Sogang University's "digital innovation": new departments in system semiconductors·AI established

Nurturing practice-ready talent for advanced industry

2023 academic year: first freshmen to be admitted
Department of System Semiconductor Engineering: all 30 students to join
SK hynix in R&D positions

Every student, whatever their major,
to acquire digital convergence capability
AI courses available as a short micro-degree

Sogang University, together with SK hynix, is establishing a Department of System Semiconductor Engineering and admitting its first freshmen. Sogang University students conducting a semiconductor process experiment. Photo provided by Sogang University
Sogang University is embarking on a sweeping innovation of its education system for the era of digital transformation. This year it opened Korea's first graduate school of metaverse studies and an industry-demand-based artificial intelligence (AI) graduate programme, and in the 2023 academic year it will establish a Department of System Semiconductor Engineering and a Department of Artificial Intelligence within the School of Engineering and admit freshmen. It is also building a system under which every student can earn an AI-related "micro-degree" (short degree).28th, according to education circles, Sogang University is creating a "micro-major" in AI·software (SW) and is reorganizing its curriculum so that every student can take at least 12 credits of major-specific AI-related courses. It is also building a Convergence Education Institute to oversee interdisciplinary majors such as Big Data Science, Convergence Software and AI, and creating micro convergence programme courses.

Through these programmes any Sogang University student will be able to earn a micro-degree such as "ESG and AI’" from the Department of Economics, "Digital History" from the College of Humanities or "Robot Chemistry" from the School of Natural Sciences.

President Shim Jong-hyuk of Sogang University said: "We will make sure that every Sogang student, whatever their major, can acquire digital convergence capability," adding, "We will set about nurturing 'top 1%' talent who can use AI to improve their ability to use data and to broaden the scope of their work."Sogang University will establish a Department of System Semiconductor Engineering in the 2023 academic year and select its first freshmen. Semiconductors are regarded as central to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but there is a severe shortage of the specialists needed to meet surging demand. As demand for semiconductor talent is expected to keep rising, Sogang University has joined hands with SK hynix to nurture specialists who will enter the system semiconductor field.

The Department of System Semiconductor Engineering teaches data science and AI as new technologies, along with the devices, processes and design techniques essential to next-generation semiconductors. The goal is to nurture practice-ready talent with the insight to encompass cutting-edge semiconductor circuits and the latest semiconductor software (SW) and so overcome technical challenges systematically. Through its cooperation with SK hynix, Sogang University also plans to provide problem-solving-centred education such as industrial internships and field placements.

All 30 students entering the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering will receive full tuition and a study grant. Outstanding students will be supported to attend international conferences in the United States and Europe and offered a Silicon Valley internship programme. After graduation, a minimal recruitment procedure will guarantee employment at SK hynix in an R&D position.A Department of Artificial Intelligence will also open. It will admit a total of 28 students — 18 through early admission and 10 through regular admission. Students will learn a range of technologies for realizing human learning, reasoning and perception on computers. The undergraduate curriculum is designed to build solid foundations centred on AI theory, practice, software and mathematics. It also combines AI with a variety of majors to broaden its scope, and plans to nurture AI specialists with the convergent knowledge and practical skills to use AI in fields such as medicine, finance and law.

Students of the Department of Artificial Intelligence will also receive exceptional scholarship benefits. Every entrant will receive 50% of the admission fee and tuition for four semesters (on meeting the minimum scholarship conditions). In the third and fourth years, cooperation with AI graduate laboratories and industry-academic cooperation with companies will provide a specialized educational environment, along with research scholarships and industry-academic scholarships.

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