UST pledges W50m in startup funding in deep tech push

The University of Science and Technology (UST), South Korea's national research university, and seven government-funded science and technology research institutes have joined forces to promote deep tech startups among UST students.

UST and seven national research school partners — Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) and Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) — signed a joint agreement Wednesday to boost student entrepreneurship based on public research technologies developed at government-funded institutes.

The agreement extends a similar joint MOU signed last December with five other national research school partners: Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM).

The key provisions of the agreement cover: building a professor-student co-startup model encompassing public startup support, technology transfer and technology investment; identifying student entrepreneurs and providing startup training and mentoring; sharing research outcomes and proprietary technologies from the institutes and linking them to technology licensing organizations; jointly using research space, equipment and facilities; and connecting projects and providing funding for startup activities and pre-startup projects.

Under the agreement, each national research school will formalize a professor-student co-startup model in which faculty and students work together through the full process — from startup formation and technology transfer to equity investment — drawing on each institute's cutting-edge public technologies and research infrastructure. The schools will also step up efforts to identify prospective student entrepreneurs, build their capabilities through education and mentoring, and provide access to proprietary technologies and facilities.

UST has been actively promoting deep tech student entrepreneurship since President Kang Dae-im took office last year, with a stated goal of becoming a national research university where student startups thrive. Working with the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST), UST revised the guidelines governing researcher startup regulations to allow students to launch companies while still enrolled.

In June, UST held its 2026 UST Startup Track competition, drawing 15 student-professor teams from 12 national research schools. Five teams were selected, confirming the potential for scaling the professor-student deep tech co-startup model.

The selected teams will receive full-scale mentoring and training from startup experts as they move forward with their ventures. Each team will receive 50 million won ($34,100) in startup project funding, along with practical education covering accounting, patent filing and investment attraction.

"We will continue working to ensure that cutting-edge technologies developed by professors and students at each national research school can be turned into startups and reborn in the market as services and products that create new value," UST President Kang said.