- Student-professor co-founding supported; 5 teams to receive 50 million won in startup project funding

- Practical training covers AI-driven technology-market matching and business model design

Participants in the deep tech startup boot camp pose for a group photo. [Provided by UST]
Participants in the deep tech startup boot camp pose for a group photo. [Provided by UST]

Graduate students pursuing startups built on core technologies from national research institutes will use AI to uncover the market value of their technologies and verify commercialization potential. Students who successfully launch a company may earn a doctoral degree based on their startup results rather than a traditional thesis.

The University of Science and Technology (UST) announced Thursday that it is running a deep tech startup boot camp from Wednesday through Friday at the UST dormitory conference hall.

The program is part of UST's "national research institute deep tech student-professor co-founding" model, which centers on students and their academic advisers launching startups together and translating research outcomes from national institutes into real businesses.

UST selected five school teams through a startup track evaluation in June. Each selected team receives 50 million won ($36,500) in startup project funding, tailored mentoring and flexible degree requirements. Five pre-selected teams are also receiving training to give them a chance to reapply.

The boot camp provides hands-on training in applying AI throughout the entire startup process. The first day focuses on AI-assisted analysis of public data and academic papers; the second covers business model design, accounting, finance and patent education. On the final day, participants use AI-based technology-market matching to identify markets where the technologies developed in their labs could find real-world applications.

Six startup experts serve as instructors, including Lee Yong-gwan, CEO of Bluepoint Partners, along with accelerator managers, accountants and patent attorneys. At the close of the program, teams that have converted to the startup track will present their business models and receive expert evaluations and feedback.

UST applies separate degree requirements for students on the startup track. Doctoral candidates who use technology from a government-funded research institute to establish a company and pass review by UST's startup operations committee can substitute that achievement for the standard requirement of publishing at least one first-author paper in an SCIE-level academic journal. Master's students may likewise submit a startup report in place of a thesis.

Students and their faculty advisers can also negotiate how to divide management and technology development roles within the startup. A professor may serve as CEO while the student takes the role of chief technology officer, or the arrangement can be reversed.

"Success in deep tech startups requires more than having good technology — founders must prove for themselves what value that technology can create and in which market," UST President Kang Dae-im said. "We will continue to refine our systematic practical training and support framework to accelerate the development of a national research university where student entrepreneurship thrives."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com