1994

The Ministry of Science and Technology conceives a national institute dedicated to basic science, modeled on the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

1995

A founding preparatory committee is formed in March; in December, the KAIST board of trustees approves the institute's establishment.

1996

On October 1, KIAS opens on the KAIST Seoul campus in Hongneung with two schools — Mathematics and Physics — and six researchers, Korea's first institute devoted purely to theoretical basic science.

2003

The School of Computational Sciences is established, completing the three-school structure — Mathematics, Physics and Computational Sciences — that KIAS operates today.

2006

Three KIAS mathematics faculty are invited to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) — the first Korean mathematicians ever invited.

2014

A KIAS mathematics professor delivers Korea's first plenary lecture at the ICM.

2026

KIAS marks its 30th anniversary as a research hub of 9 KIAS Scholars, 26 faculty, 2 research professors and more than 130 postdoctoral researchers — over 200 members in total, hosting more than 100 academic events each year. Nearly 300 physics postdoctoral alumni alone have gone on to lead research at institutions in Korea and abroad.