Seoul National University of Science and Technology Wins Minister of Education Award at Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation EXPO

ANCHOR Project Group Wins Minister of Education Award for Second Consecutive Year

Seoul National University of Science and Technology's ANCHOR Project Group won the Minister of Education Award in the challenge case category at the 2026 ANCHOR Innovation Achievements and Challenges in Regional Innovation Case Competition, held as part of the 2026 Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation EXPO. Last year, it received an Encouragement Award in the interregional collaboration category.

The SeoulTech Anchor Project Group poses for a commemorative photo after receiving the Minister of Education Award at the 2026 Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation EXPO. Seoul National University of Science and Technology.

The award-winning case, titled "Breaking Through Boundaries: Building a Hub Ecosystem for the Seoul Northeast Digital Bio City (S-DBC) Through Close Integration of Local Government, Industry, Academia, Research, and Hospitals," was recognized for the group's ambitious effort to combine the university's strengths in engineering fields such as AI, semiconductors, and robotics with advanced biotechnology and healthcare, and to establish an industry-academia collaboration hub for AI x BIO in northeastern Seoul by connecting with local public healthcare and research institutions and the biotechnology industry ecosystem.

Despite having neither a medical school nor an affiliated hospital, Seoul National University of Science and Technology has established a close collaboration system with the nearby Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences and Korea Cancer Center Hospital. By linking medical and biotechnology infrastructure, it is implementing a full-cycle collaboration model spanning education, research, commercialization, and regional governance. The university is training talent through a jointly operated graduate school of medical sciences and is gradually expanding its workforce development and research capabilities by establishing a Department of Biomedical Science and carrying out joint industry-academia-research technology development projects in AI x BIO led by the ANCHOR Project Group.

Seoul National University of Science and Technology President Kim Donghwan said, "This award is external recognition of the potential for Seoul National University of Science and Technology to advance into the field of advanced biotechnology by working with the region's public healthcare and research infrastructure, despite having neither a medical school nor an affiliated hospital. We will do our utmost to make northeastern Seoul a hub for AI x BIO innovation in partnership with the local community and industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.