Selected Speeches
Dr. Chungserved as the President of SNU from 2002 to 2006. These are selected speeches during his presidency.
Keynote Speech for SNU-Hokkaido University Joint Symposium (Oct.17, 2003)
HIT: 11612
On the occasion of SNU-Hokkaido University Joint Symposium
Keynote Speech
President Un-Chan Chung
October 17, 2003
President Mutsuo Nakamura, Vice-president Kenichi Nakamura, my dear professors and students, I welcome you all and thank you for visiting to participate in this joint symposium between Hokkaido University and Seoul National University. I give you my most heartfelt welcome and gratitude.
Five joint symposiums have been held in the campuses of Hokkaido and Seoul National since the agreement on academic exchange between the two schools was signed. And as you can see, the symposium this year is being held here at Seoul National.
The exchange between our two schools had already begun some ten years ago between professors at the department and college level such as the college of engineering and the college of veterinary medicine, and this has grown to the university exchange. I believe that this direct and dynamic exchange in research between professors at the grass roots level, which was active before an official exchange agreement, has enabled a different, yet more wholesome exchange to thrive which would not have been possible had this been some standard, bureaucratic agreement. I believe that such an exchange between our two schools will become an important role model for future exchange agreements with other universities.
The themes our schools have discussed in depth1), such as the progress of science and technology, technological innovation and the humanities and social sciences, university reform in the 21st century, have been discussed by the brightest minds that our schools have to offer. We meet this time to share ideas and opinions on Japan's 'Center of Excellency' project, or COE, and Korea's 'Brain Korea 21' project, or BK21, two gargantuan, nationally subsidized research projects.
As a dedicated effort to train highly skilled personnel for the information based 21st century, Brain Korea 21 which was initiated in September 1999 by the Korean Ministry of Education has entered its fifth year and will continue until year's end 2005.
This government subsidy project has provided immense help in training skilled research personnel and accumulating knowledge through research, and as a result we have been able to set up the necessary infrastructure for the training of future generations of scholars and research facilities.
The 2002 Science Citation Index, or SCI, published by the Thomson Institute for Scientific Information indicates that 2,713 articles by our faculty have been listed in the SCI and that our university is ranked 34th overall internationally. There are no doubt objections that registry in the SCI should not become the only criterion for judging the quality of research, but it is also true that the number of articles in the SCI is a widely acknowledged measure of research quality. This huge step forward is a result of the painstaking efforts of faculty members and uncompromising investment by the government.
What has been achieved by BK21 will be discussed with more depth in the seminars, and the heads of each research projects who have worked so hard to ensure success will provide you with full details. The more recent Japan's COE project will certainly obtain such positive results.
The mercurial global economy has made us realize that universities will have a hard time even to train productive labor by transmitting knowledge only. Modern society can create immense amounts of knowledge by systematizing the structure through which information is gathered. That's why in an information society like today, the lifecycle of new knowledge is at most a few months or a few years. Because of this amazing change and technological revolution, universities must be enterprising as well as efficient; they must have flexible, far-sighted ideals; and they should be able to nurture the highly skilled personnel required of an information based society. A university has a duty to light the path which will ensure proper government, economic stability, and social welfare.
Especially now, when the technological gap between nations is closing, universities must put all their efforts into mainly culturing the ability to create and acquire knowledge. This is why a university’s capability to conduct research is emphasized, although a university’s an institute whose main function is to educate. Universities can directly demonstrate and pass on to students the process of creating knowledge, and thereby enhance the capability to create knowledge of future academic generations. Furthermore, universities must contribute to the progress of the nation by transferring its knowledge accumulated through its research to society. As you can see, the achievements of universities are in direct correlation to the successful future of a nation.
Therefore, colleges must always stay open and endlessly pioneer to rise up to the perpetual challenges of society. The formidable responsibility of ensuring the flexibility of university education and its research system and enhancing its quality has been handed to Hokkaido university and Seoul National University.
I sincerely believe that the experience that Seoul National University has accumulated through educational reform and the growth of research achievements in its five years of BK21 will provide Hokkaido university with much insight into its management of COE. No doubt, COE which is in its birthing will also provide Seoul National University with opposite pointers in preparing for its next project to succeed BK21.
I truly hope that the many opinions shared here will contribute to the enhancement of our schools and furthermore contribute to the progress of our societies.
Keynote Speech
President Un-Chan Chung
October 17, 2003
President Mutsuo Nakamura, Vice-president Kenichi Nakamura, my dear professors and students, I welcome you all and thank you for visiting to participate in this joint symposium between Hokkaido University and Seoul National University. I give you my most heartfelt welcome and gratitude.
Five joint symposiums have been held in the campuses of Hokkaido and Seoul National since the agreement on academic exchange between the two schools was signed. And as you can see, the symposium this year is being held here at Seoul National.
The exchange between our two schools had already begun some ten years ago between professors at the department and college level such as the college of engineering and the college of veterinary medicine, and this has grown to the university exchange. I believe that this direct and dynamic exchange in research between professors at the grass roots level, which was active before an official exchange agreement, has enabled a different, yet more wholesome exchange to thrive which would not have been possible had this been some standard, bureaucratic agreement. I believe that such an exchange between our two schools will become an important role model for future exchange agreements with other universities.
The themes our schools have discussed in depth1), such as the progress of science and technology, technological innovation and the humanities and social sciences, university reform in the 21st century, have been discussed by the brightest minds that our schools have to offer. We meet this time to share ideas and opinions on Japan's 'Center of Excellency' project, or COE, and Korea's 'Brain Korea 21' project, or BK21, two gargantuan, nationally subsidized research projects.
As a dedicated effort to train highly skilled personnel for the information based 21st century, Brain Korea 21 which was initiated in September 1999 by the Korean Ministry of Education has entered its fifth year and will continue until year's end 2005.
This government subsidy project has provided immense help in training skilled research personnel and accumulating knowledge through research, and as a result we have been able to set up the necessary infrastructure for the training of future generations of scholars and research facilities.
The 2002 Science Citation Index, or SCI, published by the Thomson Institute for Scientific Information indicates that 2,713 articles by our faculty have been listed in the SCI and that our university is ranked 34th overall internationally. There are no doubt objections that registry in the SCI should not become the only criterion for judging the quality of research, but it is also true that the number of articles in the SCI is a widely acknowledged measure of research quality. This huge step forward is a result of the painstaking efforts of faculty members and uncompromising investment by the government.
What has been achieved by BK21 will be discussed with more depth in the seminars, and the heads of each research projects who have worked so hard to ensure success will provide you with full details. The more recent Japan's COE project will certainly obtain such positive results.
The mercurial global economy has made us realize that universities will have a hard time even to train productive labor by transmitting knowledge only. Modern society can create immense amounts of knowledge by systematizing the structure through which information is gathered. That's why in an information society like today, the lifecycle of new knowledge is at most a few months or a few years. Because of this amazing change and technological revolution, universities must be enterprising as well as efficient; they must have flexible, far-sighted ideals; and they should be able to nurture the highly skilled personnel required of an information based society. A university has a duty to light the path which will ensure proper government, economic stability, and social welfare.
Especially now, when the technological gap between nations is closing, universities must put all their efforts into mainly culturing the ability to create and acquire knowledge. This is why a university’s capability to conduct research is emphasized, although a university’s an institute whose main function is to educate. Universities can directly demonstrate and pass on to students the process of creating knowledge, and thereby enhance the capability to create knowledge of future academic generations. Furthermore, universities must contribute to the progress of the nation by transferring its knowledge accumulated through its research to society. As you can see, the achievements of universities are in direct correlation to the successful future of a nation.
Therefore, colleges must always stay open and endlessly pioneer to rise up to the perpetual challenges of society. The formidable responsibility of ensuring the flexibility of university education and its research system and enhancing its quality has been handed to Hokkaido university and Seoul National University.
I sincerely believe that the experience that Seoul National University has accumulated through educational reform and the growth of research achievements in its five years of BK21 will provide Hokkaido university with much insight into its management of COE. No doubt, COE which is in its birthing will also provide Seoul National University with opposite pointers in preparing for its next project to succeed BK21.
I truly hope that the many opinions shared here will contribute to the enhancement of our schools and furthermore contribute to the progress of our societies.