Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Climate Tech Research Center(Director: Professor Ki‑Tae Baek) has been selected for the Ministry of Education's ‘2026 Scientific Research Support for STEM Fields: Glocal Lab(Glocal Lab)’ and will establish a climate-tech research hub linked to Jeonbuk's industrial base.

The Glocal Lab is a program to strengthen the research capabilities of university-affiliated research centers and to develop them into research hubs that lead regional basic research and innovation.

With this selection, the center has secured project funding totaling KRW 14.9 billion, including KRW 13.5 billion in government funding over nine years. It plans to expand its existing research strengths in soil·groundwater·environmental fields into climate·energy·agriculture and livestock·resource circulation·artificial intelligence (AI), and to establish a research system that spans basic research through field demonstration and industrial diffusion.

The JBNU Climate Tech Research Center will pursue convergent research focused on four core areas. In the Clean Tech field it will study clean hydrogen production and storage using local renewable resources and related energy systems. The Agri Tech field will focus on AI-based climate-adaptive agriculture and the development of low‑carbon agricultural and livestock technologies.

In the Carbon & Eco Tech field, the center will develop carbon storage and resource circulation technologies and conduct resource-recovery research to extract and reuse critical minerals from spent batteries. The Geo Tech field will be responsible for developing AI-based ultra‑high‑resolution climate forecasting and climate‑linked digital twin technologies.

The center will also carry out demonstrations to connect research outcomes to industrial sites. In cooperation with Jeonbuk's industrial and research infrastructure, it plans to conduct pilot demonstrations in hydrogen, soil carbon storage, battery recycling and smart farm sectors to verify the technologies' field applicability.

Training climate-tech specialists is also a key task. Currently, more than 60 people participate in the center, including full-time and part-time faculty, student researchers and postdoctoral researchers. Based on this, the center will establish a tiered research support system from undergraduates to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and cultivate climate-tech professionals through industry–university–research collaboration.

Director Ki‑Tae Baek said “that, taking advantage of this Glocal Lab selection, he would link Jeonbuk's industrial base with JBNU's research capabilities to build a climate‑tech research ecosystem spanning basic research through field demonstration and industrial diffusion, and” he added “that, given the active support of the Jeonbuk Special Self‑Governing Province and the cooperation with regional companies and local governments that contributed to this selection, the center will be developed into a global climate‑tech research hub that grows together with the region”.