Event: IBS-Royal Society Research Conference
Date: 09:00, October 20 (Mon), 2014
Venue: SANGSAN Mathematical Science Building

Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,

My name is Sung Nak-in, the president of Seoul National University. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this symbolic conference.

It is such a great honor and pleasure for me that the IBS-Royal Society Research Conference is hosted today at Seoul National University. I wish to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to all British scientists who made the long trip to Korea to participate in this meaningful event. Your presence means a great deal to all of us.

This conference was made possible by a mutual academic exchange agreement between the Institute for Basic Science and the Royal Society last year. It is therefore a truly noteworthy gathering of both Korean and British scientists who have dedicated themselves to the development of basic science in their countries.

In particular, Dr. John O’Keefe, this year’s Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, is also participating in this conference as a speaker in the Biological Sciences Session. Let me express my heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to Dr. John O’Keefe for his notable achievements. (Applause) Seoul National University is continuously pouring tremendous efforts in to advancing basic science in Korea and fostering outstanding talent in the fields of science. Our university currently hosts three extramural and one HQ research center, bringing the grand total to four IBS research centers: the Center for Nanoparticle Research led by Director Taeghwan Hyeon, the Center for Correlated Electron Systems led by Tae Won Noh, the Center for RNA Research led by Director V. Narry Kim and the Center for Genome Engineering led by Director Jin-Soo Kim. This illustrates how Seoul National University places a high priority and considerable emphasis on developing basic science and fostering talent.

I am proud to say that these four IBS research centers are conducting research at Seoul National University, and that they are producing remarkable research achievements as well. It is significant in that competent researchers, both in and out of our university, have been working collaboratively to produce such desirable achievements.

Two indispensible factors in today’s research environment are collaboration and collective intelligence. Since today’s conference is a unique opportunity to gather prominent Korean and British researchers in the fields of new materials science and biological sciences, I hope that this conference will spark future collaborations between the two countries in the field of basic science.

With continued support and contributions from all of you, I firmly believe that today’s conference will be a stepping stone to the development of basic science in Korea and Great Britain.

I am deeply honored that this meaningful conference is hosted today at our university. I look forward to the further exchange of ideas between Korean and British scientists. Once again, thank you all for your presence here today.

Thank you.