KAIST opened in 1971 and is located in Daejeon. It describes itself as the first science and technology university in Korea. It is organised into five colleges, seven schools, 13 graduate schools and 27 departments. Choongsik Bae became KAIST’s 18th President in July 2026.
Its About page, which carries no date, lists 12,348 students: 4,009 in bachelor’s programmes, 3,767 in master’s programmes, 2,896 in doctoral programmes and 1,676 in joint master’s and doctoral programmes. It reports 731 faculty and 907 staff, with 137 international faculty and 929 international students, and 82,333 alumni. The university’s 21 on-campus residences house more than 7,600 students. Its graduate schools include programmes in AI for mathematics, AI semiconductors, semiconductor technology, mobility and science and technology policy.