Kimoon Kim (58) is a Distinguished Professor at POSTECH, and one of the world’s finest mathematicians in supramolecular chemistry. The professor has received a number of awards, including the Best Scientist and Engineer Award from the Korean government, and the Ho-Am Prize from the Ho-Am Foundation. In 2010 Professor Kim drew academic attention by successfully isolating membrane protein using functionalized cucurbiturils.

Eunjoon Kim (48) is a relatively young scientist, who was so internationally well-regarded in the field of neuropsychiatric disorders that he was appointed as Chair Professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2011. Professor Kim has a clear vision of how the research center will develop. He has recently been noted for his publication in Nature, in which he defined the genetic factors associated with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.)

Professor V. Narry Kim (43) of Seoul National University (SNU) has been appointed as the National Honor Scientist by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) owing to her innovative research on microRNAs. Professor Kim has published outstanding papers in the last 10 years, 30% of which were published in a number of authoritative scientific journals (e.g., Nature, Cell). She has received letters of recommendation seven times from world-renowned scientists, (including one from the director of the Max Planck Institute), and she has also won the Lasker Award.

Professor Tae-Won Noh (55) of SNU is an outstanding physicist in the field of next-generation semiconductor materials. The professor has also been appointed as National Honor Scientist by MEST. His research is considered extremely useful because of the major breakthrough made in the development of ultra-thin memory devices that can be used in any electronic device. Professor Noh’s plans for training young talent were highly praised by the Selection and Evaluation Committee (SEC) members.

Professor Hee-Sup Shin (62) is Director-General of the Brain Science Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), and a world-leading neuroscientist who was appointed as the first National Honor Scientist by MEST in 2006. To date Professor Shin has published 146 papers. The SEC expects excellent research findings from the joint research projects to be collaborated on by Professor Shin's and Professor Eunjoon Kim's research centers.

Professor Yong-Geun Oh (51) is a highly-regarded mathematician who works in the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Geometry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research paper, “Floer Homology in Mirror Symmetry and in Symplectic Topology”, has been recognized throughout the international scientific community. He became the first Korean scientist to deliver a lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), which grants the Fields Medal.

Professor Ryong Ryoo (57) of KAIST is a pioneer in nanoporous carbon materials, who was appointed as the National Honor Scientist by MEST in 2007. Professor Ryoo has created a new research field and coined scientific terminology for it: CMK (Carbon Mesostructured by KAIST). He was also nominated as one of the world’s top-100 chemists of the decade in 2011 by UNESCO.

Sang-Wook Cheong (55) is director of the Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials, and one of the world's finest scientists in the field of synthesis of emergent materials.  He has an Impact Factor of over 30,000, which is the highest figure among Korean scientists. His broad international experience and collaborations make him a real asset to the IBS.

Charles Surh (51) is a professor at POSTECH and a world-leading scientist in the field of immunology. He has recently moved to POSTECH from the Department of Immunology at the Scripps Research Institute. Professor Surh has published 116 papers since 1984 and was honored with the Ho-Am Prize in Medicine in 2007. He has received a very positive recommendation letter from Peter Charles Doherty, a Nobel Prize Winner.

Professor Taeghwan Hyeon (48) of SNU is acclaimed for his work developing synthesis technology that enables the easy and ultra-large-scale production of monodisperse nanocrystals at a reasonable cost. Professor Hyeon is known for having the most papers in the top 0.1% of the Impact Factor scale. He has also been named as vice editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a prestigious chemistry journal.

The IBS has run a fair evaluation system comprising the Selection and Evaluation Committee (SEC) and the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Over the last four months they have set out to select the best qualified candidates for positions at the IBS as research-center directors.