Overcoming Aging and Sustainable Earth... Solving Scientific Challenges with Collective Intelligence

Ministry of Science and ICT to Hold Online Conference on March 3-4

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Is it possible to develop a plant that produces hydrogen energy from seawater? Can aging be reversed to extend healthy lifespan? An opportunity is being provided for scientists to solve such long-unsolved scientific challenges through communication and collective intelligence.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will hold the '2021 Korea Scientific Challenge Online Conference' to create a platform for researchers to discover and communicate scientific challenges.

The conference will be held over two days from the 3rd to the 4th on the YouTube channel 'Scientific Challenge Cooperation Support Group.' This conference is a public seminar conducted to discover new projects for 2021 under the ‘Scientific Challenge Convergence Research and Development Project.’

The Scientific Challenge Project supports pioneering convergence research and development that approaches unresolved scientific ‘challenges’ with creative and innovative ideas based on convergence research between basic science and engineering that have not been attempted before. This year, researchers directly selected research topics in three challenge areas: ▲Sustainable Earth (groundbreaking scientific and technological solutions for clean energy and carbon net-zero), ▲Science and Technology for a New Future (convergent research based on basic science not previously attempted for the upcoming new future), and ▲Healthy Life (science and technology to increase human healthy lifespan).

Among the 56 submitted projects, 32 teams were selected through a blind review by an evaluation panel composed of senior scientists and were given the opportunity to participate in the public seminar. Researchers who submitted letters of intent will present, and researchers in related fields will participate as online audiences to mutually evaluate the ideas.

An official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "We expect to provide opportunities for partnership formation among researchers interested in challenges, creating a chance to form optimal research teams."