Specialized focus and research incentives help universities climb JoongAng rankings
Published: 19 Nov. 2024, 17:45
Updated: 19 Nov. 2024, 18:19
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Han Dong-guk, a professor at Kookmin University's Department of Information Security, Cryptography and Mathematics, performs an experiment with a student at the university lab. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/11/19/7c044b9e-aa65-4405-b9b5-435d5418eb53.jpg)
Han Dong-guk, a professor at Kookmin University's Department of Information Security, Cryptography and Mathematics, performs an experiment with a student at the university lab. [JOONGANG ILBO]
From new cryptography majors to special incentives for faculty to focus on research, universities with unique programs that make them stand out rose in The JoongAng University Rankings 2024.
Although the placements of the top three universities — Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Sungkyunkwan University — remained the same in the 2024 rankings released Tuesday, some universities climbed up the ladder.
Kookmin University placed 13th in the rankings, marking its highest placement to date, up from 16th last year.
One area in which it scored highly was industry-academia partnership revenue per science and technology faculty, part of the faculty research criterion. The university earned 114 million won ($82,000) in revenue this year, second only to Seoul National University.
The university renamed its Department of Mathematics to the Department of Information Security, Cryptography and Mathematics in 2017, shifting the curriculum to be more focused on cryptography. This change aligned well with the growth of the local defense industry, attracting numerous research projects.
"We are using cryptomathematics to develop security systems that protect core technologies from third-party hacking attempts once the weapons have been exported," said Han Dong-guk, a professor in the department.
The department is currently engaged in 12 defense-related research projects, receiving a total of 1 billion won in research grants.
Korea University rose one rank in the overall standings to place fourth this year, bolstered by donations from students and alumni.
![Park Jun-bae, a Korea University student who donated 100 million won ($72,000) to the university. shakes hands with university president Kim Dong-one. [KOREA UNIVERSITY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/11/19/f445961b-aba4-43ea-82c9-d040eea4a929.jpg)
Park Jun-bae, a Korea University student who donated 100 million won ($72,000) to the university. shakes hands with university president Kim Dong-one. [KOREA UNIVERSITY]
The university received the most donations last year, an indicator of the educational environment criterion. Of the 81.06 billion won collected, 63 billion won came from an anonymous donor, with a student even contributing 100 million won.
Park Jun-bae, a 26-year-old student in the Department of Spanish Language and Literature who made the donation, said he used earnings from his internship and investments.
"Attending classes for my major at the Business School, which actually spans three buildings, made me wonder whether humanities is really less valued," Park said. "I hope my donation goes toward building a new humanities facility so my juniors can study without needing to go between different departments' classrooms."
Kwangwoon University also saw a significant rise, moving to 18th place from 25th last year.
It had the highest number of citations per paper in international academic journals published between 2019 and 2022, with a Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of 0.75.
The university provides incentives of 50,000 won per citation to professors, with a cap of up to 10 million won per year. Faculty members who publish in major journals like Nature, Cell or Science receive additional incentives of 30 million won.
"When recruiting new faculty, we prioritize the quality of research over quantity," said Jeong Suk-jae, head of the university's Office of Planning.
Ajou University also improved its research metrics by offering incentives to faculty. It ranked sixth in both technology transfer revenue per faculty and revenue per technology transfer. Overall, the university placed 12th, up from 13th last year.
The university rewards the best researcher of the year with a Genesis G80 sedan for three years and reduces compulsory lecture hours to allow professors more time for research.
BY LEE HOO-YEON, LEE GA-RAM, LEE AH-MI, LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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