While it may sound scary, we have been in the same crisis before. The European Spanish flu hit the world in the early 1900s, and one third of the European population died. The Spanish flu also brought major changes to the economy, society, culture, science and technology. The COVID-19 outbreak will bring about more changes than before. Recently, GIST held the , which examined and discussed the government's third supplementary budget, the national New Deal project, and how to redefine newly emerging issues such as education in the post COVID-19 era, science and technology, industry, and the climate situation. There is a lot to do at GIST for the future in relation to these concerns. All aspects of the post COVID-19 era, from protection to diagnosis, vaccines, treatments, and related economic impacts, are associated with science and technology. GIST will redefine regional and national values and find new opportunities for future growth as a center for science and technology in Korea.

In the history of science and technology over the past 200 years, the top ten advanced countries have maintained an unchanging position. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has shaken the world and may eventually change the rankings of developed countries. In fact, the possibility of Korea entering the G7 is also being discussed due to the success of K-Defense. Until now, GIST has taken the lead in science and technology in the southwestern region of Korea, but by taking this opportunity, it must be reborn into an institution that leads Korea and the world. Personally, I also feel a greater role and responsibility as GIST's Vice President for R&D.

One is to invest an emergency budget for corona-related research within GIST, which was conducted individually, and bind them into 10 tasks that can be commercialized in the areas of COVID-19-related diagnosis, protection, vaccination, and treatment so that the faculty can study them effectively. The technology roadmap is categorized from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most basic research in science and 10 being applied technology that can be put on the market. GIST is engaged in research with the goal of completing the technology roadmap for category 10, and it is expected that commercialized technologies can be confirmed later this year. Another urgent matter underway is the launch of the “Anti-virus Research Center.” The Anti-virus Research Center will quickly respond to new viruses, such as COVID-19 and MERS, and conduct top-notch antiviral research by forming a core group of ten experts from each field. GIST will preemptively respond to newly emerging viruses after COVID-19, and it will be a new area in which GIST's research capabilities can contribute to the international community. All of this progress was made possible by the top-level virus-related research that GIST has carried out for a long time. What

GIST started out as one of the four major institutes of science and technology in Korea. At the time, GIST paid attention to the changes that the first of its kind, which was KAIST, brought to Korean graduate schools. For decades, graduate schools only repeated research and papers, but KAIST adhered to a method of creating high-quality classes and completing credits by introducing coursework from America. Many graduates of prestigious universities in Korea were attracted to this method and came to KAIST, and every graduate school in Korea followed KAIST. There was a great demand for advanced knowledge as well as the substantial education to apply the knowledge. In response to this demand, GIST has differentiated its education in two ways: integration and internationalization. Engineering has emerged among the disciplines that have traditionally been conducted for centuries, and integration breaks down the barriers between disciplines and naturally creates new ones. The world of disciplinary integration is endless because it is possible to create new disciplines that suit the times based on a purpose. Next, for internationalization, GIST gives all lectures in English. Even students who struggle at first eventually improve their skills in a month, in a semester, or in a year. As English is widely accepted in the academic circles around the world, giving lectures in English has a synergy effect in improving students' science and technology skills. With such differentiating efforts, GIST is producing amazing records.

GIST ranked second in 2015 and 2016, third in 2017 and 2018, and fifth in the world last year. The citations per faculty is the most reliable indicator that shows an institution’s research achievements and its influence on the research that cited the papers for objective data. QS ranks 1,000 universities around the world, and considering the size of GIST with only 2,500 students, this is a phenomenal achievement. GIST continues to strive to obtain the world’s best research results and is taking the lead in making direct efforts to contribute to the commercialization of research to make contributions to the country. GIST is also the brain of the artificial intelligence project in which Gwangju Metropolitan City is currently investing an enormous amount. When I came to Gwangju for the first time in September 1994, the place where GIST was founded was just a wild field larger than Yeouido Island. I feel great pride in being able to see the development of GIST for 26 years since its opening in March 1995, watching students enroll and graduate. I strongly believe that GIST will find solutions with science and technology and provide the right path for our society to move forward regardless of hardships, be it COVID-19 or any crisis at all.