Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (JBNU-HISS; Director Yun Myeong-suk) has partnered with the Institute for Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen to expand collaborative research and exchanges among the next generation of scholars. Rather than holding large-scale events, they agreed to focus on in-depth discussions among researchers with shared interests to establish a substantive foundation for international academic cooperation.

The JBNU Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences recently visited the Institute for Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen, signed a memorandum of understanding for academic exchange and cooperation, and announced on the 20th that they had discussed concrete cooperation measures focused on collaborative research and personnel exchanges.

At the signing ceremony, JBNU Vice President and Director of JBNU-HISS Yun Myeong-suk and Deputy Director Lee Hyung-woo attended. From the University of Tübingen, Co-Deans of the College of Humanities Angelika Chirker and Dietmar Till, and the Director of the Institute for Korean Studies Lee Yu-jae, were present.

Based on the existing university-level academic agreement between the two institutions, both parties agreed to develop their exchanges into concrete cooperation at the institute level. The plan is to broaden participation not only among faculty and researchers but also among doctoral students and other early-career scholars to enhance the continuity of collaborative research.

The meeting placed particular emphasis on an academic exchange program using one-on-one researcher matching called the 'Small Bread-Baking' program. The approach minimizes large-scale events and formal ceremonies, and instead allows a small number of researchers with common interests to take ample time for intensive discussion to develop new research ideas.

Initial areas for exchange discussed included modern Korean history; Korean culture and comparative cultural studies; diaspora studies; democratization movements; Korea–Germany exchange and economic history; and everyday life history. The first program is planned to be hosted by the University of Tübingen.

The German side discussed the possible participation of research fellow Thomas Aihert, who studies Korean economic history and Korea–Germany relations, and researcher Birgit Geipel, who researches Korean diaspora literature and transnationalism.

They also examined concrete exchange measures for the next generation of scholars. Possibilities for linkage between the two institutions were explored based on the research of Mert Sabri Karaman, a doctoral candidate in diaspora studies at the University of Tübingen's Korean Studies program, and Johanna E. E. Lander, who is studying the influence of German political foundations and academic and knowledge networks on Korea.

Yun Myeong-suk, Director of JBNU-HISS, stated, 'Through this agreement, we plan to establish a collaborative system that goes beyond exchanges among senior figures to include students, early-career scholars, and individual researchers. We will develop topic-specific exchanges into collaborative research and continue to expand the international academic network with the Institute for Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen.'