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Pohang University of Science and Technology

Coordinates: 36°00′39.18″N 129°19′21.61″E / 36.0108833°N 129.3226694°E / 36.0108833; 129.3226694
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Pohang University of Science and Technology
포항공과대학교
Motto성실, 창의, 진취
Motto in English
Integrity, Creativity, and Aspiration
TypePrivate
Established1986
PresidentSeong Keun KIM (ko)
Academic staff
283 (2018)[1]
Students3,581 (2018)[1]
Undergraduates1,422 (2018)[1]
Postgraduates2,159 (2018)[1]
Location
Pohang
,
Gyeongbuk Province
,
South Korea
CampusUrban
MascotPostech Ponix (Phoenix)
Websitepostech.ac.kr
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Hangul
포항공과대학교 / 포스텍
Hanja
浦項工科大學校 / 포스텍
Revised RomanizationPohang Gonggwa Daehakgyo / Poseutek
McCune–ReischauerP'ohang Kongkwa Taehakkyo / P'osŭt'ek

Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) is a private research university in Pohang, South Korea.

History

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POSTECH was established in 1986 in Pohang, Korea by POSCO, a steel company.[2]

POSTECH hosted POSCO's Research Institute of Science and Technology (RIST) on campus. In 1994, POSTECH set up the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), a 3rd-generation synchrotron light source and now a national facility. PAL-XFEL, a 4th-generation light source X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) was completed in 2016 at the cost of US$390 million, the third of its kind in the world, and will open up new frontiers and research areas in life sciences, materials, chemistry, and physics.[3]

Margaret Thatcher visits POSTECH
Margaret Thatcher with POSTECH president Hogil Kim in May 1986

Timeline

[edit]
Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology
The Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology is the world's only fully accredited institute in the field of steel science and technology.
December 3, 1986 POSTECH founded by Founding Chairman Tae-joon Park and First President Hogil Kim
March 5, 1987 First matriculation ceremony
March 1, 1989 Department of Life Sciences established
February 7, 1990 First commencement for M.S. candidates
February 20, 1991 Conferment of first B.S. degrees
December 7, 1994 Completion of Pohang Light Source
May 15, 1998 Ranked 1st among Asian science and technology universities by Asiaweek Magazine
February 28, 2000 Pohang Techno Park established jointly with the City of Pohang and POSCO
August 23, 2001 Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics relocates to POSTECH
August 17, 2002 Selected as an "Excellent University for Educational Reform" for the seventh consecutive year by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development
April 25, 2003 Tae-joon Park Digital Library opens
September 9, 2005 Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology (GIFT) established
May 30, 2007 National Institute for Nanomaterials Technology established
March 2, 2010 Bilingual campus declared
June 14, 2010 Agreement with Max Planck Society to establish Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative
September 16, 2010 Ranked 28th in the World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
July 6, 2011 Department of Creative IT Engineering established
August 20, 2012 Graduate School of Engineering Mastership established
December 1, 2012 Selected as one of the 2012 Top 100 Global Innovators by Thomson Reuters
February 15, 2013 Tae-joon Park Institute opened
May 9, 2013 Groundbreaking of PAL-XFEL
June 13, 2013 Four research centers of Institute for Basic Science established
June 20, 2013 Ranked 1st among the top 100 universities under 50 years old by Times Higher Education
October 7, 2013 Ranked 1st in Joong Ang Ilbo Korean University Rankings 2013
May 2, 2014 Ranked 1st among the top 100 universities under 50 years old by Times Higher Education (three consecutive years)
September 15, 2014 POSTECH Entrepreneurship Center opened (supported by Small & Medium Business Administration)
September 19, 2014 APGC-Lab and a new start-up company (exBrain) opened
October 6, 2014 Ranked 1st in Joongang Ilbo Korean University Rankings (two consecutive years)
December 17, 2014 The Pohang Center for Creative Economy & Innovation opened (5th floor of C5)
June 4, 2016 PAL-XFEL achieved first light

Presidents

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Number Name Years in office
1 Hogil Kim (ko) 1985-1994
2 Sooyoung Chang 1994-1998
3 Sungkee Chang 1998-2002
4 Chanmo Park (ko) 2003-2007
5 Sunggi Baik (ko) 2007-2011
6 Yongmin Kim (ko) 2011–2015
7 Doh-Yeon Kim (ko) 2015–2019
8 Moo Hwan Kim (ko) 2019–2023
9 Seong Keun Kim (ko) 2023–Present

University rankings

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University rankings
QS National[4] General 5
THE National[5] General 5
ARWU National[6] Research 7–8
QS Asia
(Asia version)[7]		 General 22
THE Asia
(Asia version)[8]		 General 21
USNWR Asia[9] General 92
ARWU World[10] Research 301–400
QS World[11] General 98
THE World[12] General 151
USNWR World[13] General =385

In 1998, POSTECH was ranked by Asiaweek as the best science and technology university in Asia.[17] From 2002 to 2006 JoongAng Ilbo ranked POSTECH as the leading university in Korea. In 2010, the Times Higher Education ranked POSTECH 28th in the world.[18] In 2011, the Times Higher Education[19] ranked the university as the 53rd best university in the world, the 6th best in Asia, and the best in South Korea. In 2017–2018, QS World University Rankings ranked POSTECH 71st overall in the world. It remains third best ranked in Korea, after Seoul National University and KAIST, in the QS Asian University Rankings.[20] However, in the Times Higher Education rankings, it scored highly after compilers placed less emphasis on "reputation and heritage" and gave more weight to objective measures including the influence of universities' research, placing 53rd.[21] In 2012 and 2013, the Times Higher Education ranked POSTECH 1st in its "100 Under 50 Young Universities" rankings.[22] The New York Times[23] and the International Herald Tribune[24] cited POSTECH's rapid ascent as a young university to top the world rankings in less than 50 years.

Campus

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POSTECH is a 400-acre campus located twenty minutes by car from downtown Pohang, an hour by bus from Busan, and approximately two and half hours by train (KTX) from Seoul.

Traditional Korean performance at Tae-Joon Park Library

Tae-Joon Park Digital Library

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Completed in 2003, the Tae-Joon Park Library is 24,420 square meters with 352,977 volumes and 8,324 digital and paper journals. As of 2005, the library collection consists of approximately 320,000 books, 3,500 journals, 7,000 e-journals 25 databases, and 4,400 multimedia materials. The Library shares materials with industrial-educational-research cooperation and is part of an intercollegiate data exchange program with approximately 150 other research and educational institutions throughout the nation.[25]

Smart campus

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In 2010, for the first time among Korean universities, POSTECH implemented a Desktop Cloud Service. However, many of the previously implemented technological services (e.g. campus smartphone applications, university website, university online portal, etc.) are defective as they have not been since updated.[26]

Academics

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Admissions

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POSTECH admits approximately 300 undergraduate students each year. POSTECH received 1,987 applicants for freshman admission and admitted 323 for the 2014 school year. POSTECH provides the highest educational investment and the most per-student scholarship support in Korea, allowing students from all economic backgrounds the opportunity to obtain a POSTECH education.[27]

Research

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The 4th generation light source (PAL-XFEL), which has been operational since 2015, is 10 billion times brighter than the 3rd generation light source.[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About POSTECH". POSTECH Official website. POSTECH. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  2. ^ "The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities". The World Bank September 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Seo, Ji-eun (30 September 2016). "Korea builds advanced particle accelerator". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ "QS University Rankings 2025". Top Universities. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "THE University Rankings 2025 - South Korea". Times Higher Education (THE). 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  6. ^ World University Rankings - 2023 (2024). "South Korea Universities in Top 500 universities". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "Asia University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  9. ^ U.S.News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities in Asia". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  10. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  11. ^ "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "THE World University Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  13. ^ U.S.News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "2023 JoongAng Ilbo University Rankings". JoongAng Ilbo. 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  15. ^ U.S.News & World Report (2024). "Best Global Universities in South Korea". Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "Young University Rankings 2024: South Korea". Times Higher Education (THE). 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Ahead of the curve: Asia's science and technology institutes mix students and success". Asiaweek May 15, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2005.
  18. ^ "Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2010-2011". 2015-04-13.
  19. ^ "Times Higher Education's 2011-2012 World University Rankings".
  20. ^ "QS Asian University Rankings: Overall in 2012". Quacquarelli Symonds. 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  21. ^ "Times Higher Education world top 200 universities".
  22. ^ "Times Higher Education's 100 Under 50 Universities 2013". 2015-04-13.
  23. ^ Lau, Joyce (2012-06-04). "Who's the Next M.I.T.?". New York Times June 4, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  24. ^ Yang, Calvin (2013-06-24). "Korean Institute Tops List of Younger Universities". IHT June 25, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  25. ^ "Introduction". Tae-Joon Park Digital Library. 2005. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  26. ^ "Smart Campus". POSTECH Website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  27. ^ "POSTECH Spent Most Money on Students". The Chosun Ilbo September 23, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  28. ^ Seo, Ji-eun (30 September 2016). "Korea builds advanced particle accelerator". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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