Institute for Basic Science (IBS) South Korea
Overview
IBS was established in 2011 to advance the frontiers of knowledge and foster leading scientists of tomorrow by pursuing excellence in basic science research. Since then, IBS has been providing infrastructure for long-term, large-scale, and group research as well as supporting autonomous research activities of researchers, focusing on the exploration of creative knowledge. In 2018, IBS had moved to its new building in Daejeon, South Korea. Watch the tour video of our headquarters and some of our research centers.
As a basic science research institute representing Korea, IBS is running 4 Research Institutes and 35 Research Centers in physics, chemistry, mathematics, life sciences, and interdisciplinary areas as of August 2022, with the goal of eventually increasing the number to 50. In order to meet this goal, IBS is hiring Research Center Directors and Chief Investigators, as well as postdoctoral researchers. For career opportunities, please visit https://www.ibs.re.kr/prog/recruit/eng/sub04_01/list.do.
The institute’s main philosophy is to select world-renowned scientists as its Centers’ directors and create an environment where the director can concentrate on his/her own creative research. That is because IBS believes that creativity can be maximized when excellent researchers focus on conducting challenging research in an autonomous research environment.
IBS has been generating research outcomes that attract worldwide attention and was named one of Nature Index Rising Stars 2016. Despite a short history, the institute is standing shoulder to shoulder with international basic science research institutes. With the 2018 completion of its new headquarters designated as an urban science park, IBS will maximize the merits of group and interdisciplinary research as well as bring IBS’ research capabilities together. It is actively recruiting young researchers at home and abroad, heralding an even brighter future.
Since 2016, IBS has been operating Young Scientists Fellowship (YSF) under the slogan ‘Initiate your own research at IBS. In order to intensify its support to grow the next-generation leaders of scientific investigators, IBS has been launching a new research unit called Pioneer Research Centers (PRC), a subset of the existing IBS HQ Centers since early 2019. PRCs consist of up to five Chief Investigators (CIs) each. The CIs lead their own research group to pioneer new fields and focus on challenging research in the basic sciences. CIs are required to have scientific excellence equivalent to that of a principal investigator at a globally renowned research institute or to have great potential to reach the aforementioned level in the near future. IBS will continue its efforts to become a research hub where young scientists can devote themselves to their science with full autonomy and independence.
The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) retains sole responsibility for content © 2021 Institute for Basic Science (IBS).
Research
Date range: 1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023
Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All
The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Institute for Basic Science (IBS) published between 1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023 which are tracked by the Nature Index.
Hover over the donut graph to view the Share for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.
Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.
Count | Share |
---|---|
315 | 76.95 |
Outputs by subject (Share)
Subject | Count | Share |
---|---|---|
Biological sciences | 53 | 12.23 |
Chemistry | 131 | 31.18 |
Earth & environmental sciences | 18 | 3.45 |
Health sciences | 18 | 3.39 |
Physical sciences | 191 | 45.24 |
Share output for the past 5 years
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022* |
---|---|---|---|---|
88.05 | 89.27 | 85.82 | 91.96 | 81.02 |
Compare Institute for Basic Science (IBS) with other institutions
*Note: 2022 data contains Share for article affiliations from newly added health-science journals.
Highlight of the month
Hominin species thrived in biodiversity
© Hans Strand/Corbis Documentary/Getty Images
The ancestors of modern humans thrived in high-diversity ecosystems, making them resilient to fluctuations in climate.
Species belonging to the genus Homo, including Homo sapiens, have experienced large changes in climate over the past three million years. But little is known about how they adapted to such climate changes, which included ice ages.
Now, a team led by researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea has linked the location and age of more than 3,200 fossil and archaeological sites of six hominin species with simulations of their vegetation and ecosystems.
The results indicate that later species, especially Homo sapiens — the only surviving hominin species today — tended to inhabit a wider range of biomes over time. This suggests that Homo species were well suited to adapt to diverse habitats.
References
- Science 380 604–608 (2023). doi: 10.1126/science.abq1288
See more research highlights from Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
More research highlights from Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
Collaboration
Date range: 1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023
International vs. domestic collaboration by Share
- 53.79% Domestic (95 institutions)
- 46.21% International (718 institutions)
Hover over the graph to view the percentage of collaboration.
Top 10 domestic collaborators with Institute for Basic Science (IBS) by Share*
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Seoul National University (SNU)
(42.31)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
(35.66)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
(24.64)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
(23.79)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)
(20.92)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Yonsei University
(17.26)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Korea University
(10.61)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Pusan National University (PNU)
(8.57)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
(5.50)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)
(4.20)
Top 10 international collaborators with Institute for Basic Science (IBS) by Share*
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
(6.13)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
(4.43)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
(4.11)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(4.00)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and RIKEN
(3.74)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Peking University (PKU)
(3.48)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and University of Cambridge
(3.14)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Stanford University
(3.14)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and University of Pennsylvania (Penn)
(2.55)
-
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and University of Hamburg (UHH)
(2.42)
Relationships
Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
- Division of Chemistry, IBS
- Division of Earth Science, IBS
- Division of Interdisciplinary, IBS
- Division of Life Sciences, IBS
- Division of Mathematics, IBS
- Division of Physics, IBS
- National Institute for Mathematical Sciences (NIMS), IBS
Affiliated joint institutions and consortia

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