2012 RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Programme

1. Overview

The RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Programme of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is designed to educate and train high-caliber students from the RCA Member States with the aim to preserve and enhance nuclear technology for RCA Member States. The graduates of the programme have been contributing to the developments of nuclear and radiation technology for the graduates’ countries by working in government supported R&D institutions, or government funded enterprises, universities etc. as elite leaders.

This programme has been implemented since March 2003 and 25 students in total from 11 countries have been accepted up to now. To finish the course it takes up to 2 years regularly and students must satisfy certain requirements.

2. RCA Scholarship

l RCA-KAIST programme scholarship coverage is as follows ;

-    Application fee (50,000 Korean Won)

-    2 years Tuition (Approx. 8,000,000 Korean Won per academic year)

-    Stipend (900,000 Korean Won/month): to be paid monthly on 25th of each month for up to two years.

-    The economy-class one-way airfare from the nearest airport of the originating country to Incheon, Korea.

◇ NOTE:

-     The local transportation from the air port to Daejeon, and the returning air fare after finishing the course is not covered by the programme.

-     On-campus housing (dormitory) can be arranged but the cost must be borne individually. At present, a shared room by 2 persons at KAIST costs about 600,000 Korean Won/semester (may change slightly) and must be paid at the beginning of each semester.

-     KAIST does not provide family housing for married students during the first year. It can be provided in the second year, but there is a high competition. So students who want to bring his/her family must bear that the rental apartment near KAIST is quite expensive.

-     The meals in the Campus cafeteria cost around 4,000 Korean Won per meal.

-     Medical insurance fee of approximately 40,000 Korean Won/month also to be borne individually.

3. Qualification for Application

l Applicants :

-     must have graduated from a 4-year academic institution (or equivalent by the time) and have BA (Bachelor of Arts) or equivalent degree.

-     must be recommended by National RCA Representative of his/her country by asking the Representative to notify the candidate name to the RCARO by email to Jin Kyu Lim, Head of Administration Division at [email protected] ;[email protected] or by fax to +82-42-864-1626.

-     can find further information about his/her country’s Representative at http://www.rcaro.org/states.

4. Application Documents

l Application forms can be downloaded from the KAIST homepage. (For more information, please visit the KAIST website. http//www.kaist.edu ==> Admissions or http://admission.kaist.ac.kr ) Applicants are recommended to frequently visit the KAIST homepage or RCA homepage http://www.rcaro.org for being informed of further notices or additional guidance for application.

The following documents must accompany each application.

1.    KAIST International Graduate Application Form (downloadable)

2.    Statement of Purpose (downloadable)

3.    Statement of Financial Resources (downloadable)

4.    Two Letters of Recommendation (downloadable) from 2 professors of the educational institute where the applicant attended for BA or MS degree. The letter by superiors or experts of national research institutes or private companies will not be accepted.

5.    Academic transcripts from all the colleges attended

6.    Graduation(or expected) and degree certificates from all the colleges attended

7.    Regular TOEFL (or TOEIC, TEPS, IELTS) score record (for students only from non-English speaking countries defined in the following note) - The test taken more than 2 years prior to application due date may not be accepted.

8.    Copy of Passport : Students should check if their passport has enough period of validity and a copy of the first page of the passport should be sent to Program Assistant of KAIST by e-mail.(Christine Kim, [email protected])

9.    Optional : Any material demonstrating applicant’s scholastic ability

◇ NOTE

.  For the forms and details, please visit http://www.kaist.edu ==> Admissions

In the Statement of Financial Resources (one of application documents), you must select “Sponsoring Organization, Firm, or Government” as a funding source and write down “RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Program” as the name of sponsor.

.  All documents must be official and original. The offer of admission may be revoked if a candidate's submitted documents are found to be false and counterfeit. Also faxes and photocopies are not considered as the valid application documents. However photocopies of transcript with new fresh valid stamp are considered as original.

.  All documents should be written in English officially so if application documents including academic transcript are written in a language other than English, they should be translated into English with the authorization of a public notary in your country.

.  Applicants from Bangladeshi, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam must submit one of official English proficiency test score higher than the given criteria ;

.  Submission of English test score is exempt for applicants from Australia, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore.

5. How to apply

-        Applicants should send their application package directly to the Admission Management Team at KAIST, and complete application package should be arrived at KAIST by the due date given below. For detailed information including address, please refer to the KAIST website (http://www.kaist.edu => Admission). The Admission Management Team shall only accept application documents that arrive at KAIST by due dates. They do not take any responsibility for a failure in delivery of application documents by the deadline.

-        NOTE: In the Statement of Financial Resources (one of application documents), you must select “Sponsoring Organization, Firm, or Government” as a funding source and write down “RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Program” as the sponsor name.

-        After you submit your application forms to the Admission Management Team at KAIST, you MUST notify the RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Program Coordinator (Prof. Gyuseong Cho, [email protected]) by email.

6. Admission Procedure and Coming to KAIST

l Screening at Department:

-        The Departmental Student Selection Committee (which includes the Program Coordinator) at the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST will review all the applications submitted to the Admission Management Team of KAIST. Then, qualified applicants will be recommended to the Student Selection Committee of KAIST. If the number of qualified applicants is larger than the maximum number of students that the RCA-KAIST Master’s Degree Program can accept, some of applications can be transferred into the KAIST scholarship program.

l Admission Evaluation:

-       Applications recommended by the Departmental Student Selection Committee will be evaluated by the Student Selection Committee of KAIST.

l Admission Notification:

-        The Admission Team of KAIST will notify the admission results to the applicants whether the candidate is accepted or not.

-        The Programme Coordinator and the Programme Assistant will contact admitted applicants for further instructions by e-mail.

l VISA and Air Ticket:

-        The admitted students should get his/her Visa from Korea Consulate in his/her countries.

-        If students bought an airplane ticket, it will be reimbursed by the program after arrival, so students must submit the air plane ticket and its payment receipt issued by the travel company where he/she bought the ticket. Otherwise, students can choose to receive the one-way air plane e-ticket to Korea from KAIST Program Assistant.

-        He/she should let the Program Coordinator (or Program assistant) know your arrival date and time for the dormitory reservation. (2 students shall share a room)

l Arrival at KAIST : 27~31 Jan. 2012(Spring Semester) or 27~31 Aug. 2012(Fall Semester)

-        When the students arrive at Incheon airport, they should take an Airport Limousine Bus to Daejeon at Platform 9D in the airport. (< 30,000 won) and tell the driver you will get off at the former Lotte Hotel bus-stop in Daejeon.

-        When the students arrive at Daejeon, get off the bus at Lotte Hotel bus-stop and take a taxi to KAIST. (< 5,000 won) and tell the driver you want to got to Mechanical Engineering Building inside of KAIST campus or show the driver the following Korean words.

-        When the students arrive at N7-1 building (or Nuclear Eng. Building connected to Mechanical Engineering Building) in KAIST, they should go to the department office on the 2^nd floor. The Program Assistant will guide the students to Student Affairs Team (+82-42-350-2162) for a residence application and to your room.

l Settlement on Campus : ~31 Jan. 2012(Spring Semester) or ~31 Aug. 2012(Fall Semester)

-        Program Assistant will help you for settlement (making a bank account, the ID & key card for entering building N7-1, the computer account and the residence card etc.)

-        Report your arrival to the Program Coordinator, Prof. Gyuseong Cho by visiting Room 2404 of N7-1 building for further instruction such as assigning academic advisor etc.

-        Students who bought the airline ticket themselves should submit the receipt of the air fare to the Program Assistant for reimbursement.

-        Students are encouraged to meet many professors of interests and should determine his/her academic advisor with the agreement of the professor he/she chose and then his/her studying desk will be assigned in the academic advisor’s graduate student office.

◇ Students should bring 3 passport-size photographs in order to make a photo ID and other necessary official documents without delay.

◇ Students are advised to bring warm clothes for the cold season, November to February, as well as some money (~ 900,000 Korean Won) for the initial set-up because the scholarship may be given at the end of each month.

l Start of Semester : February 1, 2012 (Spring Semester) and September 1, 2012 (Fall Semester)

-        The Spring semester 2012 starts on February 1^st, 2012 and the Fall semester 2012 starts on September 1st, 2012.

-        The total credit units per semester ranges from 9 to 12.

-        Students must satisfy the department and KAIST requirements for their graduation.

7. Requirements for Graduation

There are two options for MS degree track;

l Thesis-based MS degree

-    For graduation, students must obtain at least 36 credit units consisting of (1) 8 courses (8x3 = 24 units) with the average GPA score of 2.5 or higher and (2) a thesis research (12 units) for 2 years. The minimum credit plan for graduation is as follows;

     English (NQE595 or CCxxx)                  1 course        3 credit units

     Nuclear energy policy (NQE575/675)      1 course        3 credit units

     Nuclear & quantum eng. courses          3 courses       9 credit units

     Courses in any departments                 2 courses       6 credit units

     Thesis research   & writing                                      12 credit units

     Total                                                                      3 credit units

l Course-based MS degree

-    This is an option to finish MS programme without thesis research (12 units) but with 2 more courses (6 units) + and individual study (6 units). The student is supposed to finish MS degree in 1.5 years. For this option, however, students must consult with his/her academic advisor during the first or second semester.

8. Further Information

l For any question about the program, scholarship and application procedure etc, please contact Christine Kim (Eun-Hee), the program assistant of KAIST, at [email protected]

             Tel) +82-42-350-8511, Cell) +82-16-446-9633, Fax) +82-42-350-3810

l For detailed information about KAIST, including housing and map etc. can be found in the official KAIST website at http://admission.kaist.ac.kr

l For detailed information about the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, such as faculty members, research area and curriculum etc., can be found at: http://nuclear.kaist.ac.kr/

l For further detailed information about the RCA, National RCA representatives, RCARO (RCA regional office in Korea) and the Program, it can be found at: http://www.rcaro.org.