Life science is a field of research that deeply explores the logic in the phenomena life and ultimately aims to identify the cause of disease and establish a basis for treatment. Currently, we are faced with the COVID-19 pandemic that we have never encountered before. Korea is also suffering from great damage from the number of confirmed cases exceeding 10,000. Meanwhile, the world has paid attention to Korea's response to COVID-19. Korea developed the world's fastest, rapid COVID-19 diagnostic kit called 'Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)', and the product, developed by tens of domestic bio companies, has spread around the world to fight the virus. It is said that the new term “K-BIO” was coined after K-POP around the world.

We are striving to realize a new concept for faculty in the 21st century with research that focus on identifying the cause of disease and developing the basis of treatment by boldly breaking the boundaries of classical discipline of life science. To aim for a world-renowned faculty, the School of Life Sciences will develop into a mecca of life sciences by expanding competent faculty members, introducing rigorous self-evaluation, and recruiting excellent students.

We are fostering leaders with international mindsets who can lead the field of life sciences by establishing an international campus that offers all lectures in English and promotes active overseas exchanges. In addition, we have secured the state-of-the-art research equipment and facilities through the full support provided by the country, and we have the best environment for students to devote themselves to research based with government support that covers tuition and living expenses. Each year, we are continuing our efforts to share research results and expand technological exchanges and cooperation through various programs including the Life Science Day and Research Performance Report Meeting.

GIST's School of Life Sciences consists of 24 faculty members with world-class research achievements and experience in the field of life sciences, 180 students in the master's and doctoral programs, 20 postdoctoral fellows, and 30 researchers. The Laboratory Animal Resource Center, which is the largest research facility specializing in mice in Korea, was established with an investment of approximately 20 billion won and opened in May 2017 and is a testament to our excellent infrastructure. The GIST Graduate School has grown into a world-class graduate school in only 20 years after being established and publishes a number of papers in the world’s prominent academic journals such as Nature, Autophagy, Clinical Cancer Research, Hepatology, and PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America), and its aim is to become the world's top 30 institutions in life science within the next ten years.

Graduates with master's degrees are often employed in industries such as SK Chemicals, Celltrion, and LG Chem, or in public institutions such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety or the National Cancer Center. They also advance to various fields or to graduate schools. In addition, doctoral graduates often become full-time faculty members at GIST or continue their career at public institutions and industries such as Seoul National University, KAIST, and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. The ratio of graduates finding employment in industries and overseas is also increasing.

The School of Life Sciences focuses on research and comprises of students from various backgrounds. We aim to become a world-class faculty by fostering outstanding individuals through youth, hope, a dynamic research environment with the principle of focusing on a small number of individuals, and creative R&D.

In the book, 《Courage to be Disliked》, there is a story of a girl who is too afraid to come before others because she blushes with embarrassment. But turning red was just an excuse. She could not present herself because she thought she might be embarrassed by others. The School of Life Sciences has 20 or more professors engaged in various fields. I would like to encourage our students to take courage instead of being afraid to go to those professors and ask them for their advice about their worries in choosing a major.

Life sciences take an in-depth look at the reason for the phenomena of life. Furthermore, it plays a leading role in the field of applied science and ultimately improves the quality of life for the humankind. Those who major in life sciences should be proud of themselves.

About Professor Jeong-Seok Nam
Professor Nam graduated from College of Veterinary Medicine of Seoul National University and has been engaged in anticancer research based on mouse models after receiving his Ph.D. He was a part of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, the National Cancer Institute at Bethesda in America, and other distinguished cancer research institutes as a researcher. Currently he is the head of GIST Laboratory Animal Resource Center, one of the largest institutes of its kind in Korea.

I majored in biology when I was at university. I received good grades, and it was fun. I wanted to study more about this field and to improve my competitive strength. I thought about going to a graduate school, and naturally I chose GIST because it is one of the best institutions in the related fields.

My research aims to develop a therapeutic agent that can alleviate the muscle loss symptom that occurs when people ages. I am studying how each candidate drug can make muscle fibers stronger when various drugs are applied to a specimen in an environment in which myoatrophy occurs on a cellular level.

I believe that the status of life science has risen after the COVID-19 outbreak. The structure of COVID-19 has been uncovered, and many pharmaceutical companies are striving to develop treatments and vaccines based on that structure, and all of these processes are closely related to life science. The fact that it is deeply involved in our lives and can find a solution is the greatest merit and charm of life science.

It was a course on heart by Professor Woo-jin Park. It was a small class of only four students. It was memorable because the topic was interesting and we could think actively and exchange ideas by asking about what we were curious about and by getting the feedback right away in the class.

The facilities and the environment within the campus are quite neat, and the infrastructure is also great. In fact, I do many animal tests because I study muscles, and GIST has the Laboratory Animal Resource Center that manage mice systematically, and it also has histopathologists whom I can trust with the samples. It is an unparalleled system that allows you to concentrate on the experiment only. Also, GIST provides incomparable support for lab researchers and spares no cost to the extent that the students can be independent. I am very grateful for that.

If you are dreaming of going to a graduate school, think about which laboratory to choose first. It is important to think about which class you enjoyed the most when you were in an undergraduate program, read related papers, and determine what you want specifically because you have to study one topic for almost 5 to 6 years to obtain results for the combined master's and doctorate program. If your goal is to get a job, you should choose the laboratory where you can learn related techniques. If you want a research topic that you can engage in deeply throughout the doctorate program, then you should choose the laboratory that would continuously motivate you so that you would not lose interest in your research topic. It can be very helpful to ask your supervisor and talk to many people.

The status of the life science concentration will continue to rise in the future. Especially, life science has a bright future as it is deeply related to high value-added industries. Professor Dae-soo Kim of KAIST, who was invited as a lecturer to the School of Life Sciences Speaker Program, said he heard that the era of life science is coming even when he majored in life science in the 1990s. He emphasized that this is the very moment that the era of life science is coming. As a life science major, I also greatly sympathize with him and feel very proud when I think about the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thank you.

About Hyeon-joon Kim
Kim is in the third year in the combined master’s and doctorate program at the School of Life Sciences. Currently, he is carrying out a research on muscle treatment with Professor Darren Williams in the New Drug Target Laboratory.