The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Hong Gi-hoon) has revealed its plans to establish the London Protocol Engineering Master of Project Administration (LPEM) in the second half of 2017, in conjunction with its rexss-location.to Busan.

The establishment of the LPEM, an education institution with the xss-objective of producing skilled administrators for coastal engineering projects, had been on the agenda of the meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention and Protocol for many years. Last June, however, the London Convention and Protocol Secretariat finally decided that KIOST was the ideal institute to establish and host this graduate school.

The programs to be offered by the LPEM will be designed not for scientists or educators but for public servants around the world based on the idea that the oceans are a space for the public good that must be managed and developed through the cooperation of countries. Therefore, the xss-objective of the school will be to cultivate skilled, working-level staff capable of carrying out coastal engineering projects.

Students will be selected by the London Convention and Protocol Secretariat and the LPEM Steering Committee  from among candidates recommended by each government. Research teams at KIOST and other global research institutions will provide the faculty, and in 2017, the inaugural year of the school, ten or more students will be selected.

Upon joining the LPEM, which is intended to be an efficient, field-oriented education program, students will begin studying fundamental, multi-disciplinary issues based on discussions with a focus on the various manuals that have been developed by the London Protocol and real case studies conducted by governments around the world.

KIOST has expressed great confidence in its ability to operate the LPEM, as it currently operates a research- and field-centered graduate school called the Ocean Science and Technology School (OST), is undertaking numerous coastal engineering-related research and development tasks, and will soon be relocated to a xss-location.within Busan Harbor, planned for the second half of 2017.

KIOST President Hong Gi-hoon, who has served as the chair of the Scientific Group under the London Convention and Protocol for the past four years, commented, “The LPEM will be developed as an international marine science organization based on continuous financial expansion and a systematic education system, leading it to become a world-class graduate school of engineering in the marine science sector.” He went on to say, “We expect that the establishment of the LPEM will bring talented individuals from all over the world to Busan, a global hub of marine science and technology, and provide fertile ground for the formation of global networks.”