New IBS chief puts 'breakthrough research' over publication counts, eyes Nobel Prize within a decade

"What matters more than the number of papers published in prestigious journals is opening up entirely new fields of research."

Jang Seok-bok, the newly appointed director of the Institute for Basic Science, laid out his ambition Tuesday to transform IBS into an institution that creates new research frontiers. His plan centers on what he calls "breakthrough research" led by younger group leaders, alongside the development of an open research ecosystem and expanded AI-based infrastructure to broaden the horizons of basic science.

Jang made the remarks at a press briefing held Tuesday at Conference House Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul. "Finding talented people and bringing them into IBS research groups is my top priority," he said. He added that he plans to recruit young group leaders to inject fresh energy into the research community and push its boundaries further.

Jang identified breakthrough research as the cornerstone of his agenda. "In Korea, the conventional measure of research excellence has been the number of papers published in top journals, but I believe creating entirely new research fields is more important," he said. "I define research that opens such new frontiers as breakthrough research, and I intend to support it actively."

To put that vision into practice, Jang said he would introduce what he called "pioneer research groups" — teams led by researchers in their 30s and 40s with the capacity to generate new fields of inquiry. He plans to launch more than 10 such groups within five years.

"The Max Planck Society in Germany has produced 38 Nobel laureates, and they were typically appointed as group leaders between the ages of 41 and 44, with their research starting around 37 or 38," he said. "I want to move that timeline earlier at IBS, so that group leaders begin their work in their early-to-mid 40s."

Jang also said he would work to build an open research ecosystem. "We will expand the research ecosystem by forging partnerships with a wide range of players — universities, government-funded research institutes, companies and hospitals," he said. "Basic science remains our primary focus, but we will operate flexibly in line with the characteristics and goals of each research group."

IBS will also significantly broaden its research areas. Fields specifically mentioned include quantum chemistry, synthetic biology, new materials, gene therapy and brain-computer interfaces. "The fundamental philosophy of IBS is 'people first,'" Jang said. "Rather than defining a field and then hiring a group leader or principal investigator to fill it, we will identify talent first and guarantee their autonomy."

Research infrastructure will also be overhauled, with a focus on AI-driven work backed by graphics processing unit capacity. "We plan to purchase around 1,000 GPUs to upgrade our AI-based research infrastructure," Jang said. He added that while IBS research group campuses have already been established at KAIST and Postech, the institute is moving to build additional campuses at Unist, Gist and Dgist in turn. He also said IBS would move quickly to appoint a new director for its heavy-ion accelerator facility to stabilize operations and develop it into a resource actively used by researchers at home and abroad.

Jang suggested that with this support in place, IBS could produce a Nobel laureate within five to ten years. "Judged by external awards and similar benchmarks, there are several candidates with a realistic chance of winning the Nobel Prize," he said. "I think it is quite possible that someone within the IBS program could receive the award within the next five to ten years."