POSTECH secured a dramatic victory after a fierce battle with KAIST. This year, the 23rd KAIST-POSTECH Science War (KPSW) was held at POSTECH from Sept. 18 to 19. The campus was filled with the enthusiasm of students from both universities. This year’s KPSW drew massive attention, as KAIST had been on a winning streak since 2022. The event adopted the slogan “DAWN,” hoping that POSTECH could reclaim the championship title. Living up to these expectations, POSTECH won KPSW with an overall score of 4:3, breaching the long midnight of defeat.
The competition featured seven events: hacking, AI, e-sports, soccer, baseball, science quiz, and basketball. It also included non-game events such as club performances, student booths, and an invited celebrity stage.
Four matches were held on the first day: AI, hacking, e-sports, and soccer. The AI and e-sports matches took place at the POSTECH e-Sports COLOSSEUM. In the AI match, a racing game was played by pre-developed autonomous driving AI. KAIST ultimately claimed victory in the AI competition. The e-sports match was one-sided, with POSTECH controlling both games and securing victory. “As we kept improving during practice, I knew we were absolutely going to win,” said Supporter Eunseong “andy06” SON. The hacking competition was held in Tae-Joon Park Digital Library. The match consisted of Pwnable, Webhacking, and Reversing. KAIST tasted victory with a score of 22,740 to 15,777.
The soccer match was tense and closely fought. Despite the rain, players from both teams enthusiastically took part. Goals were exchanged throughout the game, keeping spectators on the edge of their seats. Within the passionate cheers from CHEERO and ELKA, the match resulted in POSTECH’s dramatic triumph with a score of 3:2. Nurtilek, a freshman from Kazakhstan, said, “I was impressed that a lot of students supported the team despite the weather. The players seem a bit stressed, but they’re doing great.”
The second day of KPSW started off intense with a comeback victory in baseball. Although held early in the morning, supporters from both universities eagerly gathered at Pohang Baseball Stadium. POSTECH students and CHEERO never stopped cheering despite a gap of eight points in the fourth inning. Thanks to the enthusiastic support, POSTECH added eight points in the last inning, leading to a tiebreaker, where the opponent’s pitcher allowed a walk and finished the game 15:14. Next up was the science quiz. Despite the effort, KAIST won the science quiz with a score of 280:210.
The basketball match was a perfect finale to KPSW. With the score tied at 3:3, it was the winning decider of the series. The school’s gymnasium was filled with excitement from POSTECH students who were hoping for a long-last win. POSTECH dominated until the fourth quarter, when KAIST caught up quickly and took the lead in the last 20 seconds. Yet, POSTECH earned three final shots to retake the lead. Despite missing the first throw, the player scored the other two shots, giving POSTECH a glorious win for KPSW. As soon as the ending whistle sounded, Postechians rushed onto the court to celebrate POSTECH’s basketball players and the ultimate win of KPSW, singing chants and waving school flags.
After the breathtaking win, 2026 KPSW concluded with a closing ceremony. MVPs and representatives of each team were awarded trophies. Finally, the Chief of KPSW Advisory Committee was presented the championship flag that all Postechians had been longing for over the last four years. As the name of this year’s KPSW, DAWN, Postechians hope this championship will be the start of many more victories to come.
