Anchor Project Performance-Sharing Forum Held on the 20th … Full-Scale Development of Talent for Regional Settlement Begins

18 Competitive and Policy-Linked Projects Progressing Steadily … 30 of 33 Performance Indicators Achieve 100% or More

Presenting Regional Innovation Models in Future Mobility, Entrepreneurship, Industry Collaboration, and Saemaul Studies Specialization

[July 21, 2026]

<Yeungnam University held a performance-sharing forum for the Regional Growth Talent Development System project jointly with the Gyeongbuk Anchor Center on the 20th>

 Yeungnam University (President CHOI Oe-chool) is achieving outstanding results through the Regional Growth Talent Development System (Anchor Project, formerly RISE) supported by Gyeongsangbuk-do, further developing a regional innovation model in which the region, university, and businesses grow together.

 Based on the achievements and best practices accumulated over the past year, YU plans to accelerate the creation and dissemination of results in the second year of the project. The university is expected to further accelerate the establishment of a virtuous cycle that promotes youth development and settlement in the region, business innovation, and the sustainable development of both the university and the region.

 YU jointly held an Anchor Project Performance-Sharing Forum with the Gyeongbuk Anchor Center at Hotel Inter-Burgo on the 20th. The forum was held to share the achievements of the first year of the project and explore strategies for disseminating its results and advancing the project going forward. Rather than serving simply as a report on performance, the forum was designed to assess the role YU has played and the achievements it has made within the policy objectives and direction of the Anchor Project promoted by Gyeongsangbuk-do, and to use these achievements as a foundation for developing a more systematic and scalable project model. 

 The Gyeongsangbuk-do Anchor Project focuses on creating a virtuous cycle in which young people attend universities in the region, obtain employment at local companies, and ultimately settle in the region. At the heart of the project is close collaboration among universities, industry, research institutions, and local governments to secure new growth engines for the region and establish a foundation for sustainable development. In line with these objectives, YU is organically connecting education, entrepreneurship, industry-academia collaboration, and global cooperation to simultaneously foster customized talent and drive industrial innovation.

 YU has been recognized for translating the objectives and goals of the Anchor Project into tangible results through its first-year implementation. The results are clearly demonstrated by the numbers. YU carried out a total of 18 projects, including 11 competitive projects and seven policy-linked projects, and achieved 100% or more of the target in 30 of 33 performance indicators, including student and faculty entrepreneurship, student employment, joint research among local governments, industry, academia, and research institutions, and the development of industry-linked curricula. As a result, all major key projects received the highest-level “A” grade in the first-year evaluation, while the university secured the largest amount of additional project funding among universities in Gyeongsangbuk-do, objectively demonstrating the effectiveness of the project. This is particularly significant in that YU has successfully established a regional innovation operating model for a large comprehensive university, going beyond simple project implementation.

 One of the most notable achievements was YU’s selection as an AI-focused university under the “Gyeongbuk Strategic Industry Anchor University” initiative launched by Gyeongsangbuk-do this year. YU has embraced this opportunity as a powerful driver of regional innovation and declared a clear vision of becoming a “Leading University Driving the Regional AI Transformation.” Its goals and implementation strategies are clear. The university plans to build an AI ecosystem in partnership with global companies, foster field-oriented convergence talent, and broadly lead the region’s AI transformation (AX) through key strategies aimed at spreading the shared value of “AI for All.”

 Behind these achievements is a systematic governance structure centered on the RISE Project Group under the Regional Innovation Project Headquarters, which reports directly to the President. YU has strengthened the project’s implementation capacity and accountability by establishing a central administrative structure, a performance management center, and a committee-based monitoring system. Another key factor behind its success has been the university’s ability to seamlessly connect the experience and expertise accumulated through the existing RIS (Regional Innovation System) project, a regional innovation initiative based on cooperation between local governments and universities, with the Anchor Project. In particular, the transition from an education ministry-led project to a local-government-led system has enabled YU to reflect regional industry needs and on-site demands more directly, further strengthening its capacity to operate regionally focused projects.

 The project has also produced notable examples of success. One of the representative achievements is the “MEGAversity Consortium University,” a collaborative model in the future mobility sector. YU established a functional consortium university system with regional universities to respond to the needs of the future mobility industry and operated a joint talent development model combining the specialized capabilities of each university. This consortium university model is the first of its kind in Korea and has already produced notable results in its first year. YU is responsible for the Innovative Parts for Future vehicles (IPF) sector, where it has advanced an education and industry-academia collaboration system specialized in the future automotive industry. Through extracurricular programs linked with Hyundai NGV and the operation of Project Labs, the university is accelerating the development of talent equipped with the practical skills required by industry. The model is drawing attention as a new collaborative approach to jointly developing talent for the region’s future growth industries through the shared operation of curricula, extracurricular programs, and industry-academia collaboration beyond the boundaries between universities.

 The entrepreneurship sector has also produced outstanding results. Through “YUnicorn Startup Valley,” YU has established a “settlement-oriented entrepreneurship ecosystem” designed not simply to provide entrepreneurship education but also to commercialize regional assets and help entrepreneurs establish themselves in the region. By bringing together startup support organizations, venture capital (VC) firms, accelerators (ACs), local governments, the university’s technology holding company, and university networks, YU has created a virtuous cycle extending from identifying entrepreneurs to generating sales and connecting startups with investment opportunities. As a result, the university recorded 68 student startups, ranking No. 1 among non-metropolitan universities and No. 6 nationwide in the number of student startups based on a three-year average, demonstrating that a region-based startup ecosystem can produce tangible results.

 YU’s strengths have also been clearly demonstrated in industry collaboration. The YU Industry Collaboration Center (ICC) has integrated the Regional Growth Innovation LAB, SME R&D, specialized industry scale-up, autonomous R&D, and AX projects into a single platform rather than treating them as separate initiatives. Through this platform, the center has designed a phased growth ladder extending from identifying companies’ technical challenges to demonstration, follow-up R&D, and scale-up. In particular, YU’s research infrastructure and industry-academia collaboration system provided practical support during the development of robotic technologies for the production operations of SL, a mid-sized company based in Gyeongsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do. This case represents a notable example demonstrating that a university can serve as a long-term innovation partner for regional companies.

<From left, KIM Seung-chul, Head of YU’s Regional Innovation Project Headquarters; President CHOI Oe-chool; and PARK Dae-hyun, Director of the Gyeongbuk RISE Center>

 YU’s specialization in Saemaul Studies, leveraging the university’s unique assets, is another important achievement. Based on Saemaul Studies, which systematizes the Saemaul Undong and Korea’s development experience as an academic discipline, YU is connecting infrastructure across undergraduate and graduate programs, research institutes, and training institutions to simultaneously foster international development specialists for shared global prosperity, support the settlement of international students, and address challenges facing rural and agricultural communities. Through an interdisciplinary education system linking the Department of International Development and Saemaul Studies with the Division of Economics and Finance, Department of Forest Resources, Department of Horticultural Life Sciences, Department of Environmental Engineering, and Department of Urban Engineering, students acquire practical expertise in international development cooperation alongside their major-specific capabilities. In addition, YU’s support for the establishment of the Saemaul Research Institute at Samarkand University in Uzbekistan and its on-site consulting under the Anchor Project demonstrate how the university’s specialized assets can lead to international expansion and enhance regional brand value.

 President CHOI Oe-chool said, “Through the Anchor Project, universities must go beyond being simply educational institutions and serve as innovation hubs connecting the future of young people with sustainable growth in the region. Building on the achievements of the first year, YU will more precisely connect regional industry needs with young people’s development pathways and steadily expand tangible results through which the university, businesses, and the local community grow together. In doing so, we will realize the core objectives of the Anchor Project: developing talent who settle in the region and promoting sustainable regional development.”