KIST, Seoul National University, & RIST Sign Business Agreement for Carbon Neutral R&D

On April 19th, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST; President: Seok-Jin Yoon) signed a business agreement with Seoul National University (SNU; President: Hong-Lim Ryu) and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST; President: Soo-Hee Nam) at the Seoul National University Administration Building.

KIST has recently been leading research on carbon-neutral fundamental technologies which can be applied to various electrochemical conversion systems, such as developing new technologies to produce high value-added compounds through CO2 conversion. Seoul National University has secured a number of core carbon-neutral fundamental technologies, such as hydrogen production and carbon dioxide conversion solar cells, while RIST is focusing on developing processes and practical technologies in various fields, including CO2 resource conversion.

Under this agreement, the three organizations plan to establish and operate a “Greentech Lab-to-Industry Center” that will be open to related companies and various institutions, offering them opportunities to discover excellent source technologies, jointly carry out R&D, exchange information and manpower, and foster related talents.

Through this agreement, KIST and Seoul National University will bring together their research capabilities as the nation's top government-funded research institute and university, respectively, and develop carbon-neutral demonstration technologies that can be commercialized. And for its part, as a process-specialized research institute, RIST will provide advice and technical support for the overall scale-up process.

Regarding the agreement, Seok-Jin Yoon, President of KIST, commented, "Responding preemptively through technological innovation is important to realizing carbon neutrality, and will be a guiding principle for reorganization under a new international order," adding, "Under the rapid demonstration of our outstanding and original fundamental technologies, KIST will spare no effort in leading Korea to technological hegemony in the field of carbon neutrality."

Hong-Lim Ryu, President of Seoul National University, said, "This partnership will serve as a model for industry, academia, and research institutes that drives the development of professionals and carbon-neutral innovation technologies."

Soo-Hee Nam, President of RIST, stated, "By applying RIST's unique smart engineering techniques accumulated over the past 36 years, we will contribute to solving the facility and process scale-up issues, which is the biggest bottleneck in commercializing laboratory-level fundamental technologies."

Those in attendance at the event included: Seok-Jin Yoon, President of KIST; Eun-Gyeong Yang, Vice President of KIST; Hyun-Kwang Seok, Director of KIST’s Research Planning & Coordination Division; Byoung-Koun Min, Director of KIST’s Clean Energy Research Division; Hong-Lim Ryu, President of Seoul National University; Jae-Young Kim, Executive Vice President for Research Affairs at Seoul National University; Gyu-Hong Kim, Head of the Siheung Campus of Seoul National University; Ki-Tae Nam, Director of Seoul National University’s Soft Foundry Institute; Soo-Hee Nam, President of RIST; Chang-Won Yoon, Director of RIST’s Hydrogen and Low Carbon Research Institute; Geun-Hwan Kim, Director of RIST’s Convergence Innovation Research Institute; Ju-woong Yoon, Director of RIST’s Hydrogen Research Center; Kwan-Hee Lee, Head of RIST’s Smart Solution Research Group; and Geon-Woo Han, Head of RIST’s Low Carbon Research Group.

Meanwhile, KIST has also been striving to innovate in preparation for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by jointly hosting the Korea Carbon Neutral Strategy Forum with Seoul National University, held on March 7, and discussing industrial, academic, and research cooperation measures related to carbon neutrality and Korea's carbon neutrality strategy.