Samsung-Korea University Establish Korea's First Next-Generation Communication Contract Department... Launching '6G' Talent Development

Recruiting 30 New Students Annually with Employment Links... Full Tuition Support
Samsung Electronics Strengthens Future Technology Ecosystem and Secures Technology Leadership

Samsung Electronics Seocho Building / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hye-young] Samsung Electronics is establishing a recruitment-linked contract department at Korea University to nurture talent in next-generation communication technologies, including 6G (6th generation). Samsung Electronics' strategy is to strengthen the technology development ecosystem and establish global technological leadership by accelerating the acquisition of 6G talent and related research.

On the 17th, Samsung Electronics and Korea University held a signing ceremony at Korea University's Seoul campus to cultivate talent in the next-generation communication department. This is the first time a contract department related to next-generation communication has been established in Korea.

Korea University, responsible for nurturing talent in next-generation communication technology, plans to select 30 freshmen annually for the department starting next year. The plan is to foster creative communication experts through practical, customized education linking theory and practice in the communication field.

Students admitted are guaranteed employment at Samsung Electronics after graduation. During their studies, full tuition and educational subsidies will be provided as industry-academia scholarships. Various off-campus experiential opportunities such as participation in Samsung Electronics internship programs and attendance at prestigious overseas conferences will also be offered.

The establishment of this next-generation communication department aims to proactively cultivate specialized personnel to lead the rapidly growing communication market and contribute to the expansion of national-level technical manpower.

Samsung Electronics is accelerating 6G technology research based on the technological capabilities accumulated through the world's first commercialization of 5G and is driving strategies to secure global standardization and technological leadership in 6G.

Centered on the Next-Generation Communication Research Center established at Samsung Research in 2019, Samsung plans to further strengthen the technology development ecosystem in collaboration with domestic and international universities and research institutions. In the 6G white paper released in 2020, Samsung Research presented a vision to provide a "new dimension of hyper-connected experience" and disclosed candidate technologies and standardization schedules necessary to realize it.

Additionally, Samsung Electronics is focusing investment on strengthening software capabilities for network advancement and intelligence, and plans to expand new business areas and product portfolios such as innovative convergence services and advanced devices.

Jeon Kyung-hoon, President of Samsung Electronics' Network Business Division, said, "In line with changes in the communication market where hardware and software technologies converge, we decided to establish the next-generation communication department with Korea University to nurture convergence talent specialized in the communication field. We will actively support efforts to contribute to creating new value for next-generation communication."

At the ceremony attended by Korea University President Chung Jin-taek and others, it was stated, "We hope that the combination of Korea University's excellent educational resources, outstanding faculty, and advanced administrative systems with Samsung Electronics' world-class technological capabilities will serve as an opportunity to produce outstanding talent and establish a strong research partnership between the two institutions."

Seoul National University and Pohang University of Science and Technology Open Interdisciplinary Majors

Samsung Electronics is also actively nurturing talent in the communication field through interdisciplinary majors, a system where multiple departments jointly establish major courses to provide convergence education.

Last year, Samsung Electronics signed agreements with Pohang University of Science and Technology (in July) and Seoul National University (in September) to cultivate next-generation communication talent. Students who choose interdisciplinary majors receive benefits such as scholarships while completing a certain number of interdisciplinary major credits in addition to their main major and are employed by Samsung Electronics after graduation.

The 'Next-Generation Communication and Network' interdisciplinary minor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, established in September last year, is jointly operated by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Computer Engineering. The 'Intelligent Communication' interdisciplinary major at Seoul National University, scheduled to open in March this year, is led by the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering and involves six departments including Computer Engineering and Industrial Engineering.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics continues to strengthen industry-academia cooperation with universities to enable outstanding talent to enter companies and demonstrate their capabilities, and is working to build a talent infrastructure that can lead next-generation communication and semiconductor fields. To this end, Samsung Electronics currently supports a total of nine contract departments and interdisciplinary majors in cooperation with seven domestic universities in the communication and semiconductor fields.

Samsung Electronics stated, "Strengthening industry-academia cooperation with major universities is expected to contribute not only to nurturing convergence talent encompassing hardware and software but also to strengthening South Korea's future technology ecosystem."