On February 17, KAIST held the 2011 Summer-Fall Semester Undergraduate Research Participation (URP) Program Workshop to evaluate the results of the five-month long efforts made through the program. In room 401 of the Creative Learning Building, about 40 research projects, each done by either a single student or a team, were presented. After presentations, there was a poster session for public viewing on the first floor of the same building, followed by the awards and closing ceremonies.
The Grand Prix were awarded to JaeKyung Seo and Tran Anh Thu from the Department of Biological Sciences, Kunsik Ahn from Mechanical Engineering and Kyeongryeol Bong from Electrical Engineering. The winners will take part in an international academic conference held overseas, with the school providing financial support of 3.5 million Korean Won for each winner.
The URP Program was set up in 2006 for the first time in Korea by KAIST in an attempt to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to participate in creative and comprehensive research projects.
There have been two five-month-long program periods per year, which are the Summer-Fall Program and the Winter-Spring Program. Starting this year, there will also be a Long-Term Program, which will run for a whole year. Students who apply for the URP Program should submit a research proposal in their field of interest. Department heads and professors review the proposals and about 60 to 80 are chosen. During the research period, students conduct their studies under the guidance of advisory professors and teaching assistants. A scholarship, a research fund and three credits are given to participating students. Finally, after the final report submission, students present their research at the workshop and the outstanding projects are rewarded.
The URP Program has been popular among undergraduate students, with the number of research proposals made by students gradually increasing from 154 in 2008 to 251 in 2011. Surveys conducted after the completion of the program showed that over 80% of participants were satisfied with it.
The academic achievements of undergraduate students through the URP Program have proved to be remarkable. Research projects carried out from 2006 to 2010 recorded 3 patent registrations, 14 paper publications, 29 international seminar participations and 4 wins at competitions. Following the success of the URP Program in KAIST, other Korean universities have begun implementing it since 2008.