Every year, the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) selects and announces the nation’s top 100 outstanding research performances to inspire an interest of the general public in science and technology.

On November 1, UNIST announced that two of its R&D breakthroughs have been selected for the 2021 National Top 100 R&D Performance by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). The achievements by Professor Hyeon Suk Shin (Department of Chemistry, UNIST) and Distinguished Professor Steve Granick (IBS Center for Soft and Living Matter) have been recognized in the the field of Basic Science & Infrastructure, respectively.

Professor Hyeon Suk Shin has been named among the 2021 National Top 100 R&D Performances for his recent development of ‘Ultra-low dielectric materials (Hexagonal boron nitride, h-BN), a key material for the realization of highly-integrated ultra-fine semiconductors. Published in Nature, the most prestigious journal in science, in June 2020, this breakthrough has been evaluated as a key source technology for future semiconductors.

Distinguished Professor Steve Granick has also been named among the 2021 National Top 100 R&D Performances for his recent work that breaks the 100-year-old conventional wisdom surrounding chemical reactions. His research team identified a phenomenon, in which the energy in chemical reactions is not lost in the form of thermal energy, unlike the common sense. Rather, it is converted into mechanical energy, accelerating chemical molecules. The findings of this research have been published in the journal, Science.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT has been selecting 100 excellence and 100 excellence every year since 2006 to raise public understanding and interest in the role of science and technology that has driven national development.

This year, a total of 852 candidate achievements recommended by ministries, ministries, and offices were evaluated by the Selection and Evaluation Committee, and 100 were finally selected. 18 cases in the field of ▲ machinery and materials technology ▲ 26 cases in the field of life and marine ▲ 18 cases in the field of energy and environment ▲ 19 cases in the field of information and electronics ▲ 10 cases in the field of convergence technology ▲ 9 cases in the basic and infrastructure.