From December 3 to 4, KAIST held the 2021 OPEN KAIST event online for two days, unveiling the campus and its research sites. Started in 2001, OPEN KAIST is a scientific and cultural event that invites visitors to educational and research facilities such as laboratories on campus. The campus is opened to the public every two years to introduce KAIST’s research environment and atmosphere that is devoted to scientific and technological development. Scientific attractions and experiential programs are organized, allowing for communication with the public and inducing scientific interest. Marking its 20^th anniversary this year, OPEN KAIST welcomed visitors on an online video platform for the first time as precautionary measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Sixteen research departments focusing on advanced technologies such as robots, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors participated in the event. In the field of robots, the Humanoid Robot Research Center from the Department of Mechanical Engineering introduced the laboratory and conducted simple walking demonstrations of two-legged and four-legged robots. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering introduced a new concept of construction robots such as wearable robots and remote control robots to lead the future of construction. In the field of biotechnology, the Department of Biological Sciences introduced ultra-high resolution imaging technology that allows visual observation of the entire process of introducing an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 into cells. The Department of Bio and Brain Engineering introduced a “tumor avatar (a tumor from a patient)” that can predict the efficacy of anticancer drugs on behalf of cancer patients and future medical products for personalized medical care.

During the online open broadcast of each laboratory, participants had the opportunity for a real-time Q&A session with professors and graduate students, and to experience contents such as simple remote virtual experiments. Dongman Lee, the Dean of College of Engineering, who coordinated the event, stated, “It was difficult to open the campus due to COVID-19 this year so we had to prepare an online OPEN KAIST. … We ask you to share KAIST’s dreams and visions of serving humanity with frontier research and education.”