# Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) is a research-oriented university focused on science and technology that is located in Gwangju, South Korea. GIST is a member of the research-oriented universities group consisting of GIST-KAIST-UNIST-UST-POSTECH-DGIST.

## History

The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) was established by the South Korean government in 1993 as a research-oriented graduate school to train highly skilled scientists and researchers, to create a strong research base for further development of advanced science and technology, and to promote collaborative foreign and domestic research programs within industry and academia. According to a 2012 news article in the Korea JoongAng Daily, "All classes are taught in English, and master’s and doctoral thesis are all written in English. Doctoral students only receive their degrees if they have published more than one work as the first author in scientific journals, encouraging them to be research leaders. And in 2001, GIST became the first Korean university to introduce a thesis quality certification [program], gaining attention from the science field and the media."
Then in 2010, GIST College was established at GIST to offer Korea's first liberal arts oriented science curriculum for undergraduate students. According to GIST College Professor Kyung-Deok Roh, "GIST College is the only university that pursues and practices the philosophy of liberal arts education in Korea. However, GIST College has unique traits that separate it from conventional liberal arts colleges. It is because GIST first started out as a research-oriented graduate school, and as such its undergraduate education can utilize and benefit from the knowledge, infrastructure, and expertise that the research institution already possesses. In other words, GIST College, while upholding liberal arts as the core of its undergraduate education, can also work closely with the graduate school for deeper-level education and research. This is a feature that makes GIST College all the more special."

## Rankings

In the 2016/2017 QS World University Rankings® Result tables, GIST was ranked number 2 in the world in the category of citations per faculty. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014–2015, GIST was ranked 96th in the world in the category of Engineering & Technology.

### Special Rankings

| QS World Universities Ranking | #3 in the World number per citations per faculty |
| Times Higher Education World University Technology Rankings | #4 in South Korea |
| Patent application/registration number Ranking (HanKuk economy paper) | #2 in South Korea |
| Technology transfer income Ranking (HanKuk economy paper) | #1 in South Korea |
| Research fund per faculty Ranking (Korea Research Foundation) | #2 in South Korea |
| Thomson Reuters | #8 in South Korea |

## Timeline

| August 5, 1993 | Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology Act promulgated |
| October 11, 1993 | Dr. Doo-Bong Ha inaugurated as first president |
| February 27, 1997 | First master's degrees conferred |
| Jan 22, 1998 | Dr. Hyo-Gun Kim was appointed as the 2nd president |
| February 20, 2000 | First doctorate degrees conferred |
| Feb. 16, 2002 | Dr. Jung-Woong Ra, was appointed as the 3rd president |
| March 26, 2004 | English acronym changed from KJIST to GIST, following Romanization change of the city name from Kwangju to Gwangju |
| Feb. 16, 2006 | Dr. Sung-Gwan Huh was appointed as the 4th president |
| Jun. 04, 2008 | Dr. Jung-Ho Sonu was appointed as the 5th president |
| Jun. 04, 2012 | Dr. Young-Joon Kim was appointed as the 6th president |
| February 25, 2014 | First bachelor's degrees conferred |
| March 11, 2015 | Dr. Seung Hyeon Moon inaugurated as 7th president |
| March 6, 2019 | Dr. Kiseon Kim inaugurated as 8th president |
| Oct. 11, 2019 | Artificial Intelligence Graduate School is established |
| July 7, 2023 | Dr. Kichul Lim inaugurated as 9th president |

## Departments
### GIST College (bachelor's programs)

* Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences (freshmen)
* Majors (sophomores, juniors and seniors)
** Physics Concentration
** Chemistry Concentration
** Life Science Concentration
** Engineering and Applied Science Concentrations
*** Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Concentration
*** Mechanical Engineering Concentration
*** Materials Science and Engineering Concentration
*** Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering Concentration

### Graduate Schools (master's and doctoral programs)

* School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
* School of Mechanical Engineering
* School of Materials Science and Engineering
* School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering
* School of Life Sciences
* School of Physics and Chemistry
** Department of Physics and Photon Science
** Department of Chemistry
* Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics
* Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering