Dates: July 2–4, 2023
Venue: KAIST, Daejeon
Host University: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Theme: “Technology and Stewardship for Sustainable Global Future”

July 2	17:30–19:00 KST	Welcome Dinner
July 3	09:00–12:20 KST	Symposium
	13:45–17:30 KST	VPSSM
	17:30–18:30 KST	ASPIRE League Partnership Seed Fund Report Session
July 4	09:00–11:00 KST	Student Presentations

ASPIRE Forum 2023 Report

ASPIRE Forum 2023 was held under the theme of “Technology and Stewardship for Sustainable Global Future,” hosted by and held at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon from July 2 to 4. Vice presidents, senior staff, faculty members, and students from member universities attended the annual gathering, which featured a Student Workshop, a Symposium, and the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting.

Welcome Dinner

ASPIRE Forum 2023 started on July 2 with a welcome dinner. Beginning with a speech from ASPIRE Chairperson Prof. Man-Sung Yim, vice presidents, staff, and students from each university gathered to take a look at what had happened throughout the previous years and what will happen during the Forum.

<2023 ASPIRE Forum Welcome Dinner>

Symposium

After the years-long COVID-19 pandemic, borders were finally opened and the symposium could take place at KAIST, Daejeon. The symposium was held on the morning of July 3 with a welcome address from KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee and was moderated by Professor Scott Gabriel Knowles (Assistant Vice President of the International Office, KAIST) and featured the following lectures by five faculty members, each representing one of the member universities:

1. Low Carbon Urban Mobility and Parcel Delivery via Road-Air Cooperation, Professor Xiabo Qu (Tsinghua University)
2. Decarbonization by Electrochemical Energy Technologies, Professor Minhua Shao (HKUST)
3. Sustainable Futuristic Healthy Society Realized through AI-assisted Proteomics based on Practical Open Innovation,
   Professor Nobuhiro Hayashi (Tokyo Tech)
4. Physics-Driven Machine Learning for Computational Imaging, Professor Bhan Wen (NTU Singapore)
5. Navigating Energy Technology Pathways toward Achieving Carbon Neutrality, Professor Jiyong Eom (KAIST)

Including the student workshop participants, a total of 53 members of the ASPIRE League community attended.

Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting

The ASPIRE League Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting (VPSSM) was convened on the afternoon of July 3 by Professor Man-Sung Yim, the 2022–2023 Chairperson of the ASPIRE League and Vice President of the KAIST International Office.

Prof. Yim thanked the vice presidents, senior staff, and their universities for supporting the league's activities. Prof. Jun-ichi Takada and Mr. Toku Hirasawa of the ASPIRE League Secretariat then provided a report on the league's activities conducted since the 2022 VPSSM. Each vice president then delivered a presentation on their respective university’s activities for international collaboration in the post-pandemic era.

After that, attendees turned their attention to the discussion topics on the agenda. Prof. Yim suggested that the period for serving as chair university be changed to one year from the current two-year commitment. Prof. Li of Tsinghua University agreed on behalf of Vice President Wang Hongwei for Tsinghua to serve as chair university in 2024.

Turning to the ASPIRE League Partnership Seed Fund, HKUST gave an overview of collaborative research project implementation from the first (2019) to the fourth (2022) round, and reported that a total of 15 applications had been received for the fifth (2023) round. Proposals were discussed, and five new collaborative research projects were selected to receive seed funding.

Vice Presidents and Staff at the VPSSM

ASPIRE League Partnership Seed Fund Report Session

The ASPIRE League Partnership Seed Fund Report Session was convened online after the VPSSM. Six Principal Investigators (Prof. Charles Chun Yang of NTU, Prof. Naubahar Sharif of HKUST, Prof. Tsuyoshi Michinobu of Tokyo Tech, Prof. Yoonseob Kim of HKUST, Prof. Masahide Yamaguchi of Tokyo Tech, and Prof. Bihan Wen of NTU) involved in completed collaborative research projects from the first (2019) to the third (2021) round, made presentations to highlight the results and impacts of their collaborative research projects.

Student Presentations

Twenty-two students from five member universities participated and were divided into five teams based on the two topics given by KAIST faculty members:

1. A) The Impact of Science and Technology on the Sustainable Global Future: Beneficial or Detrimental?
2. B) Improving sustainability of target population by designing new care model using science and technology

To set the stage for the group work, two KAIST faculty members gave lectures related to these topics. Professor Jaewook Myung from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering spoke on “Green Marketing vs Green Washing within the Green Plastic Industry.” Professor Lisa Lim from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering talked about “The Future of Care for Sustainable Individuals and Society.”
Students developed their team’s proposal using the knowledge acquired from their research backgrounds and information obtained through the lectures and the Symposium.

On the last day of ASPIRE Forum 2023, participants in the student workshop presented the results of their group work in the form of ideas for new concepts and services.

The vice presidents, acting as reviewers, and senior staff members attended the group presentations in accordance with ASPIRE League tradition.

Following evaluations of the presentations, all student teams were awarded, and the vice presidents gave the Best Presentation Award to the BrainCare Tech team in recognition of their proposed automated, quantitative, and cost-effective care service for people dealing with dementia.

Best Presentation Award winners: BrainCare Tech team

Summary

ASPIRE Forum 2023 brought together students, faculty, and vice presidents from each member university of the ASPIRE League in a face-to-face setting.
Participants in the Student Workshop, which had the theme “Technology and Stewardship for Sustainable Global Future,” had the opportunity to work together and exchange expertise with colleagues from a variety of academic fields. Stakeholders from all member universities had the chance to learn more and engage with the five featured researchers during the ASPIRE Symposium.
Last but not least, member universities continued to support collaborative research through the ASPIRE League Partnership Seed Fund, shared best practices for cross-border collaboration, and jointly set priorities for the next year during the VPSSM.