KAIST Professor Shin Insik Wins 'RTSS Influential Paper Award'... First Korean Recipient

KAIST announced on December 21 that Professor Shin Insik of the School of Computing has received the 'Influential Paper Award 2025' at the international academic conference in the field of real-time systems, the IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium (RTSS).

The award received by Professor Shin is given to papers that have had a lasting impact on academia and industry for more than ten years after publication. Professor Shin is the first Korean researcher to receive this award. The award ceremony was held on December 4 (local time) at 'IEEE RTSS 2025.'

Professor Shin Insik of KAIST is taking a commemorative photo after receiving the 'RTSS Best Paper Award.' Professor Shin is the first Korean to receive this award. Provided by KAIST

The award-winning paper is a study on the 'Periodic Resource Model,' which was jointly presented in 2003 with Professor Lee Inseop of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Professor Shin proposed a method to mathematically prove that by dividing a system into small module (component) units, verifying whether each module meets its timing constraints, and then recombining them, the overall system's safety can still be guaranteed. This research is regarded as having established the foundation of modern real-time scheduling theory.

At the time of its presentation in 2003, the paper also received the 'Best Paper Award' at RTSS, marking the first time a Korean had won this prize. Twenty years later, this year, its academic and industrial value has once again been recognized. Beyond being a theoretical contribution, over the past 20 years, it has served as a core analytical tool in various safety-critical industries such as autonomous driving, aerospace control, and industrial automation.

The IEEE Technical Committee stated, "The periodic resource model has become a core language for modern real-time system design and has led related research and industrial directions over the past 20 years." In fact, the award-winning paper is now included in textbooks at major universities in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, establishing itself as a standard theory in the field.

Professor Shin commented, "As a scholar, it is deeply moving to receive the award I have always wanted most in my life," adding, "I am honored that research from 20 years ago has been recognized for its significant impact on the world, and I am grateful to the many researchers and companies who have applied this theory to real systems."