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Ewha Takes the Lead in Campus Normalization for the 2022 Fall Semester

Ewha is preparing all areas of school life including disinfection measures and academic management in a cautious and thorough manner to allow students to return to campus after a long absence to study for a new semester in a safe environment and actively enjoy college life. Ewha Safe Campus draws attention for its leading disinfection control regime Ahead of the opening of the 2022 spring semester, Ewha installed the “Ewha Safe Station,” an on-campus testing clinic for COVID-19, for Ewha members to undergo a pre-emptive and routine screening test as a way to maintain a healthy and safe campus. Among educational institutions, Ewha is the only one to prepare for the normalization of education by establishing its own disinfection control regime in cooperation with professional organizations. Led by the “Preparatory Committee for the Return to Normality,” Ewha has thoroughly prepared face-to-face classes for the fall semester since May. According to the official announcement of the Ministry of Education (MOE) regarding guidelines for the normalization of schools in early August, Ewha decided to resume operating full offline classes and made an all-out effort to create a safe academic environment during the vacation. Accordingly, the Ewha Safe Station, which was planned to operate until August, will remain open until December. Therefore, despite the reduction of temporary screening clinics, any Ewha member can take a screening test at no cost. They can also conduct a self-test using the Ewha Safe Station after making a reservation via the school COVID-19 management system that opened in June, which also allows students to submit health questionnaires and check test results at the same time. As the Ewha Safe Station will facilitate screening tests for the fall semester as well, the four on-campus temperature check stations will only be operated for checking temperatures, while the bracelet for passing a temperature check will no longer be handed out. In addition, additional temperature check equipment was installed in six buildings for Ewha members to check their own temperature at a total of 22 locations. In addition, thorough disinfection is being performed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases: regular disinfection is carried out in public spaces and offline classrooms every Saturday; and desks and doorknobs in common areas including lecture rooms and reading rooms are cleaned and disinfected twice a day. Alongside such efforts, the school will set September and October as an “intensive offline class monitoring period” to observe and monitor how safely academic affairs are taking place on campus. In particular, chapel services will be held online during the monitoring period. When confirmed cases are identified in school, information such as the confirmation dates, contact tracing, and contacts will be compiled and managed. If faculty members are infected, substitute classes will be arranged during their quarantine period. If students are infected, their class attendance will still be recognized upon the submission of proof such as a quarantine notice and they will be given class materials or recorded videos of offline classes via the cyber campus. In addition, Ewha aims to swiftly respond to emergency situations based on the Ewha COVID-19 Response Guidance by the Preparatory Committee for the Return to Normality, as part of its plans to create a safe and healthy campus for the fall semester. Ewha-specific teaching and learning model “THE BEST” drives innovative education To lead the innovation of edutech-based teaching and learning infrastructure, Ewha established THE BEST, a hybrid class model consisting of online and offline teaching and learning, and trialed around 250 courses in the 2022 spring semester. As a class model made up of offline, hybrid, and online classes to support students’ self-directed learning based on quality curriculum design and digital technology, THE BEST class is a major project of Ewha Vision 2030+, a development strategy to create an innovative education platform responding to digital transformation. Regarding the change in the university environment from the unprecedented pandemic as an opportunity for innovating education, Ewha accelerated its establishment of edutech-based teaching and learning infrastructure. Launched amid a favorable response last semester, THE BEST class received encouraging reviews for the technology-based flexibility of schedule and venue, maximization of students’ self-directed learning, and reinforcement of communication with students. The number of THE BEST classes increased to a total of 286 (199 hybrid classes and 87 online classes) in the 2022 fall semester. Alongside such efforts, Ewha is continuing to improve the educational environment by establishing active learning lecture rooms and student-centered flexible learning spaces to effectively support online/offline hybrid classes, and has made an effort to offer high-quality educational services even in the midst of the changing environment through the expansion of its cyber campus system. In addition, it is also driving the momentum for the development of an integrated support system for students based on artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to strengthen support for students’ future plans. The school plans to further develop Chat-E, a chatbot service based on AI technology that is receiving positive responses from students since its launch last semester, into a platform that can manage academic affairs and guide career paths.
- No.663
- Writer
- Date2022.08.31
- Views29708
662
2022 Ewha Summer Volunteer Activities Successfully Completed

2022 Ewha Summer Volunteer Activities Successfully Completed “The 2022 Ewha Summer Volunteers” and “the 1st Pear Blossom Sharing Corps” practiced the spirit of neighborly love through online and offline volunteer activities during the summer break. In particular, volunteers for domestic activities renewed face-to-face volunteer services for the first time in three years after the outbreak of COVID-19 to share Ewha’s values with local communities and conduct social contribution activities. A total of 100 Ewha volunteers for domestic activities, for offering volunteer services, visited 16 local children’s centers in rural and fishing villages, such as Jeongseon in Gangwon-do, Boseong in Jeollanam-do, and Eumseong in Chungcheongbuk-do for four nights and five days from July 25 (Mon.) to 29 (Fri.) and from August 1 (Mon.) to 5 (Fri.) respectively, under the support of the University Innovation Support Project (UISP) and the Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF). The Ewha Volunteers students took an all-out approach to preparing programs for face-to-face volunteer activities, including self-producing workbooks, trialing classes in advance, and conducting rehearsals. In addition, they demonstrated their enthusiasm by meeting every day after class to evaluate the day’s class and check on preparations for the next day’s class during the dispatch period. As a result, both the participating students and the host institution showed high satisfaction regarding the thorough preparation of volunteer students and excellent education programs of Ewha Volunteers. Meanwhile, 25 volunteers for overseas activities conducted contact-free online educational volunteer services for children in Cambodia and Mongolia with support from the Korean University Council for Social Service (KUCSS). In Cambodia, 15 Ewha volunteers provided the Ewha Social Services Center in Cambodia with self-produced educational packages on personal hygiene and crafts. Local teachers at the Ewha Social Services Center independently conducted classes for five days from July 25 (Mon.) using the educational packages, consisting of workbooks, class videos, and school supplies, which were designed for them to teach independently without dispatching or seeking guidance from volunteers. In Mongolia, 10 volunteers carried out contact-free education on the Korean language and culture for students of Korean Language-related departments at the International University of Ulaanbaatar from July 4 (Mon.) to 8 (Fri.). The volunteer team provided one-on-one real-time online Zoom classes for ten Mongolian students using pre-made teaching materials and class videos. The “Ewha Volunteers,” launched in 2000, is a major volunteer program that broadly practices Ewha’s founding spirit of Christian neighborly love. In addition to the program, Ewha has also established the “Pear Blossom Sharing Corps,” a sharing program for local communities, in June this year to spread Ewha’s values among local communities and enhance its social contributions. The Pear Blossom Sharing Corps stayed at Ewha Gosari Training Center in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do for three nights and four days from July 26 (Tue.) and conducted various volunteer activities, such as educational volunteer services for elementary and middle school students, identification and family portrait services for the elderly, talent donation for the design of village logo and slogan, and mural painting. Volunteer activities by the Pear Blossom Sharing Corps were carried out as part of the “Agreement for Joint Utilization of Gosari Training Center,” which was signed by Ewha and various organizations in Chungcheongbuk-do in January this year with the aim to develop a local government-university collaboration model for shared innovative university. The corps contributed to the local community by conducting volunteer activities on various topics for the residents of Goesan in Chungcheongbuk-do where Gosari Training Center is located, and laid the foundation for sustainable development in rural and fishing villages. Having successfully completed the volunteer activities of the 1st Pear Blossom Sharing Corps, the Office of Student Affairs Volunteer Services Team plans to keep contributing to the growth and development of local communities by continuing the volunteer activities of the Pear Blossom Sharing Corps with the collaboration of Goesan County Office every summer. In addition, the team will take the lead in practicing Ewha’s founding spirit of Christian neighborly love and making a society of mutual coexistence through the operation of various volunteer programs, including Ewha Volunteers and its educational volunteer activities for marginalized children in Korea and abroad and Sharing of Joy Mentoring Program in which teenagers and university students grow together through a triangular mentoring model involving teenagers, university students, and community members.
- No.661
- Writer
- Date2022.08.29
- Views13517
660
2021 Fall Commencement Ceremony Held

2021 Fall Commencement Ceremony Held Ewha hosted the 2021 Fall Commencement Ceremony on August 26 (Fri.) at 10 a.m. at the Welch-Ryang Auditorium and graduated a total of 2,232 students, conferring a bachelor’s degree for 1,219 students, a master’s degree for 898 students, and a doctoral degree for 115 students. The ceremony was held for an hour as a face-to-face event for the first time after three years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was attended by notable guests, including Ewha Womans University Board of Trustees Chairperson Chang Myong-Sue, President Eun Mee Kim, deans of colleges and graduate schools, and over 2,000 graduates of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. In her speech, President Eun Mee Kim offered heartfelt advice to graduates as they embarked on a new chapter in their life, emphasizing three keywords: challenge, failure, and gratitude. President Kim remarked, “Whenever you encounter difficulties and challenges in your life, try to avoid turning away from them and instead face them head on with a daring spirit. Remember that all failures, great or small, that you experience in the process will become challenges and experiences that will help you grow into a better person,” and added her words of encouragement, “The education and training you’ve gained from Ewha and its history will prove to be valuable resources that will help you to overcome challenges wisely and without fear.” She also added, “I hope that you will all extend a helping hand to your neighbors out of gratitude for your parents, friends, and teachers, as well as the time you enjoyed at Ewha.” Following the President’s remarks, Professor Emeritus Hai Won Chang, the “Pride of Ewha Awards” awardee, made congratulatory remarks to the graduates in commemoration of Ewha’s 136th anniversary. Professor Emeritus Hai Won Chang is a world-renowned pianist and the first Korean to be awarded the Konzertexamen, the highest degree available at music universities in Germany, from the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She devoted her life to the globalization of music education in Korea as an educator. In her congratulatory remarks, Professor Emeritus Chang encouraged the students by saying, “Just as you’ve been focusing diligently on your chosen academic discipline, I hope that you’ll experience diverse career paths after graduation and grow into the kind of people that this era of convergence demands.” The commencement ceremony conferred 1,219 students with a bachelor’s degree, including the youngest graduate at the age of 21 and the oldest at the age of 47, as well as five North Korean refugee students; 898 students from 14 graduate schools with a master’s degree; and 115 students from two graduate schools with a doctoral degree. It also included a total of 174 international students (96 students with a bachelor’s degree and 78 students with a master’s or doctoral degree) from various countries such as China, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Mongolia, Poland, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Guatemala, and Indonesia, and seven EGPP (Ewha Global Partnership Program) scholarship recipients. The EGPP is a global talent-nurturing program that provides full tuition and living expenses to female students selected from developing countries. The EGPP graduates, based on their academic excellence, will further study at graduate schools in Korea or abroad, or return to their home country to demonstrate the educational capabilities that they accumulated at Ewha.
- No.659
- Writer
- Date2022.08.26
- Views14355
658
Ewha Becomes a Hub for Youth Startup Clusters in Northwestern Seoul

Ewha Becomes a Hub for Youth Startup Clusters in Northwestern Seoul The Ewha Campus Town Project Team was selected for the 2023 Integrated Seoul Campus Town Project. The project team is now expected to receive around KRW 8 billion to run the project over the next four years starting from 2023 to 2026 and will serve as a hub for the Sinchon Youth Startup Valley and youth startup clusters in northwestern Seoul. The Seoul Campus Town Project is designed to facilitate the mutual development of universities and local communities by enabling them to develop and operate a startup and startup personnel accelerator program in addition to a regional revitalization program through a university-regional district consortium. After being selected for the Unit-type Seoul Campus Town Project for three years since 2019, Ewha cultivated around 50 startup teams and provided practical training for future entrepreneurs. Ewha also offered various programs for mutually benefiting local communities, including consultation and mentorship for local small businesses and a network-building program. Under this project, Ewha set the goals of fostering youth startups and future professionals with the capacity to lead innovative technologies and building a regional revitalization model. Reflecting the needs of the era on changes in the startup ecosystem, Ewha will boost startups like bio-healthcare businesses that are based on expertise in lab work and innovative technologies and contribute to the revitalization of local economies by renewing the Sinchon commercial district and traditional markets. Kyung Shik Shin, Ewha’s Executive Vice President for External Affairs and the research director for this project, commented, “The Seoul Campus Town Project will allow Ewha to play a more pivotal role as a hub for startup clusters in northwestern Seoul in connection with the Sinchon Youth Startup Valley established in partnership with Seodaemun-gu, Ewha Womans University Medical Center, and the Seoul Magok District Industrial Complex.” Ewha established “Ewha Vision 2030+” and “Medium-to-long-term Development Plan for University-Industry Collaboration” and is promoting various new projects to foster creative individuals who can create innovative value according to the needs of society, establish a total platform for the commercialization of creative and convergent technology, and build a hub for startups that can expand with future technology. As a result, Ewha has been selected for the so-called “Korean I-Corps program” of the Korea Innovation Technology Startup Center (KITS) under the Ministry of Science and ICT in May 2021 and designated as the best Business Incubator (BI) by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups this year, thereby winning recognition as the nation’s top institution for fostering startups and startup professionals.
- No.657
- Writer
- Date2022.08.22
- Views16740
656
Ewha Signs a Business Agreement with the KSIF to Attract and Support Excellent Foreign Nationals

Ewha Signs a Business Agreement with the KSIF to Attract and Support Excellent Foreign Nationals Ewha signed a business agreement with the King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF) on August 17 (Wed.) and agreed to provide high-quality Korean language education for international students and attract more talented foreign nationals. Under the agreement with the KSIF, Ewha will operate an online King Sejong Institute tailored to international students and utilize the Sejong Korean Language Assessment (SKA), the KSIF’s Korean language proficiency test for assessing foreign nationals’ communication skills. Ewha and the KSIF also agreed to cooperate to attract talented foreign nationals through King Sejong Institutes located around the world and discover joint projects to spread the Korean language and culture, while providing mutual support. The cooperation between Ewha, which provides a professional, systematic education system and environment for international students, and the KSIF, which aims to promote the Korean language and culture around the world, is expected to offer a wider range of opportunities and support for international students who wish to improve their Korean language skills. In particular, from the 2022 fall semester, Ewha will provide high-quality Korean language education for international students via the “Ewha Online King Sejong Institute.” President Eun Mee Kim commented, “This will be a new opportunity to explore ways to strengthen the overall influence of the Korean language and culture based on our shared pioneering spirit and experiences of rapid growth. I hope that this agreement serves to create momentum for Ewha and the KSIF to become highly-respected organizations that lead the global trend of Korean culture.” Ewha has played a leading role in Korean language education, establishing Teaching Korean as Second Language as a major for the first time in Korea in 1982 and starting Korean language education for foreigners at the Ewha Language Center in 1988. The agreement with the KSIF is expected to enable Ewha to further strengthen its status as a leading institution for cultivating global leaders by attracting more talented foreign nationals and developing a support system for international students.
- No.655
- Writer
- Date2022.08.19
- Views12913
654
Ewha Develops an Education Program as a Shared Innovation Program Based on Local Government-University Collaboration

Ewha Develops an Education Program as a Shared Innovation Program Based on Local Government-University Collaboration Ewha Womans University held the “Inauguration Ceremony for Shared Innovation Program among Three Universities” with Chungbuk National University and Chungbuk Provincial University at the Gosari Training Center located in Goesan County on August 11 (Thu.). The event was held with the aim to announce and celebrate the launch of an education program, which was jointly developed by Ewha, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk Provincial University, Goesan County, and Chungbuk Research Institute after the conclusion of the “Agreement for promoting the joint utilization of the Gosari Training Center” among the institutions last January. The “Shared Innovation Program among Three Universities,” which was implemented as part of the University Innovation Support Project, is an innovative collaboration program in which Ewha, Chungbuk National University, and Chungbuk Provincial University jointly seek ways to coexist with local communities around Goesan in Chungcheongbuk-do Province. The program is aimed at contributing to addressing local community issues and revitalizing the local economy through shared human and material infrastructure of the three universities; establishing a knowledge-sharing ecosystem that connects the three universities and Goesan in Chungcheongbuk-do Province through the development and implementation of innovative education programs; and creating innovative cases that seek sustainable development through collaboration among the three universities and local communities. President Eun Mee Kim remarked, “I believe that the pursuit of coexistence and innovation by the university and local communities is crucial to the sustainable development of our society. In this regard, the ‘Shared Innovation Program among Three Universities’ is daring and future-oriented as it combines the needs of local communities and the educational and research capabilities of universities. I hope that local communities will extend their interest and support for the project.” The workshop “Healing with Nature: Caring Body and Mind,” which was held on the day heralding the beginning of shared innovation through university-community engagement, consisted of three programs demonstrating each university’s educational and research capabilities. After the workshop, So-eun Kim from the incoming class of 2022 in the Department of Communications and Media said, “I needed a little breathing space from the rush of city life. This workshop allowed me to look inward and experience nature. I am so grateful that I was able to make friends and get to know people, regardless of their major, age, and seniority.” Ewha continues to work for the dissemination of local community sharing programs, operation of online/offline learning programs for local communities, and expansion of social contribution programs to share Ewha’s values and contribute to society.
- No.653
- Writer
- Date2022.08.18
- Views8091
652
The IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience Receives the Highest Grade in its Fifth-Year Performance Evaluation

The IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) at Ewha Womans University received the highest grade in its performance evaluation, which is conducted on IBS research centers that have been in operation for five years since their inception. The Institute for Basic Science (IBS), a government-funded research institute established to conduct world-class basic science research and now operates a total of 33 research centers including the QNS at Ewha Womans University, conducted the first performance evaluation for research centers that had been active over five years since their foundation. This performance evaluation is an essential process that determines whether each research center continues to be operated, and is based on qualitative assessment of scientific excellence, talent acquisition and cultivation, organizational management, etc. The evaluation committee, comprised of distinguished global scholars in basic science, recognized the world-class scientific excellence of the QNS in this evaluation. During the evaluation, the QNS presented outstanding research results, suggesting the potential of the world’s smallest storage medium and successfully performing the world’s smallest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), based on its research environment including world-class, low vibration laboratories, and ideal research culture. The QNS was also highly acclaimed for its cultural diversity with a high proportion of foreign researchers, as well as for nurturing next-generation talents, especially women leaders. Indeed, women account for 45 percent of the researchers at the QNS. Ewha launched the QNS on January 1, 2017, under the agreement with the IBS. Andreas Heinrich, Director of the QNS, joined the university as a distinguished professor of the Department of Physics and the first director of the QNS in 2016 after leading research at IBM in the United States for 18 years, and has laid the foundation for the research center by not only designing the low vibration laboratories, but also establishing the state-of-the-art research facilities. With his unique leadership and professionalism, he has brought unprecedented achievements in the short span of five years. The QNS’s research focuses on designing qubits (quantum bits), the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, by using quantum spins on surfaces. Heinrich said, “So far, the QNS has gone through big challenges and I am proud that it has grown to this level in a short span of time with its host Ewha Womans University,” and he added, “The evaluation standard in Korea is so high that we are all making our best effort to meet that standard.”
- No.651
- Writer
- Date2022.08.05
- Views15932
650
The Office of International Affairs Hosts the 2022 International Summer College during Summer

Holding the International Summer College offline in three years since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Providing various cultural activities, such as a Korean royal palace tour and Korean food making, and the first internship opportunities The Office of International Affairs hosted the welcoming ceremony for 2022 Ewha International Summer College Session I on June 29 (Wed.), at the Lee Sam-bong Hall of the ECC building, announcing the beginning of this year’s Summer College, the university’s major global summer program. The Summer College, Korea’s first summer school launched in 1971, has since provided a wide range of courses with credits and cultural activities for international students from various countries every year. The program, designed based on the long tradition of 52 years and Ewha’s education know-how, boasts a high satisfaction rating from participating students for enabling them to take high-quality academic courses taught in English and experience activities related to Korean history and culture. This year’s program consists of two sessions, one for four weeks and another for two weeks, with over 300 participating students. The participants in the International Summer College Session I, which is conducted for four weeks from June 29 (Wed.), included foreign university students from the United States and Europe as well as Ewha. Among them were students from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and Boston College in the United States and the University of Toronto in Canada participating through faculty-led programs. Staying in the dormitories at Ewha, they took academic courses in English in seven different fields: Art & Music, Business & Economics, East Asian Studies, Humanities, Social Science, Science & Engineering, and Korean Language. In addition to the regular courses, participants also experienced Korean culture every Friday through various activities such as field trips to the royal palace, cooking Korean food, and a visit to Hybe Insight and Jogyesa Temple. Ewha International Summer College Session II took place for two weeks from August 9 to 23, offering the Introductory Korean Studies program, which consists of Korean language classes of different levels, special lectures for English and Japanese by track, and Korean cultural activities. The Office of International Affairs has made efforts to provide more education opportunities for students from foreign universities even when the pandemic restricted overseas travel, by launching Ewha International Winter College in 2020 and hosting both summer and winter colleges online. This year’s Summer College, in particular, offered internship opportunities to the participants for two weeks before the session began, as part of efforts to develop and expand the program to improve students’ satisfaction.
- No.649
- Writer
- Date2022.07.25
- Views14430
648
Ewha College of Nursing Selected for the College of Nursing Training Support Project by the Ministry of Health and Wel..

Ewha College of Nursing Selected for the College of Nursing Training Support Project by the Ministry of Health and Welfare The College of Nursing was selected for the “2022 College of Nursing Training Support Project” organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The College of Nursing Training Support Project is designed to help new nurses adapt to clinical settings and contribute to the improvement of medical quality by enhancing clinical practice and training for nursing students. Through this project, the College of Nursing will receive KRW 600 million and create a state-of-the-art simulation education environment based on the fourth industrial revolution technologies to cultivate talents suitable for the rapidly changing healthcare environment, which might involve, for example, response to novel infectious diseases. As Korea’s first college of nursing established as an undergraduate course in 1955, the College of Nursing at Ewha Womans University has been playing a leading role, producing over 1,000 Korean and foreign nursing educators. It introduced a clinical professor system for the first time in Korea in 2013 and adopted high-fidelity simulator practice for capacity building of nursing educators and training for students. Furthermore, it has consolidated its position not only as the country’s first but also as the best nursing education institute, organizing and providing programs to enhance the simulation education capacity of nursing educators and sharing information through the Korean Society for Simulation in Nursing founded by Ewha as a national network of nursing educators of simulation practice. Through this project, the College of Nursing will further secure high-fidelity simulators for the Ewha Nursing Simulation Center, which was established in 2013, and create a state-of-the-art simulation education environment equipped with facilities including isolated intensive care units and virtual reality simulation education rooms. In addition, it will expand the faculty to provide high quality simulation education and develop multifaceted practice modules and simulation curriculum based on the rapidly changing healthcare environment. The College of Nursing will not only support professors and nursing educators of partner institutes to enhance their capacity by building a consortium with small- and medium-sized local hospitals and colleges of nursing, but also conduct simulation practical education to improve the practical capability of nurses from Ewha Womans University hospitals and its partners.
- No.647
- Writer
- Date2022.07.20
- Views11528
646
Three Research Teams at Ewha Selected for the 2022 Original Technology Development Project

Three Research Teams at Ewha Selected for the 2022 Original Technology Development Project As original technologies are increasingly important for promising industries in the future, three research teams of the College of Pharmacy and the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University were selected for the “Original Technology Development Project” organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea to secure technological competitiveness and growth potential. (From left) Professor Sun Choi, Professor Jin-Byung Park, Professor Si Jae Park The research team of the Global AI Drug Discovery Center (Director: Professor Sun Choi) at the College of Pharmacy was selected for the “2022 AI-Driven Innovative Drug Discovery Project” to lead the new drug development field using big data and artificial intelligence (AI). The College of Pharmacy at Ewha was the only one that was chosen as a research institute to lead the “AI-Driven Drug Development Platform Project” and received the grade “S” (excellent) by successfully establishing the AI-driven drug development platform for the past three years and achieving excellent results through active convergence research. Thanks to these accomplishments, the team from the College of Pharmacy has been recently selected as the only Korean university research team to lead the “AI-Driven Innovative Drug Discovery Project.” The College of Pharmacy at Ewha, the leader of this project, and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, AI company AITRICS, AIGENDRUG, MediaZen, and Txinno Bioscience will receive a total of around KRW 4.1 billion for the next three years and seven months to conduct the task titled “Advancement of AI-Driven Drug Development Platform and Discovery of Innovative Drug Candidates.” The Ewha research team, led by Professors Sun Choi, Soosung Kang, and Jinha Yu, and the other five participants are expected to make great contribution to the development of new drugs and the pharmaceutical industry through their continuous joint industry-academic convergence research. The research team from the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biosystems Engineering (Director: Professor Jin-Byung Park) of the Food Science and Biotechnology major at the ELTEC College of Engineering was selected for the “2022 Biomass-based Carbon-Neutral Bioplastic Product Technology Development Project,” which is designed to develop a technology to produce carbon-neutral biodegradable plastic. The research team will receive a total of around KRW 4.6 billion for the next three years and six months and carry out a task titled the “Bio-Lactone Technology Development for the Production of Biodegradable Plastic” in collaboration with Kookmin University, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology. Bio-lactone is a polyester-based polymer fiber that is widely used as surgical sutures or food industrial packages, and is expected to contribute to addressing the existing problems related to plastic as it can be used as a key material for plastic production. Professor Jin-Byung Park of the Food Science and Biotechnology major, who is in charge of this research project, said, “Bio-lactone-based biodegradable plastic production technology will make great contribution to the production of biodegradable materials and plastics as well as development of new and renewable material production technology.” The Biochemical Engineering Laboratory (Director: Professor Si Jae Park) from the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science major at the ELTEC College of Engineering was selected for the Production Process Development part of the “Biomass-based Carbon-Neutral Bioplastic Product Technology Development Project.” The laboratory will receive a total of around KRW 4.6 billion for the next three years and six months and conduct a task titled “Development of Original Technology of Synthetic Microorganism Platform for the Production of One-Step-and-One-Pot-based Next-Generation Biodegradable Bioplastic” in collaboration with Kyungpook National University, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Konkuk University. The research team will focus on the development of high-performance microbial strains that can produce everything in a single process from biomass and the raw material, to the final target product, that is property-tailored next-generation biodegradable bioplastics containing new monomers. Professor Si Jae Park, who is in charge of this project, said, “The Chemical Engineering and Materials Science major is focusing on the study on carbon neutrality to respond to climate change, and was recently selected for the ‘Low-Carbon Green Energy Chemical Process Research Project’ (Director: Professor Woo-Jae Kim), a part of the Ewha Frontier 10-10 Project. The task is related to biomass-based eco-friendly bioplastic production, which can contribute to carbon neutrality, and is expected to increase the possibility of commercialization of bioplastic through the development of process that enables the production of raw materials to the final products in a single process, thus playing an important role in the construction and vitalization of the carbon-neutral bioplastic industry ecosystem.”
- No.645
- Writer
- Date2022.07.15
- Views16888

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