Kyungpook National University Selected for Food Tech Contract Department... Recruiting 20 Students for Two-Year, Four-Semester Program

by Gu Daeseon

Published 19 Nov.2025 14:18(KST)

North Gyeongsang Province has further strengthened its foundation for cultivating professionals to lead the future advanced food industry, as Kyungpook National University was finally selected in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' contest for "Universities Operating Food Tech Contract Departments in 2026."

The Food Tech contract department is an industry demand-tailored program established to train professionals needed by companies. Universities that open this department will run relevant educational programs to vitalize the food tech industry and enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized food companies.

Kyungpook National University

With this, North Gyeongsang Province will operate its second contract department in the province, following Pohang University of Science and Technology in 2023. The province expects that the local food tech ecosystem, where talent, technology, and industry are organically connected, will become even more robust.

The program will be jointly operated by the main campus and the Sangju campus of Kyungpook National University. It will recruit 20 employees from small and medium-sized food companies and offer a two-year, four-semester master's program. The curriculum will include both theoretical and practical education in the food tech field and industry-academia collaboration projects to solve technical challenges faced by food companies.

In particular, the program plans to offer a curriculum that integrates food processing technology based on smart manufacturing and alternative food technology based on cell cultivation. It will strengthen practical training using robotics and AI, and promote projects to solve companies' technological difficulties, aiming to foster practical professionals who can immediately demonstrate their capabilities in the industry.

Students will receive 65% tuition support, along with financial assistance for university operations, practical training, and research expenses. This will reduce the financial burden on students, allowing them to focus on their studies and research, while companies are expected to have more opportunities for research and development collaboration and securing outstanding talent.

The selection of Kyungpook National University as an operating university is expected to serve as a significant turning point in building a local food tech industry ecosystem and strengthening the foundation for corporate growth, focusing on the food smart manufacturing and cell-cultured food sectors promoted by North Gyeongsang Province.

Choi Hyukjun, Director of the Meta AI Science Bureau of North Gyeongsang Province, stated, "With the addition of this contract department, North Gyeongsang Province has taken another step forward in cultivating core technical talent for the future advanced food industry. We will actively support local companies to secure sustainable international competitiveness in the food tech sector by strengthening the industry-academia cooperation structure."