Professor Seong-Yeol Choi's research team in the Department of Physics (Co-Investigator Professor Seo-Dong Shin, Professor Wan-Il Park of the Division of Science Education, and Professor Chang-Seop Shin of Chungnam National University) and Professor Hee-Seok Noh's research team (Co-Investigators Professors Hong-Seok Lee and Sang-Min An, and Professor Hye-Min Oh of Gunsan National University) were selected for new convergence-type and intensive-type projects under the Basic Research Laboratory Support Program (BRL), organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The Basic Research Laboratory Support Program strengthens creative, challenge-driven basic research and cultivates outstanding researchers to expand future scientific and technological capabilities by supporting small-scale basic research groups. It is unprecedented for two research teams from the same department at a single university to be selected.

Selected in the convergence category, Professor Seong-Yeol Choi's team will carry out the project 'Research on the Structure and Symmetry of the Universe', and Professor Hee-Seok Noh's team will conduct 'Research on Active Control of Energy Structures' in the intensive category. Each research team will receive KRW 1,375,000,000 in research funding over the next 2 years and 9 months.

Professor Seong-Yeol Choi's team will study the mathematical symmetries of the fundamental laws governing the micro and macro worlds, the breaking of those symmetries through phase-transition processes, and pursue a fundamental understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. They will integrate and test methods from particle physics, cosmology, and astrophysics.

By combining expertise across fields—Professor Seo-Dong Shin, an expert in dark matter and particle-accelerator phenomenology; Professor Wan-Il Park, an expert in dark matter and cosmology; Professor Chang-Seop Shin, an expert in cosmology and particle phenomenology; and Professor Seong-Yeol Choi, an expert in accelerator phenomenology—the team has strengthened its research capacity and is prepared to develop into a regionally based research center.

Professor Hee-Seok Noh's team, selected in the intensive category, will conduct research to analyze and control the energy structures of nanomaterials by applying confocal optical microscopy and nano-probe microscopy. Through this work, they plan to develop high-efficiency nano-transistors.

Professors Hong-Seok Lee and Sang-Min An of the same department, who possess outstanding research capabilities in semiconductor quantum dots, atomic-microscope 3D printing, and nano optoelectronic devices, together with Professor Hye-Min Oh of Gunsan National University, will participate. The research will cover the entire process from material fabrication and structural modification to characterization and device development.

Professor Seong-Yeol Choi said, 'That two basic research laboratories were selected simultaneously in different areas is the result of the entire Department of Physics's consistent efforts to strengthen foundational physics education and enhance specialized research capabilities.' He added, 'We will concentrate our internationally recognized research capabilities and do our best to contribute to the Department of Physics, the Division of Science Education (Physics Education), and the development of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU).'

Professor Hee-Seok Noh also said, 'I am very pleased because this result recognizes the Department of Physics's outstanding research competitiveness across various fields. By combining our research infrastructure with the research strengths of the Physics Department at Gunsan National University, we will conduct research that can move us a step ahead in the development of semiconductor nano opto-electronic devices.'