The 5th Policy Forum for the Promotion of the Social Economy in Science and Technology for Laboratory Startups (Project Principal Investigator (PI): Professor Nam-hee Yu, JBNU) was held on the 6th at JBNU.

Co-hosted by the JBNU Social Economy Research Center, the Jeonbuk Regional Association of the Korean Federation of Scientific and Technological Organizations, the JBNU LINC 3.0 Project Group (Leaders in INdustry-university Cooperation 3.0) Biohealthcare ICC, and the JBNU Startup Support Center, the forum focused on 'Identifying Convergent Projects for Carbon-Fiber Medical Device Development' and featured presentations and discussions by professors in the relevant fields.

The policy forum is a regional science and technology problem-solving project under the Korean Federation of Scientific and Technological Organizations' competition. It was selected as a representative project of Jeollabuk-do and is being implemented by JBNU. The project aims to promote the founding of social-economy enterprises in the region's science and technology sector and to strengthen the related ecosystem.

At the forum, Professor Min-ho Lee (Department of Dentistry) delivered a presentation titled 'Understanding and Research on Carbon Fiber.' Presentations and discussions also included Professor Yong-seok Jang (Department of Dentistry) on 'Smart Drug Delivery Technology Using the Photothermal Effect of Nano Carbon Materials,' and Professor Jun-hee Song (Division of Convergence Technology Engineering, College of Engineering) on 'Manufacturing and Applications of Superfiber Composite Materials and Strategies for Establishing a Faculty Cooperative Startup through Convergent Projects.' Through these presentations and discussions, participants explored the need to domestically produce high-value medical devices and discussed solutions to related problems.

Professor Nam-hee Yu, Principal Investigator (Graduate School of Archives and Records Management, JBNU), said, 'Through this forum, I hope effective public–private governance for identifying diverse convergent projects in science and technology and for enabling laboratory startups to enter the social economy will continue.'