On October 25, KAIST President Sung-Mo Kang and Technical University Denmark (DTU) Senior Vice President Martin P. Bendsoe signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Embassy of Denmark in Seoul. The MOU highlights exchanging students and researchers through startup programs, in addition to strengthening the intervarsity collaboration in education and research. The signing took place during the Green Growth Alliance Meeting and Energy Seminar hosted by the Embassy of Denmark, and it was attended by Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

As President Kang put it, DTU has been KAIST’s “strategic partner” in Europe, and as such, a series of MOUs has been facilitated via the two universities’ partnership. Having made 18 agreements so far and having exchanged 120 students in the past three years, the two universities are working closely together for more joint seminars and conferences for academic and research exchanges to come.

This particular MOU emphasizes the importance of startups and fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship in students. At the MOU signing, President Kang remarked that the two universities “will create momentum to spur startups”. He also noted that KAIST’s experiences acquired from operating the K-School and the Institute of KAIST Entrepreneurship would be helpful in supporting the activities stipulated in the MOU. Some of the things DTU is anticipating to share with KAIST include know-how on the design and implementation of SkyLab, which is DTU’s ideation hub focused on enabling student innovation and entrepreneurship through company collaboration. According to its official website, DTU Skylab sends out “both employees and students to expand the current network and bring back significant new findings”.

DTU has maintained the closest form of collaboration with KAIST, with the International Relations Team specifying aspects of collaboration ranging from staff exchange to research collaboration and dual degree.