starting this summer break and later it will be expanded to all students.

Students who are selected for this project will get physical training at the Korea naval Academy for two weeks during the summer vacation. The training session will be as intensive as that for cadets at this academy.

Then they will go through leadership training of Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits Of Highly effective People, communication program, community service, culture experience and overseas experience. In leadership and communication programs, students get three credits for each but they don’t get any credit for physical training and community service, though they should complete these programs.

In the culture experience program, students visit places where historical figures were born and study about these figures and the situation of the times and compare them with students themselves. In the overseas experience program, students write reports after participating in programs provided by overseas sister colleges.

From last year, the KAIST required graduate students to complete leadership courses where social celebrities teach lessons on leadership.

The school is also preparing M-Tech program which is aimed at producing business-minded scientists.

In addition, the school is preparing an 18 credit package program which provides courses like introduction to economics, introduction to business administration, marketing, accounting, financial management, introduction to information system, entrepreneurship and business strategy. It is now seeking to revise its school regulations so that those who complete this package program will be declared as a minor in this field.

The school is considering an idea of establishing economics department and business administration department over the long term.

"After all, high school students’ tendency to avoid science and engineering departments is based on science majors’ low social status compared with business majors. This project to produce science leaders could encourage high school students to select science as their major," the chief of the academic affairs office said.

mhjee@donga.com