Pukyong National University Selected for Regional Innovation Growth 'Campus Innovation Park Contest Project'

National Pukyong National University has been finally selected for the ‘2023 Campus Innovation Park Competition Project’ to create an urban high-tech industrial complex on campus.

The Campus Innovation Park is a large-scale project jointly promoted by three ministries: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, to establish a university-centered regional innovation ecosystem. The budget invested amounts to 53 billion KRW over five years, including national and municipal funds.

This project aims to develop an urban high-tech industrial complex on university idle land and establish an industry-academia-research innovation hub (enterprise residence space) to develop the university as a base for regional innovation growth.

Universities nationwide competed fiercely to attract the project, but only two universities, Pukyong National University and Dankook University (Cheonan), were finally selected.

Aerial view of Pukyong National University Yongdang Campus.

Pukyong National University scored highly in all areas of the evaluation criteria, including development feasibility, project implementation capability and willingness, the possibility of participation by enterprise attraction and enterprise support institutions, and the administrative and financial support willingness of local governments.

Pukyong National University’s Yongdang Campus, which has excellent locations such as transportation and logistics, is home to about 250 companies including startups. The fact that this campus has established a close cooperative system with Busan City and the local industry, attracting attention as a mecca of industry-academia-research cooperation in the southeastern region, also acted as a major strength.

With this project selection, Pukyong National University plans to designate 18,000㎡ of land within Yongdang Campus as an urban high-tech industrial complex and build an industry-academia-research innovation hub with a total floor area of 20,000㎡ equipped with industry-academia cooperation spaces and cultural welfare facilities by 2028.

They plan to enhance the linkage between Busan City and regional-government-industry-academia-research programs and maximize outcomes such as local talent development and startup education.

Busan City has committed to actively providing continuous administrative and financial support, including construction costs, support funds for resident company development programs, financial support for resident companies, and personnel expenses for new employees.

Pukyong National University’s Yongdang Campus aims to become the largest industry-academia-research cooperation cluster in Korea by 2028, with a total of about 500 companies and 5,000 research and technical personnel residing there.

With this project selection, Pukyong National University is expected to gain momentum in the selection and promotion of future industry projects by the government and Busan City, such as the ‘Regional Semiconductor Joint Research Institute,’ the ‘Semiconductor Specialized University Support Project,’ and the ‘Startup Education Hub University,’ which it is currently pursuing participation in.

Jang Young-su, president of Pukyong National University, said, “We expect this to be an important opportunity for Pukyong National University and the local community to grow together by creating jobs in future industries, fostering excellent local talent, and resolving job mismatches between companies and talent.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.