S-OIL Science Prodigy and Culture Foundation Confers Dissertation of the Year Awards

● S-OIL offers 200 mil. won in fellowships to six young scientists in basic science fields.
● The S-OIL Science Prodigy and Culture Foundation offers programs to support academic research and foster scientific talent.

The S-OIL Science Prodigy and Culture Foundation (SSPCF), a non-profit foundation established by S-OIL (CEO: Nasser Al-Mahasher, Korean name: Na Se-il), held a ceremony for the Dissertation of the Year Awards at the auditorium in its headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul on Nov. 30 and gave 200 mil.won in fellowships to six award winners in the categories of biology, mathematics, and earth science. The awards aim to promote research in basic sciences.

By category, Ma Won (28, KAIST) won the award in the category of biology. The mathematics award went to Park Hyo-won (34, KAIST) and the earth science award to Lee Jae-hwa (29, NASA). The SSPCF gave 50 mil. won each to the three main award winners and 20 mil.won each to encouragement award winners. 

“These young scientists who gained worldwide recognition for publishing excellent dissertations in basic science fields with academic passion and perseverance are a stepping stone for the country’s competitiveness, “said an official of the foundation. “The SSPCF will continue to make active efforts to expand support for those scientists.” 

The non-profit foundation was established in 2011 in order to foster outstanding talent, who will become the next generation of leaders of our society, through the support of academic research and a fellowship program. In addition to the dissertation awards, it named Chair Professor Lim Ji-soon the Leading Scientist of the Year and promised to offer 300 mil. won as a research fund over six years. In Sept. the foundation launched the Encore Korea Project and is contributing to transferring veteran scientists’ and technologists’ experience and knowledge overseas.