DGIST to recruit 85 students to learn science through AI

The Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology is launching an education program that teaches elementary and middle school students to use AI not merely as a subject to study, but as a practical tool for scientific inquiry.

DGIST's Convergence Talent Education Institute announced it will recruit about 85 new students for the 2027 academic year through its DGIST AI/SW School program. The program is open to students in grades 5 and 6 of elementary school and years 1 and 2 of middle school in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province region.

The curriculum comprises 10 courses in total — six in integrated math and science and four in AI. Applications open Oct. 19 and run through Nov. 20, with no application fee.

The program's defining feature is its treatment of AI as a research tool rather than a standalone subject. Students apply AI directly to data analysis, simulation and modeling as part of math and science inquiry. DGIST's core research strengths — including biotech, brain science, physics and robotics — are also woven into the curriculum at a level suited to younger learners.

Classes are kept small. Each course is led by one DGIST faculty member serving as supervising professor, one or two instructors with gifted-education experience or doctoral-level research backgrounds, and one teaching assistant, with roughly 10 students per group.

Rather than advancing through higher-grade curricula ahead of schedule, the program emphasizes problem-based learning, project work and hands-on experiments. The goal is to build students' capacity to ask their own questions and find their own answers, rather than simply seeking predetermined solutions.

An annual camp of 20 sessions will also be held on the main DGIST campus, offering laboratory visits, researcher mentoring, project presentations and career mentoring from DGIST undergraduates and graduate students. All courses incorporate AI ethics and reading education.

DGIST is also pursuing plans to expand the AI/SW School into a formally designated gifted-education institution. It is currently working through the approval process for establishing a gifted education center under the Act on the Promotion of Gifted Education. If approved, the center would operate as the DGIST-affiliated AX Gifted Education Center, designated by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Seok Chang-won, director of the DGIST Convergence Talent Education Institute, said the curriculum was designed "so that students can gain experience exploring and solving real problems using AI as a tool, within a science and technology institute equipped with cutting-edge infrastructure."