KAIST announced on the 1st that Seonwoo Hwang, a Ph.D. candidate in the integrated master’s and doctoral program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, won second place in the “2025 Merck Innovation Cup” organized by Merck KGaA, a German science and technology company.
The Merck Innovation Cup is a global innovation program in the field of science and technology held annually by Merck since 2011. The competition is open to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from around the world. Hwang was the only participant from a domestic institution to compete in the event this year.
The selection process for the Merck Innovation Cup includes an evaluation based on cover letter, resume, and research achievements (1st stage), followed by a proposal review (2nd stage) to determine the final participants. This year, a total of 42 participants were selected for the competition.
Participants are given the opportunity to form teams, compete with business ideas, and establish collaborative research networks, with all necessary expenses covered by Merck. This year’s competition featured seven teams.
Hwang joined the Green Chemistry team for the competition. The team included doctoral students from Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), Sofia University (Bulgaria), Oxford University (UK), and Heidelberg (Germany).
The competition schedule took place from the 19th to the 25th of the previous month at the Lufthansa Seeheim Conference Hotel in Germany, featuring lectures and team projects.
Hwang’s team designed an innovative tool by integrating “12 Principles of Green Chemistry,” the international guidelines for environmentally friendly chemical synthesis, into Merck’s proprietary chemical design software, Synthia®. The team achieved second place in the competition.
On the last day of the event, the 25th, Merck held an award ceremony at its headquarters in Darmstadt. Hwang’s team received a prize of 5,000 euros.
Hwang commented, “It was a very valuable experience to collaborate with excellent researchers from around the world and to contemplate solving real industrial problems,” adding, “I gained confidence that the academic foundation and research experience I learned at KAIST can also be effective in the actual global technology innovation stage.”
Meanwhile, Merck is a global science and technology company with branches in over 70 countries. Established in 1668, it is one of the “world’s oldest” pharmaceutical and chemical companies with a history of over 350 years. Its main business areas include healthcare, life sciences, and electronics (including semiconductor materials).