A Transgenerational Cooperation Laboratory (TCL) that aims to foster continuous and complementary research between researchers of different generations through collaborative efforts opened on April 26. The new proposal hopes to address the problem that arises when a professor retires; all of their previous research and other “academic heritage” dissipates into oblivion.

At the TCL, a senior professor collaborates with two or three junior professors. The chosen team receives research space and grants from the school for approximately five years, after which it can apply for extension if necessary. The administration will add a new group every year to the program. The selection process, laboratory maintenance, and funding are managed by a TCL management committee.

During Vision Week in late March, which celebrated the completion of the newly-renovated Academic Cultural Complex, KAIST appointed five professors from both within and without the institution to evaluate the applicants. Among the panel included Nobel Prize Winners Dr. Klaus von Klitzing from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and Dr. Kurt Wütrich from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich.

The first two teams to have been chosen were the “Systems Metabolic Engineering and Systems Healthcare” lab headed by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the “Healthcare Opto/Microfluidics” lab under Professor Hyung Jin Sung from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Under Professor Lee’s guidance, newly-appointed Professor Hyun Uk Kim from the same department will use existing simulated cell technology and apply big data and artificial intelligence to produce high-value materials such as pharmaceuticals at a more efficient and eco-friendly level. The subsequent platform technology will provide healthcare information that benefits each individual.

Professor Jin will lead Professor Yeunwoo Cho and Professor Hyoungsoo Kim from the same department in employing high-frequency sounds waves to control fluid-body interactions at the micro-nanoscale. Through the research, the team strives to create a next-generation platform for patient-tailored diagnosis and treatment.

President Shin expressed his hopes: “Through the system of the TCL, we expect that the senior staff can honorably contribute their accumulated academic heritage so that the junior staff can achieve global accomplishments through academic continuity that surpasses generations.”