[Selected faculty include Professor Jun Sung Kim of Department of Physics, Professor Byoungwoo Kang, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor Jeong Woo Han of Department of Chemical Engineering.]

Professor Jun Sung Kim (Department of Physics), Professor Byoungwoo Kang (Department of Materials Science and Engineering), and Professor Jeong Woo Han (Department of Chemical Engineering) are the next-generation researchers who will lead the future research of POSTECH.

POSTECH’s support initiative for next-generation leader researchers, which began in 2021, offers research funding of KRW 300 million (approximately USD 240,000) over three years to fully support the research of faculty who will lead future of science and technology.

Professor Jun Sung Kim, who was selected this year for the funding, has focused on the research on the synthesis of new materials and the extreme physical properties of high magnetic fields and cryogenic temperatures in condensed matter physics. He has consecutively discovered new two-dimensional materials with topological electronic states and ferromagnetic properties and published them in Nature, which is one of the world’s most cited scientific journals. His achievements in Korea and overseas have been recognized for pioneering a unique research field. His research on material development, particularly in conjunction with the usage of new matters is considered to be highly competitive around the world.

Professor Byoungwoo Kang has developed and proposed high-capacity cathode materials in lithium-ion secondary batteries as well as materials to be used in next-generation batteries. Additionally, he has demonstrated their applicability, thereby proposing the future direction for the development of secondary batteries materials. He has played a key role in establishing the Graduate Institute of Ferrous and Energy Materials Technology (GIFT) to make POSTECH the mecca of secondary battery materials. Further, he is the director of the Materials Research Center for Batteries and is responsible for operating the POSTECH Samsung SDI Battery Track (PSBT), where he works hard to nurture talented individuals.

Professor Jeong Woo Han has pioneered research in the fields of computational chemistry–based catalyst and energy material design. He has published approximately 190 papers in SCIE-indexed journals and is dedicated to developing theoretical design strategies for high-performance materials in clean energy production, conversion, and storage including hydrogen fuel. Through active joint research within and beyond the university, he has served as a “catalyst” for developing Korea’s science and technology through the industry–university research institute partnership.

Meanwhile, Professor Jong-Seong Kug in the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Professor Chulhong Kim of the Department of Convergence IT Engineering, and Professor Junsuk Rho of the Department of Mechanical Engineering were the next-generation leading researchers selected last year.