KIST to establish research center in Boston for bio, AI collaboration

KIST president Oh Sang-rok. [Photo by Ko Jae-won]

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) will establish the Korea-Boston Bridge Center (K-BB Center) in Boston, the United States, later in 2024. This center is intended to promote research collaboration with top universities, companies, research institutes, and hospitals in Boston, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.

KIST plans to use this center as a base to focus on global research collaboration in advanced biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and quantum technology, identified by the South Korean government as the three major game-changing technologies.

The center is envisioned to serve not only KIST but also all government-funded research institutes as a hub for research collaboration.

“The center will act as a bridge to strengthen the partnership between Boston, where world-class researchers and institutions are concentrated, and KIST,” KIST president Oh Sang-rok said during an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper.

This will be the first time that a research collaboration hub of this scale is established in the United States, and KIST has already secured the 2025 budget.

Boston is considered a global hub for advanced biotechnology. It houses over 1,000 bio companies, research institutes, and venture firms, including major global pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna and Biogen.

KIST plans to use the center as a strategic base for research collaboration with the United States.

“Previously, international joint research was conducted on a small scale by individual researchers, but not, it will be strategically promoted through the center,” Oh said. “All of the government-funded research institutes will be able to use this as a research collaboration hub.”

The K-BB Center will provide funding for joint research, focusing on advanced biotechnology, AI and robotics, and quantum technology. It will first invest in the urgent field of advanced biotechnology from 2025 onwards, and will also handle networking, talent acquisition, and research information gathering.

The strategy is to quickly connect international joint research in advanced biotechnology needed in Korea. The K-BB Center will also support the entry of domestic tech ventures into the U.S. market, with plans to nurture outcomes discovered in the Hongneung Small Business Incubation District into competitive global companies.

The Hongneung Small Business Incubation District is a digital healthcare-focused district in Dongdaemun, central Seoul, where KIST, Korea University, Kyung Hee University, university hospitals, and domestic pharmaceutical companies are located. The goal is to help tech ventures based on discoveries from this district enter the U.S. market.

KIST is confident in marking the K-BB Center a successful example of international expansion for research institutes. It established a local cooperation office in Boston in 2022, and is discussing cooperation with five universities, including Harvard and MIT, as well as bio companies and public institutions.

The budget for establishing the K-BB Center has been secured, with 2 billion won ($1.5 million) allocated for 2025. The center is set to be established by the end of 2024, after which a center director will be dispatched. It plans to open and expand support to all government-funded research institutes as well as developing the center’s mid-to-long-term strategy by 2027.

“We will not stop at publishing papers or patent applications but will expand research results into impactful achievements,” Oh said. “KIST will play a leading role in solving social issues via international cooperation.”