Shin Dong-won, Director of the Research Institute for Korean Science and Civilization and Professor Emeritus, Department of Science Studies, received the Inchon Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences division, presented by the Inchon Memorial Foundation and The Dong-A Ilbo. The award ceremony was held on the 8th at The Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung‑gu, Seoul.

This year's Inchon Award, marking its 40th edition, recognizes individuals with outstanding achievements across four categories—Education; Media and Culture; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Science and Technology. Each category was subjected to a rigorous three-month review by four distinguished external experts. Each category carries a prize of KRW 100 million, a certificate, and a medal.

Director Shin is a leading scholar who has systematically organized the achievements of traditional Korean science and medical history and reexamined them within the broader currents of global scientific civilization. In particular, he has demonstrated with concrete evidence and research that Korea's scientific and technological development is not merely a phenomenon of rapid growth after modern times but rests on a long history of accumulated knowledge and techniques.

Director Shin said, "I am honored that the years I spent organizing the history of Korean science and medicine have received social recognition," adding, "I was very surprised to be notified that I had been selected as the recipient of the Inchon Award, which I have considered the most prestigious prize in the humanities."

He offered new interpretations of Donguibogam, the representative classic of traditional Korean medicine, situating it within the broader history of East Asian medicine and thereby expanding its scholarly significance. He also led research into the "everyday conceptual history of disease," which examines illnesses such as smallpox and cholera not merely as medical phenomena but within the contexts of people’s daily lives and social perceptions, proposing new methodologies for the study of Korean medical history.

One of Director Shin’s major achievements is the completed series "Korea’s Science and Civilization," finalized in 2022. Launched in 2010 and carried out over 12 years, this project involved Shin and a planning committee along with some 60 researchers across various fields. The series comprises 30 volumes covering the flow of Korean scientific civilization in areas such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, geography, religion, metallurgy, industrialization, and urban architecture.

The series does not merely list scientific and technological achievements; it broadly illuminates how science affected the lives and societies of contemporaries. It is regarded as the world’s third comprehensive series on the history of science and civilization, following the Needham Institute’s "Science and Civilization in China" and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ "History of Chinese Science and Technology."

At the time of publication, Christopher Cullen, Director of the Needham Research Institute, evaluated the series as "a software that will help the world properly recognize Korea’s science, culture, and history, and understand Korea as a peaceful nation."

An English edition of the first five volumes of the series is also scheduled for publication by Cambridge University Press. Director Shin said, "Although the five Cambridge volumes about to be published contain important material, they are insufficient to capture the whole picture of Korean science and civilization. Through additional agreements, I would like to produce a ten-volume English series that fully conveys the excellence of our science."

Director Shin has worked to identify the independent value of traditional Korean science within the context of world science history without relying on chauvinistic nationalism or modernity-centric perspectives. This scholarly stance has broadened the horizons of Korean history of science studies and laid the groundwork for reading traditional knowledge anew within contemporary dialogues between science and the humanities.

Last year, he received the 9th Amgok Academic Award in recognition of his research on traditional Korean science and his role in compiling the "Korea’s Science and Civilization" series. This year, he was also elected as a full member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.

Director Shin stated, "A comprehensive series consolidates authoritative interpretations so they endure and serve as a starting point for the next generation of research," and added, "I hope younger researchers will publish subsequent series that further publicize the value of Korean science and civilization."