Overseas Korean Young Talent Nurturing K Bio Camp

Incheon National University, Overseas Koreans Agency, and Incheon Metropolitan City co host the Overseas Korean Young Talent Nurturing K Bio Camp.

Starting with the entrance ceremony on June 30, various programs including advanced life science education, corporate site visits, and Korean culture experiences will be held for 10 days.

Building a multilateral collaboration model among universities, the government, and local governments to support the domestic studies, employment, and settlement of outstanding global Korean talents.

A global specialized education program, where universities, the government, and local governments joined forces to support overseas Korean youth who will become future leaders in the global bio industry, has fully begun.

The Incheon National University Anchor RISE Project Team, led by Director Kim Kyu won, announced that it newly established the Overseas Korean Young Talent Nurturing K Bio Experience Camp jointly with the Overseas Koreans Agency and Incheon Metropolitan City, and held a meaningful entrance ceremony at the Incheon National University Songdo Campus on June 30 with participating students and officials in attendance. Through a strict screening process, 10 overseas Korean youths with outstanding capabilities and passion in the bio field were finally selected for this camp.

This program is drawing great attention as it preemptively responds to the government policy to foster the bio field as a national strategic industry. Currently, the domestic bio industry is growing rapidly, centering on high value added high tech fields such as pharmaceuticals, digital healthcare, and gene therapy, but securing specialized R and D personnel, which is a core competitive edge, is still considered an urgent task. Under these circumstances, this camp, which discovers outstanding overseas Korean youths and nurtures them into future bio talents, is expected to be a preemptive alternative that simultaneously achieves the securing of outstanding global talents and regional industrial innovation.

In particular, this project is more meaningful as it is promoted as part of the Regional Growth Talent Nurturing System Anchor Project formerly RISE promoted by Incheon City. It is the result of close working level consultations among the Incheon National University Anchor RISE Strategy Division and International Support Division, the Returnee Settlement Support Division of the Overseas Koreans Agency, and the Overseas Korean Cooperation Division of Incheon City Hall for the successful launch of the project. This is expected to establish itself as a representative win win cooperation model that helps universities, government agencies, and local governments build an organic governance to attract global Korean talents and help them settle down as specialized workers in core regional industries.

Camp participants will complete a varied 10 day schedule starting with the entrance ceremony on June 30 until July 10. From July 1 to 8, they will earnestly complete cutting edge life science theoretical education and practice such as biopharmaceuticals, anti cancer drug materials, and genetic diagnosis at the Nano Bio Engineering Major of the College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering at Incheon National University. Along with this, they plan to tour the research and development and manufacturing and production sites of global companies representing the Songdo Bio Cluster, such as Dong A ST, Cytiva Korea, and Voronoi, and have time to communicate in depth about career paths and employment with incumbent experts.

Subsequently, on July 9, they will participate in a Korean culture experience program to broaden their understanding of their motherland and strengthen their bond, and conclude the official schedule with the completion ceremony held on July 10, the last day.

An overseas Korean youth who participated in the entrance ceremony shared their thoughts on participating, saying that they had always wanted to continue their studies in their motherland, Korea, and build a career in the bio field, but felt lost because it was difficult to know the specific career path. They added that they are very much looking forward to directly experiencing the unrivaled R and D level of the Korean bio industry through this K Bio Experience Camp and being able to design their future career path in detail.

Hong Jin bae, Dean of the Office of International Affairs and Public Relations at Incheon National University, who is the working level professor in charge of this project, stated that it is meaningful to present the excellent industrial sites of their motherland to overseas Korean youths by bringing together the excellent advanced bio education infrastructure and administrative capabilities of Incheon National University. He added that they will spare no support so that the participating Korean youths can successfully settle down in Korea and proactively design their studies and career paths.

Kim Kyu won, Director of the Incheon National University Anchor RISE Project Team, expressed his ambition, stating that this K Bio Experience Camp is the first step in nurturing global Korean youths into experts in the bio field, which is Incheon core growth engine, through collaboration among local governments, universities, and government agencies. He added that they will continue to upgrade specialized support programs so that outstanding overseas talents can stably realize their dreams and settle down in the Republic of Korea and Incheon within the framework of the Regional Growth Talent Nurturing System Anchor project.