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Took first place in the ‘Daegeum’ sector in Korea’s most prestigious concours celebrating its 34th anniversary Kwon Min-chang won the overall grand prize in the Daegu Gugak Music Festival [July 17, 2018] <YU College of Music (major in Korean Music) students won the gold and silver at the daegum sector of the 34th Donga Gugak Concours.> (Top, YU College of Music Major in Korean Music Daegeum (large bamboo flute) advisor Lee Young-seop, bottom left to right, Kwon Min-chang, Kim Yoon-woo) YU College of Music students majoring in Korean music won first and second place in the daegum sector of the 34th Donga Gugak (traditional Korean music) Concours. They are YU College of Music seniors Kwon Min-chang (23, gold) and Kim Yoon-woo (25, silver) who major in Korean music (instrumental music). The judges said that Kwon Min-chang’s creative piece had an easy-going flow and the sounds were mature, while saying that Kim Yoon-woo’s music composition was excellent. The two students are already famous among traditional musicians. Kwon Min-chang, who won the gold at the Donga Gugak Concours, made news by taking the overall top (Minister of Culture and Sports Award) at the regular session of the 28th Daegu Gugak Music Festival’s National Gugak Competition last year. The overall first place goes to the best musician in all sectors such as instrumental music, pansori, dance, folk music and pungmul. Furthermore, at the Hwasun Jeokbyeok National Gugak and Yeongsanjakbeop Competition on July 15 of this year, he won first place as well (Governor of Jeonnam Award)’. Kim Yoon-woo, who won silver, was recognized for his skills in the daegeum collaboration with the Daejeon Yeonjeong Korean Traditional Music Center last year. The Donga Gugak Concours was first held in 1985. It is a prominent competition that discovered many talented musicians who are now leaders of the traditional Korean music sector in Korea such as Professor Heo Yoon-jung of Seoul National University, Professor Yoo Young-joo of the Korea National University of Arts, and Professor Lee Young-seop of YU. This concours, which was hosted by Donga Ilbo and the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts and sponsored by Lotte Group, held its preliminaries and finals from June 9 to June 30. A total of 43 musicians were awarded in nine sectors (composition, pansori, vocal music, geomungo, flute, daegeum, haegeum, ajeng) and seven sectors for students (excluding composition and ajeng).
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Songkla University students from Thailand learn about Korea for 8 weeks such as Korean language, culture, economics, history, etc. YU-Songkla University to operate regular ‘Short-term Korean language programs’ Expected to diversify nations for international students and expand number of Thai students [July 4, 2018] <<Songkla University students from Thailand visiting YU to learn about Korea> Learning about Korea is becoming popular among Thai college students. Recently, 28 sophomores and juniors majoring in international studies from the Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus from Thailand are coming to Korea to learn Korean and about Korea. They selected YU to learn about Korea. After starting their studies at YU from Jun 15, they will learn about Korean including the Korean language, cultural experience, and field-learning programs for eight weeks until August 12. All expenses for this were paid by Songkla University. The Thai students who came to YU major in Korean studies. They are learning not only the Korean language, but also about Korea’s culture, history and politics. They will complete the short-term Korean language education program during their summer vacation. Suteephat, Sriphol, a junior at the Songkla University Department of International Studies who participated in this program said, “I majored in Korean studies because I was very interested in Korean culture such as K-pop. I am now not only interested in the Korean language and Korean culture, but also other fields such as Korean history and politics. During this program, I hope to improve my Korean skills and experience the diverse cultures of Korea through field-training.” Pemika Pereepas (sophomore) said, “I remember trying ttokboki and samgyetang at a Korean restaurant in Thailand and it was very good. I want to try various food cultures while in Korea.” During their training period, the students will visit major attractions and industries of the Daegu and Gyeongbuk areas and Seoul such as Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Daegu National Science Museum, Seoul Cheonggyecheon, Lotte World 2, Ulsan Hyundai Motors, and Pohang POSCO to experience the culture and economy of Korea. They will also visit Gyeongju Bulguksa Temple, Cheomseongdae and Andong Hahoe Village and experience the culture and history of Korea that they learned in their studies. During the training, Thai students also take part in the Buddy Program with YU students. YU students will team up with Thai students and help them become familiar with Korean culture and adapt to the training as soon as possible. Thai students will use their leisure time such as weekends to spend time with Korean college students and experience Korean culture. YU External Cooperation Office Director Heo Chang-deok said, “Though we had a few international students at our graduate school, we had none in undergraduate or language courses. We are planning to regularly operate short-term Korean language programs with Songkla University in Thailand starting with this exchange.” He added, “Through this training, it is expected that we will be able to diversify nations from which international students come from and attract more students from Thailand.”
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Over 460 students dispatched over summer break for overseas volunteer programs, overseas internships, backpacking, overseas field trips linked to majors, visits to advanced industries, etc. Overseas volunteer corps, “We will elevate the status of Korea as YU ambassadors!” [July 3, 2018] <The 35th Overseas Volunteer Corps launching ceremony was held at the YU College of Education auditorium in the afternoon of the 2nd.> YU students will travel around the world this summer break to elevate their global capacities. YU operates various overseas dispatch programs during vacations every year. This summer break, around 460 YU students will embark to different parts of the world. One of the most famous overseas dispatch programs of YU is the ‘overseas volunteer corps’. A total of 2,570 students participated in a total of 34 overseas volunteer corps programs since 2001. This summer break, the 35th overseas volunteer corps will be sending 57 students to Laos, Mongolia and Uzbekistan to engage in overseas volunteer programs. They held a launching ceremony at the YU College of Education auditorium at 3 p.m. on the 2nd and will take part in volunteer activities for two weeks during July. The volunteers will go to local elementary schools to volunteer in education and environmental improvement. The volunteers will be divided into the four teams of education, art, physical education and culture where they will provide Korean and English education, Korean music, masked dance and traditional Korean games to spread the Korean culture. During their volunteer period, they will also conduct educational environment improvement activities such as repairing the floors in elementary schools. Bae Jae-han (24, School of Economics and Finance, senior), who is the team leader of the Mongolia team in the 35th overseas volunteer corps, said, “It is the first time going overseas for volunteer activities, so there are many things to prepare for. Our team members shared the work and made a lot of preparations, so I am sure that we our volunteer services will be helpful at the site.” Bae added, “As we are representing YU, we will do our best to elevate the status of Korea and YU.” <YU overseas volunteer corps> One of the most popular overseas dispatch programs supported by YU is ‘Window To the World’. In ‘Window To the World’, students make up teams and set their own theme to go on backpacking trips around the world. Selected students are given round-trip airfare, etc. by the school. Since starting in 2002, a total of 2,520 students traveled around the world. This summer 122 students will go backpacking around the world such as Europe, Australia, Japan, China, etc. in teams of 2 and 3. In addition, about 280 students will participate in overseas internships programs at local businesses abroad in the US, Hong Kong and Japan, as well as field trips to overseas companies, overseas field work linked to majors, short-term language programs, and overseas business start-up programs in England, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc. Thus, a total of 460 people will travel around the world this summer break. YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “I hope that during this summer break, students will be able to travel around the world to broaden their horizons and have the opportunity to amass various activities,” and added, “YU will develop and support a wider variety of overseas dispatch programs so that more students will be able to gain a broader global mindset.”
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‘4 golds, 1 silver, 2 bronze’ Brilliant record following the ‘overall victory’ at the 36th National Wrestling Championship back in March YU Wrestling’s golden age by winning the national championship and being selected as national representatives [July 3, 2018] <YU wrestling team that swept 7 medals at the 43rd KBS National Wrestling Tournament> (Left to right: Kim Sung-soo, Park Cheol-woong, Ban Chang-hwan, Kim Ha-neul, Kim Yong-hak, Kim Jong-won, Han Hyun-soo) The YU wrestling team (Coach Kim Ik-hee) took home seven medals including four gold medals at the 43rd Yang Jung-mo Olympic Victory Commemoration KBS National Wrestling Tournament. At this tournament held at the Wooseul Gymnasium in Haenam-gun, Jeonnam from June 20 to 26, YU won four gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals for a total of seven medals. Kim Ha-neul (21, Sports Science, junior, 65kg), Kim Yong-hak (20, Special Physical Education, junior, 76kg), Park Cheol-woong (21, Special Physical Education, senior, 97kg), and Kim Sung-soo (20, Special Physical Education, 125kg) struck gold, Han Hyun-soo (20, Special Physical Education, 125kg) won silver, and Kim Jong-won (21, Special Physical Education, senior) and Ban Chang-hwang (20, Special Physical Education, sophomore) won bronze in the 92kg class. At the 36th National Wrestling Championship, the YU wrestling team took a total of eight medals comprised of two golds, three silvers, and three bronze for overall win in March of this year. Last year, at the 28th Autumn National Wrestling Championship held in December, they won a total of eight medals including four golds, one silver and three bronze for overall victory, thus becoming the top name in college wrestling. <YU Wrestling Team> Coach Kim Ik-hee, who is leading the golden age of YU wrestling, said, “I am thankful to the students who worked hard and followed my leadership despite their busy schedule of schoolwork, training and various tournaments.” He added, “We will continue training hard to continue the golden age of YU wrestling.”
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‘Entrepeneurs and Dystopia’, ‘Translation and Annotations of the Poems of Zhu Xi’, ‘Politics of Korean Health and Medicine Reforms’ Selected as the ‘2018 Best Academic Books and Support Program’ of the Ministry of Education A total of 50 books published by the YU Publication Center selected as best books [July 2, 2018] <Three books published by the YU Publication Center selected as ‘Best Academic Books’ by the National Academy of Sciences> Three books published by the YU Publication Center were selected as best academic books by the National Academy of Sciences. The books are ‘Entrepeneurs and Dystopia’ (Lee Jung-hee, et al), ‘Translation and Annotations of the Poems of Zhu Xi’ (translated by Jang Se-hoo), and ‘Politics of Korean Health and Medicine Reforms’ (Kim Sun-yang). ‘Entrepeneurs and Dystopia’ examine the initial prosperity and success of companies and entrepeneurs in various countries followed by tragic confrontation and conflict, and failure as dystopia and studies it from various aspects. The authors claim that the abilities of entrepreneurs that produce utopia can lead to falling into dystopia. They focus on the dark side of corporate activities and try to take on a balanced approach to reveal all aspects of corporate activities. ‘Translation and Annotations of the Poems of Zhu Xi’ is a translation of the poems written by the philosopher, Zhu Xi. This collection includes all 1,500 plus poems found in the 10 volumes of ‘Jumungongjip’ and other books. Lastly, ‘Politics of Korean Health and Medicine Reforms’ constructed a comprehensive analysis frame to analyze the political dynamics of the process of health and medicine reforms in Korea. Based, on this, it compares and analyzes major health and medicine reform cases for the politics of health and medicine reforms that continued for over 50 years since the 1960s. It analyzes the beliefs and understanding of the relevant persons during the course of health and medicine reform up until now, direction of public benefit, government roles and political intent, strategic behavior of the actors, etc. in a systematic manner, while empirically examining conflicts, resistance, successes, and failures that occurred during the course of health and medicine reforms Meanwhile, these books were selected for the Ministry of Education’s ‘2018 Best Academic Books and Support Program’ and they will be purchased by the National Academy of Sciences and distributed to college libraries and public libraries around the nation. A total of 50 books published by the YU Publication Center have been selected as best books by outside institutes.
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Part of Ministry of Education’s PRIME Project... Newly established Robot Engineering Department and Automobile Engineering Department last year Equipped with design and production lab such as drones, balancing robots and self-driving cars Focusing on fostering experts in the robot and automobile sectors [June 21, 2018] YU (President Sur Gil-soo) opened the Robot Hall and Automobile Hall. This aims at fostering experts in the robot and automobile sectors, which are core industries of the next generation. At 2 p.m. on the 21st, YU held an opening ceremony for the Robot Hall and Automobile Hall to focus on fostering talents in the robot and automobile sectors. The robot and automobile sectors key fields that were selected by YU as future growth-engine fields and the Ministry of Education’s PRIME (PRogram for Industrial needs – Matched Education) project. <Robot Hall Lab> The robot hall stands three stories tall with a basement level and has a total floor space of 3,462.71m2 and is comprised of the blended learning lecture room, lab, and robot fun shop. It is equipped with a lab for producing robots modeled with 3D printers from drones, balancing robots, and arduino compatible human robots. The automobile hall has three stories and a total floor space of 3,934.89m2. It is equipped with a smart lab for one-stop projects that students can use for classes and for design, production etc., as well as a power train lab and self-driving automobile lab. The robot hall and automobile hall were made by renovating two buildings that were used as labs. Construction costs were paid for by national funding for the PRIME project. <Automobile hall lab> At the opening ceremony, YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “With the opening of the robot hall and automobile hall, we now have an educational environment where students can share their creative ideas and indulge in convergence and integration research.” He added, “The robot and automobile fields are core industry sectors of the fourth industrial revolution that combines various majors and knowledge. We will spare no support for creating a research and education infrastructure to lead the fostering of professional talents that will lead the future core industries.” Meanwhile, YU was selected for the Ministry of Education’s PRIME project in 2016 and has been pursuing projects for three years. As part of this, YU separated the electric, electronics, computer, information communication, and mechanics majors in the College of Engineering in 2017 to establish the College of Mechanical and IT Engineering, while newly establishing the Department of Robotics and Intelligent Engineering and the Department of Automotive Engineering. Using its mechanical, electric, electronic and computer engineering fields that YU has traditionally been strong in, YU is utilizing the College of Mechanical and IT Engineering to focus on nurturing the intelligent robotics and future automobile sectors, which are future growth-engine fields.
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Students of the YU Department of Early Childhood Education hold bazaar during college festival and donate earnings Donated 3.58 million won to ChildFund Korea for four years since 2015 Sharing becomes a department tradition... Plans to engage in talent donation activities such as education volunteering [June 8, 2018] <YU Department of Childhood Education students who donated festival earnings for the fourth year> College students who held bazaars during college festivals every year have become a beautiful story. They are students of the YU Department of Early Childhood Education. They donated 710,000 won that they earned from a bazaar held during the May school festival and donated the money to ChildFund Korea, a children’s welfare institute, on June 4. This is the fourth year since beginning donation activities in 2015. They have donated a total of 3.58 million won to organizations involved with young children. Students who participated in the donation activities said, “Though it is not much money, it is rewarding that through our campaign people might have gained more interest on needy children around us.” The YU Department of Early Childhood Education enjoyed festivals a bit differently from the normal college festival since 2015. they have been participating in various campaigns and charity drives for ‘young children rights advocacy’ that is related to their major. At this festival, they sold clothes and bags donated by undergraduate and graduate students and also sold bracelets that they hand-made to continue the donation activities. The students said that they plan to use what they learned in their majors to engage in other talent sharing activities utilizing their knowledge and talents. YU Department of Early Childhood Education student president Kim Hye-joo (21, junior) said, “We are planning to make a school club to engage in education volunteer activities for needy children and also plan to donate educational tools that students made to preschools, etc. We hope that such sharing will become a tradition of our department.” YU Department of Early Childhood Education Dean Yoon Jae-hee said, “I am proud to see the students plan out campaigns and practice sharing,” and added, “When considering the social atmosphere that emphasizes sensibility for human rights as capacities for teachers of young children, the experience of sharing time and passion for young children will have a positive impact on the future young children teachers.”
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Technology developed by School of Chemical Engineering Jung Jae-hak to be transferred to Hanyeolnuri Technology transfer fee 150 million won... Solving solar power quality issue and constructing optimal management system Never before applied in the world... Expected to enhance market value [June 15, 2018] YU (President Sur Gil-soo) will transfer solar power technologies, which is a core next-generation industry, to a company. At 2 p.m. on the 14th, YU signed a technology transfer MOU with Hanyeolnuri (CEO Kwon Taek-jo), which is a company specializing in renewable energy located in Chungbuk. The technologies that will be transferred include three patented technologies related to solar energy possessed by YU including the ‘independent solar power generation control device and control method’ developed by YU School of Chemical Engineering Professor Jung Jae-hak. With this contract, YU will receive a technology transfer fee of 150 million won. The technology that YU transferred allows smooth power use and management using a battery instead of the solar power generation system that depends on sunlight. Furthermore, as it can predict the time of power usage and module replacement time through the module reliability evaluation system that applied semiconductor simulation technologies, it is possible to construct the optimal management system for solar power modules. The independent solar power generation system that applies this technology can solve the inconsistent power quality issue depending on the always changing sunlight and it can also cut down on maintenance costs as the battery life was extended by 10-20%. This technology was never before applied in the world so it is expected to have very high market value. In order to apply this technology in domestic and foreign solar power generators, YU and Hanyeolnuri is planning to construct a performance evaluation system and optimal control system by next year and is scheduled to apply it as the standard system for domestic and foreign solar power generators beginning construction in 2020. YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “The outstanding technologies and researchers of YU are now being recognized by companies.” He added, “YU will take the initiative in creating future growth-engines through industry-academic cooperation in various fields.”
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Highest number of passers among universities in Daegu and Gyeongbuk... 4 in administration, 2 in technical 4 in 2016, 5 in 2017... Number of passes increase every year thanks to systematic support from the university [June 19, 2018] <YU graduates who passed the ‘2018 National Position Regional Talent Grade 7 Trainee Test’> (from left to right: Employment Office Director Lee Seung-woo, Park Geon-ho, CHoi Joon-young, Lee Hae-jung, YU President Sur Gil-soo, Lee Yang-hee, Lee Min-gyu, Park Jung-min, Department of Police Administration Professor Sung Do-gyeong)> YU (President Sur Gil-soo) celebrated having six people pass the ‘2018 National Position Regional Talent Grade 7 Trainee Test’. This is the highest number of passers among universities in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions. In this year’s test, a total of 498 students from 111 universities around the nation and 130 were selected. Six of them comprised of four in administrative and two in technical positions were from YU. In administrative positions they are Lee Yang-hee (26, graduated from the School of Economics and Finance), Lee Min-gyu (25, graduated from Department of Food Science and Technology), Lee Hae-jung (24, graduated from Department of Media and Communication), Park Jung-min (22, graduated from Department of Public Administration), and from technical positions, they were Park Geon-ho (26, graduated from the School of Mechanical Engineering), and Choi Joon-young (25, graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering). The number of passers from YU has been continuously on the rise from four in 2016 to five in 2017. It is judged that the systematic and assertive support by the university is resulting in such heightened competitiveness. YU helps students throughout the entire process from recruiting college recommendee to written tests and applications. Lee Min-gyu, who graduated in August of last year, said, “The regular lectures and employment study groups offered by the university help a lot. In particular, thanks to the consideration from the school and advising professor, I was able to take the official position aptitude class in the second semester of last year despite already graduating, which helped me a lot in passing the written test.” He added, “After completing the training, I would like to utilize my major next year and work at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy or the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.” Around June of every year, YU offers regular lectures on written tests, etc. by recruiting students preparing for the ‘National Position Regional Talent Grade 7 Trainee Test’ and assigns an advising professor (School of Police Administration Professor Sung Do-gyeong) for individual guidance. Also, the Employment Office offers online lectures and supports employment study groups to prepare for written tests and also helps students prepare for interviews through meetings with seniors who passed the test in the past. YU Employment Office Director Lee Seung-woo said, “The secret to the high passing rate is the university’s systematic support that provides practical assistance to students preparing to enter the public sector from public position aptitude tests to final interviews.” He added, “We have displayed significantly higher passing rates not only in national position regional talents, but also for general public employee tests compared to other universities. Students who are interested in working in the public sector will receive a lot of assistance by participating in programs offered by the university.” Meanwhile, those who passed will be admitted to the National Public Employee Talent Development Center in the first half of next year and participate in a four-week program for adapting to public positions and basic training to improve work competence. Afterwards, they will work as trainees at central administrative institutes (ministries, offices, etc.). Their training period is approximately one year and after completing the work training, they will be appointed as regular public employees after receiving work execution evaluations.
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2018 Leiden Rankings, proving world-class research capacities Overall ranking 10th in Korea, 7th in life and earth science, 15th in social science and humanities Qualitative factors such as university reputation excluded, rankings based on achievements and quality of research [May 23, 2018] The research capacities of YU (President Sur Gil-soo) were once again to be at world-class levels. YU was ranked 50th in the world and first in Korea in the mathematics & computer science sectors in the ‘2018 Leiden Ranking’ that assesses global university rankings based on qualitative levels of theses. YU was ranked in the top 50 of the world for four straight years in the mathematics & computer science sectors. When excluding YU, there is not a single Korean university ranked in the top 300, thus highlighting the research capacities of YU. The Leiden Ranking publishes rankings in five sectors such as overall ranking, mathematics & computer science, biomedical & health sciences, life & earth sciences, physical sciences & engineering, and social sciences and humanities. In the overall ranking, YU climbed up the ladder from 15th in Korea last year to 10th this year. This is due to the fact that the ratio of the top 10% thesis ratio rose from 7.1% last year to 8.1% this year. It also climbed the ranks in the life & earth sciences to seventh place in Korea, 15th in social sciences and humanities, and 19th in physical sciences / engineering, thus being recognized for the superiority of its research capacities in all fields. (based on proportion of theses in top 10% of citation frequency) The Leiden Ranking is computed based on the number of theses and the ratio of citations of theses, while excluding subjective qualitative assessment elements such as college reputation, etc. by Leiden University of the Netherlands. The Leiden Ranking computes rankings by comparing the theses in the top 10% cited theses in each academic field with the total number of theses. Therefore, it is an important index that makes it possible to judge the research achievements and quality of research of universities. It announces rankings annually since 2011 by analyzing theses of the past four years by using the database of Thomson Reuters, which is an academic information service company. This year, it evaluated a total of 938 universities around the world that published at least 1,000 international theses from 2013 to 2016. A total of 35 Korean universities including YU were named in the rankings. The Leiden Ranking mainly uses the top 10% cited theses in each academic field by the ratio comparing with all theses. The ratio of the top 10% cited theses are the main indices of the rankings, but it also announces the top 1% thesis ratio, etc. through the free database.
