[Reading Science] Scientists Feeling Discouraged and Drained

Although the establishment of the Space Aviation Agency has been finally confirmed with great difficulty, a red light has been lit on the most important issue of manpower supply. A serious consideration is needed on who will make the Republic of Korea a lunar landing nation. How much time is required to train space scientists? The government and industry estimate that it takes roughly more than 10 years. The fact that 10 years of training is needed after university graduation means that it requires an effort as demanding as that of becoming a doctor. The aerospace field can be described as a comprehensive scientific art that requires scientists from various fields, ranging from basic sciences to engineering. The government claims that there is no problem as 1,500 aerospace personnel graduate every year, but this is an overly complacent judgment.

KAIST is the center of domestic scientific manpower training. KAIST graduates have led the advancement of national science and technology. The pride of being a ‘KAIST graduate’ has been the cornerstone that kept students steady whenever their research hit a wall. The fact that even at KAIST’s graduation ceremony, a student expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s research and development (R&D) policy is clearly a negative signal for the future of our science.

After the government announced an increase of 2,000 medical school quotas, the Daechi-dong academy district is already filled with the enthusiasm of students and parents aiming for medical school admission. Even on weekend evenings, the roads in Daechi-dong are crowded with parents’ vehicles picking up their children. It is also noticeable that not only repeat exam takers but also science and engineering undergraduates and graduate students are joining the queue for medical school admission. Considering just 10 years, 20,000 high-level brains will head to medical schools, inevitably creating a gap of excellent science and engineering students. This is why scientists sigh that an overall decline in science and engineering academic ability is unavoidable.

The reality is better understood by parents than students. Parents who want to send their children to medical school take their children’s hands and head to elementary school medical school entrance exam academies. Even if a child shows aptitude in coding or mathematics, there seems to be no way to change parents’ minds about sending them to medical school. The preference for medical schools in the entrance exam field is already a frenzy. The government said it would pay up to 1.1 million won per month to students participating in national research projects. Unless students endure with a sense of mission for scientific development or have sufficient financial resources themselves, is it possible to keep students from leaving research sites for medical schools with this amount of money?

More serious is the overseas outflow of our science and engineering manpower. A representative example is the semiconductor field. Domestic semiconductor education is often evaluated as not falling behind compared to overseas standards. Because of this, overseas companies urgently securing semiconductor personnel are increasingly scouting our students. Some schools even hesitate to inform students about overseas employment situations because they know it means manpower outflow. The U.S. government, which supports the expansion of domestic semiconductor production, is also pushing to expand professional work visas. Excellent science and engineering talents have always been in short supply. Even if we scout from abroad, it is insufficient, and now we are in a situation where we might lose the manpower we have painstakingly nurtured.

After watching a KAIST student who expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s policy being dragged out at the graduation ceremony, a professor heading to a drinking party said he felt gloomy. The reality now is that scientists, whose shoulders have lost strength, rely on a glass of alcohol.