□ Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST· President, Kim Young Joon) announced on October 11th, 2012 that MOU was signed at the main administrative building on GIST Campus at the presence of President Kim Young Joon and President Jean-Lou Chameau (59 years old) of the California Institute of Technology (hereinafter, Caltech) for expansion of professor · student exchanges and strengthening of mutual cooperation.  

□ MoU is expected to further expand exchanges and cooperation that GIST and Caltech have been pursuing in areas of education-research.

- GIST undergraduate students nominated by GIST professors can take classes and receive credits at Caltech in the fall semester (Sep. ~ Dec.). For research, professors · Post-Doc · students of the two institutes whose joint research proposals are approved can have their research · office space set up at the other’s campus and perform the joint study on a creative and challenging task. The two institutes will establish the ‘research cooperation fund’ to support joint research projects that can facilitate research exchanges and will establish the joint research lab in the future. 

- ‘SURF Exchange Student Program’, which has been successful for the past two years, will be included in this endeavor. SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) is Caltech’s leading student research participation program that started in 1979. Students from the two universities participating in this program will perform the research at the other’s campus for 10 weeks in the summer under the guidance of a mentor professor.  

□ Caltech is a relatively small institute comprised of less than 300 professors, 600 researchers and 2,200 students (undergraduate + graduate). Yet, it has the world best research capacity with 31 Nobel laureates (32 prizes).

□ GIST has granted the ‘GIST 1st Honorary Doctoral Degree’ to President Jean-Lou Chameau who visited Korea for signing of MoU. It is the first time that GIST has granted the Honorary Doctoral Degree since its establishment.  

□ Right after the Conferral Ceremony, President Jean-Lou Chameau gave a special lecture for around 200 audiences of GIST professors and students at Oryong Hall of GIST.