Two UNIST faculty members elected as 2020 KAST fellows

Two faculty members at UNIST have been elected 2021 Fellows of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST). Distinguished Professor Sang Il Seok and Professor Jong-Beom Baek from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST are among 30 new members, elected to the academy.

On November 30, 2020, KAST announced 30 new members for the year 2021. This includes eight scientists from the field of natural sciences, ten from engineering, five from medical sciences, another four from policy research, and three from agriculture and fishery.

Election to the KAST is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a Korean scientist. KAST fellows are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in science and technology for more than 20 years. A rigorous three-stage assessment is used to determine the membership in consideration of excellence and originality in research, academic reputation, and contribution to the advancement of science and technology.

Distinguished Professor Seok has been given this honor in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the advancement of next-generation perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In particular, he was praised for obtaining record-breaking efficiency of PSC. Professor Baek has been elected a 2021 Fellow of KAST in engineering field for successfully achieving the mass production of graphene.

The new fellows will begin their term from January, 2021.

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