In an article published by Nature, an international science journal, on October 19, 2017, SKKU was introduced as "A University Always Ahead of Its Time".
Nature said, "SKKU is the university that has the longest history and tradition in Asia. Since partnering with Samsung in 1996, SKKU has developed into a leading global institute." It also mentioned that "SKKU now intensively promotes its five core fields – nanotechnology, smart ICT, energy systems, neuroscience, and quantum computing. The university is making impressive strides academically, showing annual improvements in university rankings: 8th in World Academia – Industry Cooperation Rankings, 81-90 bracket of the THE World Reputation Rankings 2017, 85th in Graduate Employability Rankings 2018."
Nature also highlighted SKKU's two programs in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS): The Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics (CINAP) / Prof. LEE Young-hee and the Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR) / Prof. KIM Seong-gi as well as Prof. PARK Nam-gyu at the Department of Chemical Engineering, who Clarivate Analytics predicted as a potential Nobel Prize awardee in the near future.
In an interview with Nature, President CHUNG Kyu-sang said, "I believe that SKKU's development into a leading global institute mainly stems from receiving full support from the Samsung Foundation, recruiting top faculty members, developing systems for education and research, partnering with global institutes, and conducting joint research activities with leading institutes such as MIT (USA), BASF (Germany), Helmholtz Association (Germany), and INFN (Italy).