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KAIST to open Silicon Valley campus in partnership with IDIS

Published: 22 Apr. 2025, 17:02

LEE TAE-HEE
[email protected]

IDIS Chairman Kim Young-dal, left, and KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung, pose for a photo on April 22 after signing a memorandum of understanding to establish the KAIST Silicon Valley IDIS Campus. [KAIST]

KAIST plans to open a campus in California's Silicon Valley, partnering with security company IDIS to create a campus that will focus on offering career-focused education.

The university signed a memorandum of understanding with IDIS on Tuesday to establish the campus in Silicon Valley, giving it the tentative name of KAIST Silicon Valley IDIS Campus. The campus will be jointly operated by the two parties for the next 20 years.

Programs at the new campus will focus on offering entrepreneurial education, practical skills training and internship opportunities.

KAIST will be selecting outstanding students interested in such programs, sending them to study at the new campus starting the fall 2025 semester.

The new campus will use a 3,283-square-meter (35,330-square-foot) three-story building in Redwood City, California, which has been purchased by IDIS.

The building which will be used as the KAIST Silicon Valley IDIS Campus [KAIST]

"We will actively foster global entrepreneurs and strive to establish our university as a platform that connects the world with the future," said Lee Kwang-hyung, president of KAIST.

For students interested in the programs that will be offered through the new campus, KAIST will hold a briefing session on April 28 at its Daejeon Campus.

"When I was at KAIST 30 years ago, I also dreamed about establishing a global company through a Silicon Valley internship," said Kim Young-dal, CEO and chairman of IDIS. "This partnership is especially meaningful as it provides KAIST students with the opportunity to experience Silicon Valley, the world’s largest hub of innovation."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]