首尔大学、KAIST、延世大学等韩国QS前10名大学的研究室信息。
Professor Dong-Woo Lee's research lab specializes in extremophile microbiology and industrial biotechnology, focusing on the discovery and characterization of novel enzymes from thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms. The lab investigates enzyme mechanisms, metabolic engineering, and post-translational modifications such as lysine acetylation to advance sustainable bioprocesses. Key research directions include the development of thermostable biocatalysts for biofuel and bioproduct synthesis, and the application of systems biology and synthetic biology to optimize microbial cell factories for a circular bioeconomy.
Professor Do-Hyeong Kim's research lab specializes in atmospheric aerosol characterization and radiative forcing, with a focus on long-term measurements of aerosol optical properties across East Asia using the SKYNET network. The lab investigates the seasonal variability, sources, and radiative impacts of aerosols such as Asian dust, urban pollution, and biomass burning particles. In addition to atmospheric sciences, the lab also conducts research in materials science, particularly in enhancing the fracture toughness of ceramic materials like silicon carbide through microstructural engineering. The integration of environmental monitoring and advanced materials development reflects the lab’s interdisciplinary approach to solving environmental and engineering challenges.
Professor Bennett Holman's research lab focuses on the epistemology and ethics of science in the context of industry funding, particularly within medical and pharmaceutical research. The lab investigates how financial incentives and institutional structures can systematically bias scientific communities without necessarily corrupting individual researchers, using formal modeling and historical analysis. A central theme is the tension between veritistic (truth-seeking) and commercial aims in science, and how this dynamic undermines the reliability of scientific inquiry. The lab also explores institutional solutions—such as citizen participation and independent funding—that may inadvertently exacerbate biases if not carefully designed.
Professor Kyungjune Baek's research lab specializes in deep learning for computer vision, with a strong focus on self-supervised and unsupervised representation learning, particularly in image generation, image translation, and attribute manipulation. The lab explores robust learning under weak or noisy supervision, develops novel self-supervised signal designs such as geometric transformations and frequency-domain statistics, and addresses critical challenges like data privacy, copyright risks, and generalization in few-shot and low-resource settings. A central theme is building models that are not only accurate but also reliable, unbiased, and secure in real-world applications.
Professor Sang Hyuk Im's research lab specializes in the development of advanced materials and devices for renewable energy applications, with a primary focus on high-efficiency, stable perovskite and chalcogenide-based solar cells. The lab explores innovative synthesis methods—such as atomic layer deposition and spray pyrolysis—for creating high-quality, defect-minimized semiconductor absorbers like Sb₂S₃ and TiO₂ nanotubes. Key research directions include interface engineering using conjugated polymers and nonfullerene electron transport materials, particularly naphthalene diimide derivatives, to enhance device performance and stability. The lab also investigates the controlled synthesis of noble metal nanostructures, such as single-crystal silver nanocubes, through selective etching strategies.
Professor Kanghyock Koh's research lab specializes in behavioral and public economics, with a focus on the interplay between economic policy, individual well-being, and household economic behavior. The lab investigates how social insurance programs, health care access, pension reforms, and transitory income shocks affect consumption, savings, health outcomes, and intergenerational transfers. Using high-quality longitudinal and panel data from Singapore, South Korea, and the United States, the lab employs rigorous empirical methods such as regression discontinuity designs and difference-in-differences to assess the real-world impacts of policy interventions.
Professor Kwang Ho Lee's research lab specializes in building energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality, with a focus on optimizing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems through advanced energy modeling, model predictive control (MPC), and adaptive thermal comfort strategies. The lab investigates dynamic control strategies—such as variable air volume (VAV) setpoint resetting and real-time metabolic rate adaptation—to reduce energy consumption and life cycle costs while improving occupant comfort. Research also emphasizes the integration of physiological and behavioral factors (e.g., clothing insulation, metabolic rate) into building simulation to enhance accuracy and reliability.
Professor Cheolmin Shin's research lab focuses on the epidemiology, biomarkers, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying mood and neuropsychiatric disorders, with a strong emphasis on depression. The lab investigates the validity and utility of screening tools like the PHQ-9 and PHQ-8 in national population surveys, contributing to public health understanding of depression prevalence in Korea. It also explores emerging pathways such as the microbiota-gut-brain axis and the glutamatergic system as potential targets for novel antidepressant treatments. Additionally, the lab develops and validates culturally adapted psychological scales, such as the Korean version of the PTED Scale, to assess emotional responses like embitterment in clinical and community settings.
Professor Nam Yong Lee's research lab focuses on infectious disease epidemiology, particularly antimicrobial resistance in pediatric populations, with a strong emphasis on pneumococcal carriage and antibiotic resistance patterns in children across Asia and the Middle East. The lab also investigates non-pharmacological interventions, such as virtual reality-based dance therapy, for improving motor function and mental health in patients with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. Their work bridges clinical microbiology, public health surveillance, and innovative rehabilitation technologies. The lab develops and evaluates rapid diagnostic tools, such as FA-Pneumo, to guide timely and effective antibiotic therapy.
Professor Eileen L. Yoon's research lab focuses on liver diseases, particularly hepatic steatosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, with an emphasis on improving diagnostic accuracy, prognostic prediction, and therapeutic strategies. The lab investigates molecular biomarkers such as serum microRNAs to predict treatment response in advanced HCC and explores novel approaches for managing severe forms of acute hepatitis A, including corticosteroid therapy. Additionally, the lab contributes to clinical nomenclature reform, advocating for more patient-friendly and pathophysiology-based terminology like 'steatotic liver disease' to replace stigmatizing terms. Their work bridges clinical hepatology, molecular diagnostics, and public health, especially in the context of evolving liver disease epidemiology in changing sanitary and demographic landscapes.
Professor Seunghoon Shin's research lab specializes in the development of innovative, atom-economical, and sustainable transition-metal-catalyzed and metal-free transformations for complex molecule synthesis. The lab focuses on designing novel redox processes, particularly gold-catalyzed cascade reactions, to access valuable nitrogen-containing heterocycles such as azabicyclo[3.2.1]octanes, isoindoles, and pyrrolidinones through unique mechanistic pathways. A key theme is the generation of reactive intermediates—like azomethine ylides and vinyl gold species—via intramolecular redox processes, avoiding hazardous reagents such as diazo compounds. The work emphasizes mechanistic insight, functional group tolerance, and synthetic efficiency, enabling diverse and selective C–C and C–heteroatom bond formations under mild conditions.
Professor Bo-Hyoung Jang's research lab specializes in health services research with a focus on the integration and utilization of traditional and complementary medicine within national health care systems. The lab investigates the role of traditional medicine in primary health care and universal health coverage, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, as well as in national health insurance systems such as those in South Korea and Taiwan. Key research directions include health policy evaluation, disease burden assessment incorporating traditional medicine diagnoses, and health system-level analysis of utilization patterns and health insurance impacts. The lab employs large-scale national health insurance data to inform evidence-based policy making and health system strengthening.
Professor Pyae Sone Aung's research lab specializes in next-generation wireless communication systems, with a focus on integrating emerging technologies such as Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), especially Simultaneously Transmitting and Reflecting RIS (STAR-RIS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) to enhance spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and coverage in 5G, 6G, and beyond networks. The lab investigates intelligent radio resource management, including joint optimization of phase shifts, user association, power allocation, and RIS deployment strategies in challenging propagation environments. Additionally, the lab contributes to geospatial and geodetic research through the analysis of GPS data along tectonically active zones, such as the Sagaing Fault in Myanmar, demonstrating interdisciplinary applications of signal processing and data analysis.
Professor Daesub Song's research lab focuses on emerging zoonotic infectious diseases, particularly influenza viruses with zoonotic potential, including avian and swine influenza viruses that cross species barriers to infect dogs and cats. The lab investigates viral transmission dynamics, host adaptation, and pathogenesis of novel influenza strains in domestic animals, with a strong emphasis on One Health approaches to understand and control interspecies transmission. Their work also includes surveillance, virological characterization, and experimental infection studies to assess the zoonotic risk and epidemiological impact of these viruses in animal populations and human-animal interfaces.
Professor Kee Hoon Kim's research lab specializes in the electronic and lattice dynamics of strongly correlated oxides, with a focus on manganites, transparent conducting oxides, and quantum materials. The lab investigates phenomena such as electron-phonon coupling, polaronic transport, metal-insulator transitions, and quantum criticality using advanced spectroscopic and transport techniques. Key research directions include the interplay between magnetism, charge order, and lattice distortions in complex oxides, as well as the development of transparent oxide semiconductors for next-generation optoelectronic and energy applications. The lab also explores quantum critical behavior in heavy fermion systems, particularly in URu2Si2, under extreme conditions of temperature and magnetic field.
Professor Domyung Paek's research lab focuses on environmental health and preventive medicine, with a strong emphasis on understanding the health impacts of airborne exposures—particularly from household products like humidifier disinfectants and environmental pollutants. The lab investigates dose-response relationships, respiratory deposition patterns of inhaled particles, and the physiological and psychological benefits of forest-based therapeutic interventions. It also explores risk cognition and policy responses to hazardous substances such as asbestos, integrating epidemiological, physiological, and public health perspectives.
Professor Giltsu Choi's research lab focuses on plant developmental biology, particularly the molecular mechanisms underlying light signaling, hormone regulation, and secondary metabolism in angiosperms. The lab investigates how transcription factors such as PIFs and PIL5 integrate environmental cues—especially light and gibberellin signaling—to control key processes like seed germination, photomorphogenesis, and stamen development. A central theme is the regulation of biosynthetic pathways, including chlorophyll and anthocyanin biosynthesis, with a strong emphasis on enzyme substrate specificity and gene regulatory networks in reproductive development.
Professor Yong-Min Chun's research lab specializes in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, with a primary focus on rotator cuff and knee joint stability. The lab investigates arthroscopic surgical techniques, including repair strategies for massive rotator cuff tears and concomitant injuries such as SLAP lesions, emphasizing clinical outcomes, structural integrity, and functional recovery. The lab also conducts biomechanical studies on knee ligamentous stability, particularly the roles of the popliteus tendon, popliteofibular ligament, and lateral collateral ligament in posterolateral knee stability. Their work bridges clinical outcomes with detailed anatomical and biomechanical analysis to optimize surgical decision-making.
Professor Jihee Kim's research lab focuses on biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine, with a strong emphasis on tissue engineering, fibrosis mechanisms, and the development of bioactive materials for clinical applications. The lab investigates molecular pathways in fibrotic diseases and cancer, particularly the roles of signaling molecules like ERK and PTK7 in tissue remodeling and tumorigenesis. It also explores the repurposing of natural byproducts—such as spent coffee grounds—for high-value bioactive ingredients, highlighting a multidisciplinary approach combining materials science, biochemistry, and translational medicine. Recent work includes the development of mechanical actuation systems for biomedical devices and the evaluation of topical antioxidant formulations for skin regeneration.
Professor Duhee Bang's research lab specializes in synthetic protein chemistry, with a focus on developing innovative chemical ligation strategies for the de novo synthesis of proteins. The lab pioneers one-pot and convergent synthetic approaches that enable the efficient assembly of complex proteins—such as crambin and ubiquitin—using unprotected peptide segments and native chemical ligation, often achieving high purity and correct folding in minimal steps. A key innovation lies in the controlled extension of key Cys-peptide-α-thioester intermediates, enabling fully convergent protein synthesis. The lab also integrates structural characterization techniques like X-ray crystallography and NMR to validate the fidelity of synthetic proteins, including diastereomeric variants, to probe protein folding and stability.
