[GSAI kicked off its first semester in March with world-renowned faculty with strong research record]

POSTECH held an opening ceremony for its Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence (GSAI) and POSTECH Institute of Artificial Intelligence (PIAI) at 10 a.m. on July 1 at the Auditorium of PIAI (formerly POSTECH Information Research Laboratories).

GSAI started its first semester in March this year to foster masters and doctorate-level AI professionals who will lead the future of Korea and play a leading role in the global AI industry.

A total of 51 new students were selected for the 2020-2021 academic year through a highly competitive application process in December where the acceptance rate was only 18.5 percent.

GSAI boasts the nation’s highest level of expertise in major areas of AI, including computer vision, data mining, database and natural language processing, as well as faculty with abundant experience in related fields. In addition, the School drew attention from the start for catering to even non-engineering students through its outstanding individualized curricula, research capabilities, and industry-academic cooperation.

POSTECH plans to expand its AI faculty to 26 members (currently 15) by 2023 to become a leading educational, research and industry-academic collaborative AI institutes in the world and will focus on the three key AI areas – media AI, data AI and AI theory – and nine key convergence (AI+X) research areas including new drugs, energy, manufacturing, robotics and 3D virtual reality research.

In addition, POSTECH will create an AI venture ecosystem at the POSCO-Jigok Venture Valley in Pohang and at the PIRL Pangyo R&BD Office to support start-ups.

To this end, POSTECH has reopened the POSTECH Information Research Laboratories (PIRL) as the POSTECH Institute of Artificial Intelligence (PIAI) to lead professional development and conduct core technology research. The PIAI has been leading research on AI, big data and IoT and has launched an AI academy since 2016 to operate educational programs to nurture AI and big data experts for companies and for qualified individuals.

Along with the opening ceremony, there was an exhibition to showcase POSTECH’s accomplishments in the field of AI over the years. In addition, a job fair was held at the POSCO International Center with participation from POSCO, SK Group, and small to mid-sized companies, startups, and alumni companies of POSTECH.

2nd Vice Minister Seokyoung Jang of the Ministry of Science and ICT said in his congratulatory video, “The opening of the AI graduate school and AI research institute once again confirms POSTECH’s commitment to nurturing AI talent. We plan to actively expand support to cultivate the finest AI experts.”

“POSTECH’s goal is to train experts and contribute to Korea’s global competitiveness in AI, which is a crucial technology of the 4th Industrial Revolution,” said President Moo Hwan Kim in his welcoming remarks. “We ask for your support for POSTECH, the AI graduate school and the institute who now take a bigger step to move our nation forward.”

The opening ceremony was attended by POSTECH President Moo Hwan Kim, 2nd Vice Minister Seokyoung Jang of Ministry of Science and ICT, Pohang Mayor Kang-deok Lee, Chairperson Gyeong-sik Jang of Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council, Chairperson Jae Won Seo of Pohang City Council and President Jae-bum Seok of the Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) among many others.

POSTECH was selected to operate an AI graduate school in September 2019 as part of an initiative by the Ministry of Science and ICT and opened its doors in March 2020. Starting with 1 billion won (USD 833,000) last year, the school will receive 2 billion won (USD 1.7 million) each year for a total of 9 billion won (USD 7.5 million) over five years. The School is eligible to receive an additional five years of funding through future assessment – for a total of 19 billion won (USD 16 million) over 10 years.