KOO Bon-Kyoung, Director of the Center for Genome Engineering within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has received the 2025 Ministerial Commendation from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) for contributions to research cooperation under Horizon Europe.

The Ministry of Science and ICT grants this award to researchers and institutions that have contributed to Korea’s participation as an associate country in Horizon Europe—the European Union’s largest research and innovation program—or that have strengthened international research collaboration and generated research outcomes through active participation in the program.

Last year, Director Koo became the first researcher affiliated with a Korean institution to be selected for the ERC Synergy Grant 2024, a major funding program within Horizon Europe. As a co-investigator of the international research team CloneEscape, which brings together four research groups from Korea and Europe, he is conducting a collaborative study to elucidate the expansion and evolutionary processes of early cancer cell populations. Through this work, he has made significant contributions to expanding Korean researchers’ engagement with European research networks and strengthening the foundation for global scientific collaboration.

This commendation recognizes Director Koo’s outstanding international research achievements and his contributions to enhancing Korea’s global research cooperation capacity.