Dan Schectman is an Israeli scientist and a Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals. The Postech Times had the great privilege to interview Professor Schectman, and the following is the transcript of the interview.Walk us through the way you were brought up, and the influences you had during childhood.A novel by Jules Verne called “The Mysterious Island” influenced me very much. I read it many times over in my youth. The story is about five Americans who are stranded on an island. The island has everything but no people. The leader of the group is an engineer, and

POSTECH’s Summer Experience in Society (SES) is a field training program kicked off in the summer of 2016 to help undergraduates design their future careers. Students see how knowledge learned in school is applied in practice by companies and research institutes; learn communication and management skills and expand their view of society. The Postech Times contacted Yangwoo Kwon, the general manager of Student Affairs and SES, for accurate information concerning 2022 SES.Over 250 undergraduates participate in SES every year. Two hundred and eighty-seven, a number close to the number of freshmen

POSTECH consumes quite a lot of energy, particularly, electricity. In a previous article written by The Postech Times in 2001 that discussed POSTECH’s energy usage, POSTECH ranked top in the usage of electricity among the many universities in Korea with approximately 2,700 kWh consumed. Now that 20 years have passed since then, how much electricity does POSTECH consume?The Postech Times investigated POSTECH’s electricity usage over the past three years (2019.1~2021.12) based on the Energy Consumption Report published on POVIS by the Energy Management Committee. The statistic measured monthly e

On April 11, POSTECH shifted to face-to-face classes. After the midterm exam, the number of in-person activities such as group events and private gatherings increased, resulting in a steady increase in confirmed cases. In addition, Student Culture Day was held from May 12 to 13 and the commencement ceremony was held on May 13. Previously postponed workshops and social events also recommenced. Now that COVID-19 regulations have almost disappeared, The Postech Times has looked at the spread of COVID-19 to see if Postechians are safe from the virus.According to the office of safety and health, to

Please introduce yourselfHi. I am a graduate in the Department of Chemistry (CHEM) at POSTECH, class of 2021. I am currently majoring in organic chemistry at POSTECH CHEM Graduate school.What did you value the most during your time at POSTECH? I tried to spend every day diligently. I set goals like getting good grades, participating in different club activities, researching in laboratories and extracurricular activities, and spending time with people I love. I worked to achieve each goal on a daily basis.Please tell us briefly about your experience of taking classes at POSTECH.One thing that I

Achieving My Unfinished DreamWhen I was young, my dream was to become a reporter. In elementary school, I worked for the Seoul Children’s Press Group for three years. I did several interviews and wrote many articles. I felt a lot of pride as a reporter when I saw my article on the front page of the newspaper, and I think my dream began from that experience.As I entered middle school, I became interested in science and engineering, so my childhood dream of being a reporter slowly faded away, but I still did not completely let it go.In high school, I wrote for my school’s English newspaper, but

While there are numerous events and opportunities to dive into the world of entrepreneurship, the sheer diversity could be disorienting for those starting out. This article sums up the key resources available on campus.Undergraduate Research Program (UGRP)The UGRP is funded by the POSTECH Innovation Center for Education and is open for all undergraduates except for those who are on leave or on extra semesters. The program provides funding and guidance for students to realize their ideas that would otherwise be financially and technically infeasible. In a group of three or more students, they a

From Feb. 21 to Feb. 22, the POSTECH Audit and Inspection department published a school newsletter about their “World Cup of Power-Tripping Incidents on Campus.” The POSTECH audit and inspections department works to create a culture of compliance throughout the campus. They have organized multiple events last year, including this world cup and the fourth POSTECH quiz on ethics and integrity for the students.The term power-tripping might seem less familiar compared to its Korean translation: gapjil. Power-tripping is one of the greatest problems in the workplace around Korea. Korea developed wi

Dubbed as “Hawaii of Korea”, Jeju Island, located in the Korea Strait, is the largest island in South Korea. The island was formed by an underwater volcanic eruption two million years ago and is packed with natural world heritage sites as well as museums and outdoor activity spots that make Jeju a popular tourist destination.Contrary to the numerous blog posts on the internet, Jeju gets wildly cold in the winter. During a recent visit, the temperature rarely went below zero nor did it go above ten, which was moderately warm compared to mainland Korea. It is the strong wind from the cold sea th

Jeju Island is often called “the museum of volcanic creations” as it was created by immense volcanic activities. The Postech Times visited Jeju Island to cover its geological features.Formation of Udo Island and its CoastsOn the eastern sea of Jeju, there is Udo Island, which was formed 70,000 years ago by volcanic activity. Udo Island has a steep terrain on the southern side of the island and a gradual terrain on the northern side due to the volcanic eruption pattern. In the early stages of its formation, seawater and magma met and exploded violently, forming a relatively high and sloping hyd

Due to social distancing, many stores and restaurants in and around universities have seen losses. A survey of commercial stores around the campus of 15 universities in Seoul, done by Shinhan Card and published by the JoongAng Ilbo, showed that card usage decreased by 23.7% in 2020 compared to 2019. Usage by customers in their 20s decreased, while the usage by customers in their 30s and 40s increased slightly. In particular, restaurants suffered the heaviest losses around universities.The Postech Times interviewed the owner of Hong Woon, a Chinese takeaway restaurant near campus in Hyoja-dong,

On Dec. 6, the “Future Planning for College Life” course (MSUS103) came to an end with an online closing ceremony at Gather Town, a metaverse platform, and WebEx. MSUS103 is a mandatory class for all freshmen and sophomores that did not complete the course last year. The MSUS103 class requires students to complete a few assignments, including writing a short report on their personal meetings with their advisor professor and participating in the “creating memories with class students”. Students have to get into random groups within the class and then plan and participate in an activity. Sophomo

On Nov. 18, a ceremonial declaration of The Bill of Rights for Graduate Students at Pohang University of Science and Technology took place at the Hogil Kim Memorial Hall. The ceremony was to celebrate the complete amendment to the original Bill of Rights which was enacted on Dec. 9, 2015. While the amendment was declared on April 7 by the Graduate Student Association, COVID-19 prevention measures caused the opening of the ceremony to be postponed to Nov. 18.The ceremony was attended by President Moo Hwan Kim, Professor In Seok Kang (Head of Human Rights Center and Professor Emeritus of the Dep

2021 is the third year since Moo Hwan Kim, the eighth President of POSTECH, took office. Marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, The Postech Times interviewed the president.How do you feel about your third year as the President of POSTECH?First and foremost, I feel grateful to all members of POSTECH.As I have said since I took office as President, I want to be faithful to the founding ideology of POSTECH, to select a small number of elites, educate them, and support pioneering research to contribute to the country and the world. Since my second year in office, cooperative relations

Until now, exchange student programs in POSTECH have only proceeded under offline conditions—by flying overseas, staying at a foreign university for a semester, and taking classes offered at the visiting school. However, beginning this fall semester, students can now take exchange programs at home, thanks to the newly implemented virtual student exchange program. The virtual student exchange program is a program in which member universities provide mutual online lectures, and students of the member universities take credit-acquirable courses of their interests. Postechians may participate in t

As non-face-to-face classes continued until the partial face-to-face conversion in November, most midterm exams took place online. There are many ways of conducting an online exam, with different classes choosing a variety of methods. Some adopted Zoom or Webex as their exam platform, while others utilized exam-oriented platforms such as Monito School or exam.net.Cheating prevention measures are implemented most of the time, such as requiring for students to prepare multiple cameras and making sure all students take their exams in isolated environments. However, an exam taken online does not o

Starting from Aug. 24, the Tae-Joon Park Library began a trial operation of its new library seat booking system. As part of its “Living Library” renovation, which aims to create a comfortable atmosphere similar to a household living room, the library seat booking system was implemented for efficient and convenient use of the new library spaces.The trial operation was supposed to last until Sept. 6. However, since most of the trial operation period took place during vacation time and there was a COVID-19 outbreak on campus, there was not enough feedback from users. Therefore, the Tae-Joon Park

The POSTECH Graduate Students Rest and Recharge policy, enacted on Sept. 6, recommends at least 10 vacation days per year to all graduate students of POSTECH. The policy is the first among South Korean universities to systematically guarantee the right to rest for all graduate students. The vacation days can be freely used as long as disruption of course or experiment schedules is minimized.Some foreign universities already have vacation policies for graduate students. For example, Caltech guarantees 21 vacation days (including institute holidays). Yet currently, graduate students are not lega

Greetings, readers of The Postech Times!We find ourselves at such a weird time in history. Although it is a cliché, the fact still stands. It is almost impossible to fathom what life would have been like in a different universe where COVID-19 did not break out. All the pains and economical losses it has induced seem to be insurmountable. It is difficult to put ourselves into other people’s shoes, but I want us to try for a moment. Think of the people who are mentally vulnerable; he who is lost in a maze that everyone else seems to have made it through. He who hears people outside who sound hap

My interest in journalism first sparked when I attended a lecture about fake news a few years ago. During the presentation, the speaker cited a research paper that revealed social media as the most commonly used source for news. Then, the lecturer showed how most of the news from social media was fake. I laughed along with the crowd after looking at those statistics, but deep down I knew I should not have because I was also guilty of using social media as my main source for news. The statistics told me that I was not the only one. I knew I needed to change, so I started by reading news from mo