History:

Feb. 10, 1966:	KIST was founded.
Jan. 5, 1981:	KIST and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science merged into the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Sept. 25, 1987:	Research function was reorganized under the Central Research Laboratories.
June 12. 1989:	KlST was reborn separating from KAIST.

Legal Status:

Semigovernmental

Representative Officer:

Dr. Won-Hoon Park (Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Univ. of Minnesota, U.S.A.), President

Objectives:

Since its inception as the first multidisciplinary research institute in South Korea in February 1966, KIST has been playing a pivotal role in advancing the nationÕs science and technology and has made a substantial contribution to leveling the national industry to help Korea become one of the newly industrialized countries in Asia.

In parallel with the government's grand design of building a new Korea, KIST is committed to distinguishing itself as a revamped research institute dedicated to basic research of science and to the development of future-oriented "cutting edge" technologies.

With their specialization of professionalism intensified, all the researchers at KIST are determined to put their best foot forward not only in their own research work but also in their efforts to meet the technological demand by the industry.

Geographic Focus:

Mainly domestic

Periodicals:

• KIST Newsletter (biweekly, Korean)
• KIST 2000 Newsletter (biweekly, Korean)
• Collection of paper abstracts (annually, Korean and English)

Major Activities:

KIST employees engage in research in each of the institute's ten divisions, namely, the Division of Applied Science, the Division of Chemical Engineering, the Division of Polymer Science and Engineering, the Division of Metals, the Division of Ceramics, the Division of Mechanical/Control Systems, the Division of Electronics and Information Technology, the Division of Environment and CFC Technology, the Biomedical Science Center, and the Division of Research Planning.

In 1991, KIST began a collaborative education program with academic institutions and with other research institutions in the industry. The program is designed to further train professional research scientists and to transfer KIST's advanced technology to Korean industries.

The International Technology Exchange and Cooperation Center was established in April 1993 to expand the existing international cooperation efforts with advanced countries. KIST has so far contracted sixty cooperation agreements with a total of fifty-two organizations in seventeen countries, including the United States, Japan, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Joint research work and exchange of manpower and of technology information and data form the basis of the agreements. The advanced know-how and expertise thus provided through the agreements are believed to help the nationÕs industry create its own advanced technology.

Number of Researchers:

Principal research scientists:...164 (Ph.D.)

Senior research scientists:.....130 (Ph.D.)

Researchers: ..............140 (M.S.)

Number of Administrative Staff:

Engineers:...............28

Administrators:...........55

Supporting staff:..........234

Financial Profile:

Government-sponsored and private industries sponsored

Asia Pacific-Related Programs:

• Korea/U.S. Forum on Science and Technology Cooperation
  Annual
• Korea Asian corporate agenda among special funding projects
  Industrial Technology Transfer
  Invite doping test staff of Thailand Asian Games
  Dispatch Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia professional
  Support establishment of Indonesia Institute

Collaborating Organizations:

• Australia

University of New South Wales

• China

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dailain University of Technology

Harbin Institute of Technology

Shanghai Institute of Ceramics

• Japan

Institute of Physical and Chemical Research

Material Research Institute

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

Tohoku University Mitsubishi Research Institute

Tokyo Institute of Technology

• Malaysia

Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia

• New Zealand

New Zealand Association of Crown Research Institutes Incorporated

• Taiwan

Industrial Technology Research Institute

• U.S.A.

Battelle Memorial Institute

New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University

Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center

SRI International

--As of June 1996

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