Ministry backs KAIST for spot in the top 10

The government is aiming to have the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, listed among the world’s top 10 universities 2015. KAIST currently ranks 37th in the information-technology sector, according to The Times newspaper of Britain. The Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday that it would inject 20 billion won ($19 million) every year for the next five years to help KAIST compete with research centers such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. KAIST president Robert B. Laughlin, a Nobel laureate, has continually requested government aid for the university since taking his post in July last year. KAIST will try to attract more renowned professors and reduce its student-to-professor ratio to 13 from the current 18. The Science Ministry believes such changes could help to double the number of papers the school publishes in science journals by 2010. The university’s curriculum will be revamped too: arts, business, medicine, law and languages will supplement science and technology courses. The government also plans to invest almost 28 million won into general scientific research in 2006, up 6 percent from this year. by Seo Ji-eun