Sogang University (President Shim Jong-hyuk) is drawing attention for presenting a new educational paradigm for the era of digital transformation. This year the University opened Korea's first specialized graduate school of the metaverse and an artificial intelligence (AI) graduate programme grounded in corporate demand. For the 2023 academic year it has also established a Department of System Semiconductor Engineering and a Department of Artificial Intelligence in the College of Engineering, putting in place a systematic framework for cultivating the leaders of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Sogang University is establishing AI·SW (software) related micro-majors and reorganizing its curriculum so that every student can complete at least 12 credits of AI-related coursework appropriate to their major. It is also establishing a 'micro convergence programme' at the Institute for Convergence Education, which oversees interdepartmental majors such as Big Data Science, Convergence Software and Artificial Intelligence. Through this programme, any Sogang University student can earn a micro-degree — a mini qualification awarded separately from the bachelor's degree on completion of a designated minimum number of credits in a given field over a short period — 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.

◇ New 'Department of System Semiconductor Engineering', an employment-linked contract department with SK hynix, and expanded scholarships

Sogang University is establishing a Department of System Semiconductor Engineering for the 2023 academic year and beginning recruitment of its first students. The department will teach semiconductor fields essential to next-generation semiconductors — ▲devices, ▲processes, ▲design and ▲embedded SW/AI technology — along with ▲data science and ▲emerging AI technologies. Working with SK hynix, the department plans to cultivate top-level specialists who will lead the system semiconductor field through problem-solving-centred education including industry internships and field placements.

Students selected for the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering receive scholarships, domestic and overseas training, special curricular programmes and a range of incentives. All 30 entrants receive full tuition and a study allowance, and special scholarships are additionally awarded to the highest-achieving students. The department provides one practical computing account per student and a first-class practical environment, along with the latest instructional and experimental equipment. It also supports participation in international conferences in the United States and Europe, visits to overseas industry, and distinctive internship programmes including in Silicon Valley. Students in the major are guaranteed employment in research and development at SK hynix after graduation, subject to a minimal recruitment process. Those proceeding to a master's or a combined master's–doctoral programme can receive full tuition and a study allowance.

◇ New advanced 'Department of Artificial Intelligence' — cultivating convergence-oriented AI leaders

A Department of Artificial Intelligence will also be opened in Sogang University's College of Engineering in the 2023 academic year. A total of 28 students will be admitted — 18 through early admission and 10 through regular admission. The department aims to cultivate convergence-oriented AI leaders with deep insight and world-class practical ability in the various technologies, software and systems that implement human learning, reasoning and perception on computers.

The undergraduate curriculum is structured to build a solid foundation centred on ▲AI theory, ▲practical training, ▲software and ▲mathematics, and then to provide advanced instruction in ▲visual, ▲language and ▲auditory intelligence, centred on courses linked to the AI graduate school. Beyond research into core AI technology, it produces specialists equipped with everything from convergence knowledge to practical ability, who can apply artificial intelligence across diverse fields such as medicine, finance and law by extending AI's reach.

Students in the Department of Artificial Intelligence also receive exceptional scholarship benefits. All entrants to the department receive the admission fee and 50% of tuition for four semesters (subject to meeting minimum scholarship conditions). In the third and fourth years, students can also draw on a bachelor's–master's linkage programme for a specialized educational environment including ▲collaboration with AI graduate school laboratories, ▲industry–academia cooperation with companies, and ▲research and industry–academia scholarships.

Centred on the Department of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University has run the University ICT Research Center (ITRC) programme — the Intelligent Semiconductor Research Center — sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT since 2010, securing competitiveness in the intelligent semiconductor industry. Over more than a decade of the programme it has contributed greatly to cultivating global AI professionals, producing over 300 practice-ready semiconductor specialists. The University has also been selected as an implementing institution for the Ministry of Education's project-based global capability enhancement programme and is carrying out an initiative to support the cultivation of AI-leading global innovation talent. It covers all costs of study and residence so that outstanding AI master's and doctoral students can study for six months at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the United States, ranked third in the world in computer science.

Related article: https://www.chosun.com/special/special_section/2022/08/29/Q6B4ZSU2SZFXRNDR35T7OOZW4A/