KAIST announced on the 4th that it will jointly host the '2025 Nature Conference' with Nature at its Daejeon campus Academic and Cultural Center from February 5 to 7 next year.
The conference will be an international event where participants can discuss the latest research trends in fields such as next-generation artificial intelligence semiconductors, self-driving labs, and autonomous robots for material development, as well as meet Nature editorial board members.
On the first day of the conference (the 5th), KAIST will start with the Nature Index and a policy forum, and on the 6th and 7th, it will share the latest research trends in artificial intelligence and new materials under the theme "Materials for AI, AI for Materials."
The Nature Index published an analysis in this year's special issue revealing that South Korea's research and development performance in science and technology is significantly low relative to manpower and budget input. It also pointed to causes such as lack of industry-academia cooperation, declining student numbers due to low birth rates, stark gender imbalance, and insufficient international collaboration.
The policy forum at the conference will discuss future development directions to respond to these issues and aim to derive turning points to transform the crisis into an opportunity.
Participants in the Nature Index policy forum include Cassidy Sugimoto, Dean of the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech; Sotaro Shibayama, Professor at the University of Tokyo; and John Walsh, KAIST Kim Bojung Endowed Chair Visiting Professor.
The Nature Conference will feature a total of 25 experts, including 17 speakers (among them 4 keynote speakers), 4 Nature editors, and KAIST professors, who will deliver keynote speeches, presentations, and engage in discussions.
The first keynote speech will be given by Kristin Persson. A global scholar in the field of AI materials, Kristin Persson, currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley campus, plans to speak on the topic "Leveraging Data-Driven Paradigms for Materials Science."
Other distinguished keynote speakers include Michelle Simmons, Professor at the University of New South Wales; Huaqiang Wu, Professor at Tsinghua University; and Andy Cooper, Professor at the University of Liverpool in the UK.
The presentation topics include ▲ AI hardware ▲ AI tools for new material development ▲ Self-Driving Lab material technology ▲ Autonomous robots for new material development ▲ Two-dimensional materials for AI ▲ Quantum materials for AI ▲ Neural network computing technologies for AI, among others.
KAIST will also provide a Short Talk session during the conference, where KAIST and Nature will select outstanding abstract submitters to give presentation opportunities.
The final event of the conference will be an awards ceremony, where KAIST and Nature plan to select and award the best participants from the sessions.
Seungbeom Hong, Director of Academic Affairs at KAIST and overall coordinator of the conference, said, "We expect the conference to contribute to building global networks for domestic researchers and international research collaboration," adding, "KAIST will ensure this event serves as an opportunity to widely promote South Korea's scientific and technological achievements to the international community."
Meanwhile, anyone involved in research or industry in the fields of materials science, physics, and chemistry can participate in the conference. The registration fee is $800 for general participants ($700 for early registration) and $350 for students ($250 for early registration). The early registration deadline is the 8th of this month, and the final registration deadline is January 31 next year.
Conference registration is available on the Nature Conference website. For more detailed information about the conference, inquiries can be made through the KAIST Department of Materials Science and Engineering administrative team.
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