Center for Quantum Spacetime Awarded through MOE's

'2020 Key Research Institutes in Universities Support Program'

The Center for Quantum Spacetime (CQUeST) at Sogang University was awarded funding through the '2020 Key Research Institutes in Universities Support Program,' organized by the Ministry of Education(MOE) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). The awarded research project is titled, 'Gravitational Force, Cosmology and Phenomenology: An Integrative Understanding of Quantum Spacetime,' and is to be carried out over a period of no more than nine years at a fund not exceeding KRW 6.9 billion.

Starting in 1999, the Key Research Institutes in Universities Support Program is the MOE's signature grant program for the fields of science and engineering, has designated prominent university-affiliated research institutes in order to archive their research performances and contribute to fostering excellent human resources related to such purposes.

With Prof. Lee Bum Hoon serving as its first director, the CQUeST was initially selected as an excellent SRC (Science Research Center) back in 2005 and was then awarded the fund for nine years, up until 2014, after which it was operated as a base for its professors' personal assignments. For 2020, the center is making new strides under its second director, Prof. Stefano Scopel from the Department of Physics, striving for a hyper-jump towards globalization and full maturity. For high-tech research on quality educational infrastructure, the CQUeST launches new courses and offers seasonal semesters, seminars, and workshops, all while activating cooperation with renowned organizations across South Korea and other countries through active exchanges. In October 2011, it ranked first in the 'research power index of all university-affiliated research institutes in Korea.‘

In regards to being awarded this project, Director Scopel said, "We will take on consistent challenges to pursue the most attractive and pressing issues in contemporary physics, looking at questions like 'What is time?' and 'Is it possible to build up theories to integratively explain the four interactions that describe nature (gravitational force, electromagnetic force, weak force, and strong force)?'" He also expressed his ambition to "foster new top-class young research resources at Sogang University."