Overview
Korea University, born as Bosung College in 1905 under the banner “Education Saves the Country,” was Korea’s first institute of higher education founded with the support of the public. Since its founding, KU has aimed to help the nation become an agricultural powerhouse. KU’s College of Agriculture, committed to such endeavors, took root as the best private institute for agricultural education. From the 1970s, new buildings and experimental facilities have been constructed with grants from the German government and academic exchange programs. Our momentum grew by adopting new disciplinary trends through hiring professors who had obtained doctorates from prominent universities at home and abroad and by promoting exchanges with prestigious universities around the world.
In March 1977, the Graduate School of Food Development, the first specialized graduate school in Korea, was established with eight majors with the aim of fostering professionals with the knowledge and leadership skills to develop food production technologies and build an academia-research-industry network.
In April 1991, the graduate school was renamed the Graduate School of Natural Resources and four majors, including genetic engineering, were added to join the global trends recognizing agriculture not merely as food production but as a cutting-edge industry that applied natural resource development to create highly useful value-added crops.
In March 2002, the school became the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science and transformed itself to better foster talents for the cutting-edge bioindustry and environmental and ecological fields. This change was made to enhance readiness for the growing significance of bioindustry and the preservation of the environment and ecology.
Our school offers 11 majors in 7 departments for graduate and research programs, and its more than 60 faculty members present theoretical teaching, experiment and practice, and thesis supervision.
We have advanced and diverse experimental tools and devices in a newly expanded facility. The Science Library, the largest one in Korea, holds the latest science books and journals and offers an excellent educational environment. Graduates of our school now number more than 1,500, and they can continue to doctoral studies to pursue their pathways in academic fields.