BK21 Four (Brain Korea21), sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the South Korean Government, is a nationwide competitive program that nurtures outstanding scholars and provides financial supports to selected graduate programs. BK21 program has moved into its fourth phase in 2020, which will continue over a period of 8 years. The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES) at Seoul National University has been the beneficiary since the beginning of the program in 1999 and selected for BK21 Four as the best graduate program in Earth science. The majority of the members of SEES participate in the program, including 32 faculty members and 138 graduate students as of 2021.

The aim of the SEES BK21 Four is to nurture world-class researchers to lead the global Earth science community through interdisciplinary collaborations and societal contribution. To achieve this goal, Quality not Quantity in research, is pursued specifically in the fourth phase. Our program provides fellowship to graduate students and additional financial supports for travel and student-lead research activities.

SEES BK21 Four collaborates closely with SEES in both graduate research and education, and more detailed information can be found on the SEES website (http://sees.snu.ac.kr/en). For further inquiries, please contact us at jungmin@snu.ac.kr