KAIST, Caltech to jointly select, mentor postdoctoral researchers

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the California Institute of Technology will jointly select and mentor postdoctoral researchers under a new fellowship program, KAIST said Wednesday.

Under the KAIST-Caltech Global Research Fellow program, faculty members from the two institutions will identify joint research topics and select postdoctoral researchers suited to the projects.

Participants will conduct research at both institutions, gaining experience in different research environments and working with researchers from South Korea and the United States.

KAIST said it had not yet decided when the first group of postdoctoral researchers would be selected.

Officials discussed the program’s structure and operation during the first KAIST-Caltech Joint Workshop on Molecular Science and Chemical Innovation, held Tuesday and Wednesday. KAIST’s Department of Chemistry and Caltech’s Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering signed a research cooperation agreement in March.

The two institutions plan to combine Caltech’s strengths in basic science with KAIST’s capabilities in artificial intelligence and research automation to explore new areas of chemistry.

The workshop covered fields including AI-assisted chemistry, autonomous laboratories, computational and theoretical chemistry, molecular science, catalysis, synthesis, electrochemistry and sustainable chemistry.

KAIST also plans to allow Caltech researchers to use autonomous laboratories it is developing for synthesis and electrochemistry.

The institutions will pursue short-term exchanges for graduate students as part of a broader network linking students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty members.

The fellowship is part of KAIST’s “Global Connect” strategy, which seeks to turn exchanges of researchers, knowledge and ideas with overseas institutions into joint research and talent development.

Collaboration between KAIST and Caltech began in 2024 through the government-funded BrainLink researcher exchange program. It expanded this year after the institutions were selected for a Science Ministry initiative supporting joint research platforms between leading research institutions.

“KAIST’s international cooperation is about building relationships in which people and knowledge move between leading universities around the world and grow together,” KAIST President Bae Choong-sik said.

“We will expand cooperation with world-class research institutions such as Caltech and turn KAIST’s ‘Global Connect’ strategy into tangible outcomes.”