Kwon Dae-gyu, Director of the Startup Support Center, received a Commendation from the Minister of Science and ICT on the 16th at the 'Lab Start-up Festival (LAB START-UP 2022)' held at COEX in recognition of his contributions to fostering outstanding laboratory start-up teams.

Kwon took office as Director of the Startup Support Center at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) in 2017 and has worked to support start-up companies in North Jeolla Province. In particular, in 2018 JBNU was the only nonmetropolitan university selected for the lab-specialized Startup Leading University Project, and for five years has contributed to activating start-ups based on excellent technologies from university laboratories.

Key achievements include launching a total of 26 new laboratory start-up companies from 2018 to 2021. The center has operated a variety of start-up support trainings and programs, from foundational to advanced levels, to cultivate future unicorn companies.

The lab-specialized Startup Leading University Project is a program that discovers and nurtures university laboratories possessing promising technologies and supports faculty and graduate students in starting companies. This year JBNU plans to select around ten laboratories and will provide follow-up research and development funding of up to KRW 50 million and various start-up support programs.

Kwon Dae-gyu, Director of the Startup Support Center, said, 'The lab-specialized Startup Leading University Project is an excellent opportunity for university laboratories to showcase their limitless potential as start-ups,' and added, 'As a regional hub university, JBNU will continue to do its utmost to lead laboratory start-ups.'