About KAIST Graduate School of Engineering Biology

Engineering Biology is an emerging discipline that integrates engineering principles into the life sciences to design, construct, and synthesize biological components and systems — encompassing the core concepts of synthetic biology. It represents a new frontier in science and technology, recently recognized as one of Korea’s National Strategic Technologies and as a key pillar of the Digital Bio initiative.

With advances in genome-based technologies and the accumulation of biological data, the paradigm of biotechnology R&D is shifting from discovery (genome decoding) to invention (genome synthesis). This transformation is redefining how we understand, engineer, and harness biological systems.

The convergence of biotechnology with digital, AI, and robotic automation technologies is enabling faster, large-scale, and cost-effective innovation — overcoming the traditional limitations of bio R&D. These developments are unlocking vast industrial applications across environmental, pharmaceutical, chemical, and energy sectors, paving the way for the creation of entirely new markets.

Through a next-generation educational system that fuses biology, AI, and engineering, the KAIST Graduate School of Engineering Biology aims to cultivate world-class “Engineering Biologists” — professionals equipped with quantitative, system-level, and integrative thinking and skills to lead the global transformation of the bioeconomy.