POSTECH Actively Recruits Top Faculty with Outstanding Expertise, Drawing Attention

“We will continue to attract exceptional talent from Korea and abroad.”

As the concentration of academic resources in the Seoul metropolitan area intensifies, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) is drawing attention by recruiting prominent professors from leading universities, leveraging its world-class research environment and global competitiveness.

According to POSTECH on July 2, Professor Nam-Yoon Lee (former professor at Korea University) has joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Professor Cheol-Hyun Cho (former professor at Seoul National University) has joined the Department of Mathematics. 

Professor Nam-Yoon Lee previously worked at POSTECH and has returned after three years, building on his research experience in Pohang. He is a world-renowned expert in massive MIMO transmission technologies for 5G/6G networks and next-generation satellite communications. 

His accolades include: 

- 2020 IEEE Communications Society Outstanding Young Researcher Award 

- 2021 IEEE-IEIE Young IT Engineer of the Year Award 

- 2021 Haedong Young Scientist Award from the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences 

Professor Cheol-Hyun Cho, who began his tenure on July 1, is a globally respected scholar in the fields of geometry and symmetry in mathematics. In 2023, he received the prestigious “DI Award,” the highest honor from the Korean Mathematical Society. Both professors cited POSTECH’s small, elite system, research-focused environment, and institutional flexibility as key strengths that attracted them to the university. 

In August, Dr. Youngjun Choi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara), will join POSTECH as a professor in the Department of Physics. Dr. Choi earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and has distinguished himself in the field of low-dimensional quantum electron phenomena. He has published four first-author papers in Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals. 

Recognizing his exceptional research capabilities, POSTECH plans to provide Dr. Choi with approximately 1 billion KRW (around 10 million USD) in initial settlement funds and special research support. 

The university recently increased its standard initial settlement support for new faculty to 500 million KRW, with no limit on additional support for those with exceptional academic expertise and research potential. 

POSTECH has also introduced Korea’s first early tenure extension system, which allows faculty to secure tenure through age 70 from as early as 50, fostering a researcher-centered academic environment. 

Jongbong Lee, Dean of Academic Affairs at POSTECH, stated, “The fact that distinguished professors with outstanding research achievements are choosing Pohang over the Seoul area demonstrates that our research environment and unique competitiveness can overcome regional limitations. We will continue striving to attract top-tier talent from around the world as a globally recognized research-focused university.”

Source: sweetjmini@kbmaeil.com