The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is the top scientific institution in a country that has established itself as a world leader in technology. It is no surprise that it offers globally competitive blockchain research opportunities.

KAIST offers a range of courses around blockchain and crypto, such as “Cryptography Engineering and Cryptocurrency.” Students from the university have been leading the way in South Korean blockchain research for years. Two postgraduates authored a paper in 2018 that won first place at Crypto Contest Korea. One of the two had already been honored at the same event the previous year.

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The KAIST Data Engineering and Analytics Lab brings together academics and PhD candidates interested in data, and has been producing published research into blockchain technology for years.

KAIST participated along with MIT in the consortium behind the Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI) for blockchain in 2020. The work was conducted under the oversight of the Global Blockchain Business Council and the World Economic Forum, and surveyed the variety of blockchain standards that have prevailed in different parts of the world.

KAIST’s principal researcher on the GSMI project was Kibae Kim, who is also a fellow at the World Economic Forum. Also among the university’s leading blockchain academics is Yongdae Kim, who has been awarded a National Science Foundation career award and a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship award.

Located in the city of Daejeon in the center of South Korea, KAIST was the country’s first public science-focused research institution when it was founded in the 1970s. It is now considered the country’s top university in that field. The city of Daejeon is itself a center of technological research and enterprise, with more than 200 research institutes in its “Daedeok Science Town.”