Strong young academy friendship between South Korea and Sweden

On August 21, the Young Academy of Sweden welcomed the Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology (Y-KAST). This was our fourth bilateral symposium, and the third time Y-KAST visited us in Sweden.

First speaker of the day was YAS member Gabriele Messori. He pointed out that the word “young” is central to the young academy movement. Our youth allows for renewal in the academic system, and brings new ideas to research and education.

Program: 2024 YAS-Y-KAST 4th Bilateral Symposium

Moreover, Gabriele noted that we are the first generation of scientists in history to whom working across disciplines is foundational. It is highly valuable that we meet in and between young academies to exchange experiences and further our common goals.

Gabriele also highlighted that young academies serve as training grounds for early career leadership in academia. In young academies, we learn how to come together and work for shared ideas and agendas.

Young Keun Kim, chair of Y-KAST, filled in. In his speech, he emphasized how young academies provide links between science, policy, and society. Our organizations promote and facilitate networking domestically as well as globally.

As examples of this, our member Janina Seubert held a presentation on recent and upcoming YAS projects. Among other things, she explained how YAS and Rifo, which is a forum for enabling contact and dialogue between researchers and members of parliament, have a shared networking programme where our members meet and visit each others’ work places. Janina also talked about “Forskarskolan i Abisko,” a three-day event we organize every summer for Swedish youth interested in science.

Soon-Kyeong Kwon from Y-KAST shared their experience from leading a mentorship programme for high school students. For periods of five months, Y-KAST members meet regularly with students, who also get the opportunity to visit real labs to conduct their own experiments.

Y-KAST also has its own YouTube channel, for outreach activities. They publish interviews with members, live stream their events, and collaborate with large channels to talk about research. Finally, Soon-Kyeong talked about scientific reports published by Y-KAST, targeting youth and children.

One of the main purposes of the symposium was to discuss academic freedom. Our member Jennifer Mack presented the Stockholm Charter for Academic Freedom, which YAS launched last winter and which, as of today, has been signed by all young academies in Europe.

The Charter calls for governments and institutions to protect academic freedom by safeguarding its attendant rights: Freedom of teaching, freedom of research, and freedom to disseminate. Jennifer concretized the attendant rights by demonstrating how they apply in architecture, which is her field of expertise.

Y-KAST member Hyo Jae Yoon gave a presentation on discussions about academic freedom in South Korea. He pointed out that top-down decision making may undermine motivation among researchers and teachers, and that quick and radical political decisions challenge academic freedom. Hyo Jae called for a funding infrastructure that promotes diversity in research, and encouraged researchers to engage in outreach activities as part of the justification towards taxpayers for the high costs associated with research and education.

In the group discussions that followed, participants recognized that young academies have “high stakes” in academic freedom, as it is our future that is being challenged by authorities decision-makers. It was also noted that short time frames in research funding may lead to risk aversion, which in turn may lead to fewer or less daring research projects and agendas.

The symposium ended with a guided tour led by Maria Asp, archivist at the Center for History of Science, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. We visited the Session Hall where the announcements of the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry and the Prize in Economic Sciences are held each year.

I hope our collaboration will be a recurrent event, and that we continue to meet regularly.
–Young Keun Kim

Photo: Jesper Ahlin Marceta/YAS

Previous events

YAS visiting South Korea, March 30 2024.

Symposium and agreement between young academies in Sweden and South Korea, November 11 2022.

Young Academy of Sweden welcomed Y-KAST, December 11 2019.

Bi-lateral workshop with the Young Academy of Korea, July 31 2017.

Young Academy of Sweden at Young Scientists Talk in Korea, November 1 2017.