Amorepacific Foundation, 2023 'Jangwon Humanities Scholar' Award Ceremony

400 Million KRW Monthly Support for 3 Emerging Researchers Over 4 Years

Amorepacific Foundation announced on the 20th that it has selected the 'Jangwon (粧源) Humanities Scholars' for 2023 and held a research grant certificate awarding ceremony at the Amorepacific headquarters.

Lee Seok-jae, director of the Amorepacific Foundation (from left), Seo Kyung-bae, chairman, researcher Lee Jae-kyung, researcher Han Yuna, director Min Eun-kyung, and director Koo Beom-jin are posing for a commemorative photo at the 2023 Jangwon Humanities Scholar Award Ceremony.
[Photo by Amorepacific]

The Jangwon Humanities Scholar Support Program is named after the pen name 'Jangwon' of the late Seonghwan Seo, former chairman of Amorepacific, who emphasized the importance of supporting basic academic research and nurturing talent. There is no requirement to produce research outcomes in the form of papers or books; researchers are free to choose their own research topics and carry out their studies within the designated period.

This year, the Jangwon Humanities Scholars selected are Dr. Seung-il Lee, Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Jae-kyung Lee, Ph.D. in Korean History from Seoul National University, and Dr. Yuna Han, Ph.D. in History of Art from Johns Hopkins University.

Amorepacific Foundation received over 80 applications through an open call for researchers participating in the Jangwon Humanities Scholar Support Program in February. After document and interview evaluations by a planning committee composed of humanities scholars, three researchers were finally selected. The foundation will provide each of the three researchers, who were evaluated to have high potential to contribute to academia by presenting original and new perspectives in their respective fields, with a monthly research grant of 4 million KRW for the next four years.

Professor Seok-jae Lee of the Department of Philosophy at Seoul National University, who served as the chair of the judging committee, stated, "Amorepacific Foundation will provide researchers with a stable research environment and strive to ensure that socially meaningful research can continue." He added, "The foundation plans to actively support the role of serving as a catalyst for establishing a stable ecosystem in the pure basic academic fields in the future."