Creating 'Star Basic Scientists' Utilizing AI and Data

Seoul National University Institute for Scientific Data Innovation
Science Data-Based Transdisciplinary Research
Aiming for Top 10 Global Ranking in Convergent Data Science

Seoul National University (SNU) has established the 'Institute for Data-Intensive Science (IDIS)' to support innovative research based on scientific data and to promote interdisciplinary research activities. The institute aims to analyze natural science data using statistics, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, presenting a new research paradigm and achieving international research outcomes.

The opening ceremony of the 'Institute for Scientific Data Innovation' held on the 28th of last month at the Seoul National University Faculty Club. [Photo by Seoul National University]

The SNU LAMP Project Group officially launched the institute at an opening ceremony held on the 28th of last month at the SNU Faculty Club. The institute aims to serve as a convergence research platform across all natural science fields at SNU. To this end, it includes 25 professors from all departments and faculties of the College of Natural Sciences, as well as professors from the College of Medicine, Graduate School of Dentistry, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, and Graduate School of Data Science. Additionally, 25 postdoctoral researchers and 13 professors specializing in statistics, responsible for research, education, and consulting in statistics and data science, participate.

Previously, the SNU LAMP Project Group was selected for the 'LAMP' project, led by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. This project moves away from traditional project-based research support by establishing a system where universities manage and support research institutes, enabling young researchers from various departments and majors to conduct joint research. It receives an annual budget of 5 billion KRW, totaling 26 billion KRW over five years.

The institute plays a central role in conducting innovative research under this project. The LAMP Project Group plans to focus on supporting collaborative, convergent, and foundational research under the vision of 'Natural Science Innovation and Future Value Creation through Data Discovery.' In particular, it aims to rapidly develop the institute into a top 10 global research facility in the field of convergent data science by conducting interdisciplinary research based on scientific data.

On the 28th of last month, Yoo Hong-rim, President of Seoul National University, delivered a congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony of the 'Institute for Innovation in Scientific Data' held at the Seoul National University Faculty Club. [Photo by Seoul National University]

Yoo Jae-jun, head of the LAMP Project Group and dean of the College of Natural Sciences, stated, “While traditional scientific research has focused on theory building and experiments, it is now possible to explore new materials and explain new phenomena through large-scale data analysis using AI technology and data science.” He added, “Through the globally recognized new research paradigm of ‘data-driven discovery research,’ we will create fundamental scientific knowledge and world-class research outcomes, enabling South Korea to secure a leading position in ‘data-driven basic science’ research.”

Alongside the institute’s opening ceremony, a mini-symposium was held to share the latest research achievements in data-driven AI innovation. At the symposium, core institute members?Professor Park Geon-woong from the Department of Statistics, Professor Jung Choong-won from the Department of Life Sciences, and Professor Kim Ji-hoon from the Department of Physics and Astronomy?gave presentations on ▲ Directional Graphical Models and Data Discovery, ▲ Genomic Variation from the Perspective of Evolution, and ▲ Understanding Our Universe through Machine Learning, respectively.

Yoo Hong-rim, president of Seoul National University, said, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution demands new paradigms in education and research even in the field of basic science.” He added, “I hope our young researchers achieve research outcomes representing SNU’s big data-based basic science, lead innovation in basic science, and grow into future star scientists.”

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