Deep-tech entrepreneurship built on national research lab technology, with students and professors teaming up, is moving into full swing
The University of Science and Technology (UST) said it held a launch ceremony for its 2026 UST Startup Track (Conversion Type) on the 13th at the conference hall of the UST dormitory, targeting students selected for startup teams.
The event was aimed at students from five government-funded research institute school teams selected in a UST startup track team evaluation held in June, students from five preliminary-selection school teams, and other students interested in starting a business.
The UST Startup Track is a program in which a student enrolled in a degree course and a supervising professor form a team to attempt a startup based on the strong original technology of a national research lab.
Under the structure, a UST first-author student — a driving force behind the research institute’s output — and a supervising professor serving as principal investigator divide roles to launch a deep-tech venture. The professor and student, who best understand the philosophy and detailed context of the technology, lead the commercialization directly: the professor may serve as chief executive officer (CEO) and the student as chief technology officer (CTO), or vice versa.
At the ceremony, Kim Chul-hwan, chairman of the KITE Entrepreneurship Foundation, who was appointed as a special-purpose faculty member for UST’s startup field, gave a special lecture on “The Reality of Deep-Tech Entrepreneurship.” A former venture founder who successfully carried out several technology startups and sales, Kim passed on the hands-on know-how he had built up directly to the students.
Five teams finally selected for the startup track then presented their business plans. After presenting their startup ideas and commercialization strategies, each team held a question-and-answer session with attendees to review and refine their business models.
A conversation with an alumni founder followed. Song Bo-kyung, CEO of Witten Company (UST-KIST School, 2022 graduate), shared a startup case centered on integrated product development, ranging from materials and formulation design based on biomedical research to R&D, manufacturing and global brand commercialization.
Next month, UST plans to continue supporting the startups through a three-day, two-night intensive live-in startup boot camp offering practice-oriented training, including cultivating a deep-tech startup mindset and designing and validating business models (BM).
“We will spare no effort in providing various expert education and mentoring, as well as startup support funding, so that many success stories can emerge from students and professors starting businesses together based on national research lab technology,” UST President Kang Dae-im said.
#UST#DeepTech#Startup#KoreaTech#ResearchLab#Entrepreneurship#Commercialization
Original reporting by Park Hee-yoon, Daejeon for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
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