Samsung showcases research achievements at annual forum

Samsung on Thursday publicly unveiled the results of its 12-year Future Technology Nurturing Project for the first time. The company hosted the 2025 Future Technology Nurturing Project Annual Forum at the InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Gangnam District.

The Future Technology Nurturing Project is a public-interest initiative Samsung launched in 2013 as South Korea’s first privately led program to support basic scientific research. Until now, the forum had been held as a closed event focused on academia, but this year marks the first time the company has made the results public. Over the past 12 years, Samsung has invested a total of 1.14 trillion won to support 880 research projects across 91 institutions, involving more than 16,000 researchers. The project extends beyond funding equipment and materials by assisting researchers with project selection, performance improvement, and technology commercialization.

Researchers in the program receive step-by-step mentoring from experts, along with support for industry collaboration and technology startups. So far, 65 research projects have led to new ventures. One example is Proteina, founded by Yoon Tae-young, a professor at Seoul National University’s School of Biological Sciences, which was listed on the KOSDAQ in July. Proteina is a drug development company with proprietary technologies, including the Super Parallel Immunoassay Development (SPID) platform, which enables ultra-high-speed, large-scale antibody optimization and performance measurement.

About 400 people attended the event, including Rep. Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party, Rep. Kim Sun-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and Rep. Lee Joo-young of the Reform Party. Park Seung-hee, Samsung Electronics President for Corporate Relations, and Jang Seok-hoon, president of Samsung's social contribution business, were also present, along with leading domestic researchers and academic leaders.

During the forum, experts from South Korea’s science and technology community delivered 64 presentations. The event also featured special sessions on the “Top 10 Promising Technologies,” jointly selected by Samsung and academic experts, as well as on the use of artificial intelligence in basic science research.


이동훈 dhlee@donga.com