SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY (SKKU), SEOUL, KOREA

- Includes innovative convergence classes, various extracurricular programs, corporate field trip, and internship
- Total of 5,500 undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. students participated

SKKU announced that the newly introduced challenge semester, that provided opportunities to take high-quality classes and experience various activities, was successfully operated for 10 weeks from June 22 (Mon) to August 28 (Fri).

The Challenge Semester is a program that was introduced to provide various programs by extending the summer break period to three months. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was operated for 10 weeks this year. It consists of an academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, internship, and international exchange programs which are all free of charge. Due to the pandemic, international exchange programs were not operated, and curriculum and extracurricular programs were conducted 100% online.

The academic curriculum is run as innovative convergence classes in addition to the existing summer classes, and students can take up to three credits. Fourteen convergence courses including "New Humankind Phono Sapiens" (Pro. Jae-boong Choi), "Data Science and Social Data Analysis" (Prof. Jang-hyun Kim), and "Humanities and Creative Reason" (Prof. Yong-seok Kim) have been offered, and about 2,000 students participated.

For the extracurricular programs, "Challenge Semester Platinum Lecture" (Prof. Dennis Hong) and "Build a Foundation of Machine Learning and Deep Learning Using Python" (Prof. Ha-young Oh) were conducted and about 2,400 students participated. An internship program, corporate field trip, problem-solving project, and research experience were operated and 667 students participated.

SKKU plans to expand the internship program and promote international exchange programs by securing a 12 week break for the next Challenge Semester.

President Dong Ryeol Shin said, "Although we are suffering due to COVID-19, we have not dampened our students' enthusiasm to explore a better future. We will continue to plan various programs so that students can have diverse experiences in the future."

The Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dong-wook Kim, said, "Through the 5,500 participants of the first challenge semester, we were able to see students' passion and spirit. We plan to actively promote internships and internationalization programs further when COVID-19 is over."