Seoul Scholarship Foundation Awards 'AI Scholarships' to Science and Engineering Graduate Students
Support to Expand to Postdoctoral Researchers in the Future
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has invested 2.1 billion won this year in 275 AI talents. The goal is to provide tuition, research funds, and living expenses to science and engineering master's and doctoral students, enabling them to focus on research activities that will lead Seoul's future.
On the morning of November 16, the Seoul Scholarship Foundation held the "2025 Second Semester AI Seoul Tech Graduate Scholarship Certificate Award Ceremony" at the multipurpose hall of Seoul City Hall, presenting scholarship certificates to 215 graduate students in the AI field.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is delivering the keynote speech at the "Now Is the Era of Science and Engineering" forum held on September 25 at the Korea University Future Convergence Technology Hall auditorium. Photo by Seoul City
Including 60 recipients from the first semester, the foundation has provided a total of 2.075 billion won in research encouragement funds to 275 scholarship students this year. In the first semester, 60 new master's students each received 10 million won per year. In the second semester, 135 master's students and 80 doctoral students in science and engineering fields at general graduate schools of four-year universities in Seoul will receive 5 million won per semester for master's students and 10 million won per semester for doctoral students.
The "AI Seoul Tech Graduate Scholarship" was newly established this year in line with Seoul's "Now Is the Era of Science and Engineering" policy. Aimed at strengthening AI technology competitiveness and securing outstanding talent, it was created to address the recent intensification of overseas outflow of science and engineering talent and to help AI professionals settle in Korea.
As the importance of AI research grows, the support target was quickly expanded to include doctoral students in the second semester. There are plans to further expand the coverage to include postdoctoral researchers in the future.
One scholarship recipient, sharing their thoughts at the ceremony, said, "Thanks to this specialized scholarship in the rapidly growing AI field, I feel a sense of responsibility as a future leader of the industry."
Nam Sungwook, Chairman of the Seoul Scholarship Foundation, stated, "Next year, we will significantly increase the scholarship amounts to 20 million won for master's students, 40 million won for doctoral students, and 60 million won for postdoctoral researchers, taking the lead in nurturing outstanding AI talent."
Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon remarked in his congratulatory speech, "As the world competes to secure AI talent, the future of Seoul depends on science and engineering talents like you. I hope the AI Seoul Tech Graduate Scholarship will help ease your financial concerns and serve as a stepping stone for you to fully immerse yourselves in research. I look forward to your ideas and actions illuminating the future of Seoul's high-tech industries and Korea as a whole."
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