News & Announcements

October 2026

International Conference of fNIRS 2026, Macau, China

We are delighted to share that our ongoing research will be presented at the upcoming 9th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (SfNIRS), also known as the fNIRS 2026 Conference, the largest and most prestigious international conference in the field of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).fNIRS 2026 will be held in Macau, China. Our work, titled “Neurocognition and Creativity in a Spatial Augmented Reality Biophilic Room,” has been accepted as a poster presentation.

July  2026

International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC’26), Paris, France

We are pleased to announce that our ongoing research will be presented at the upcoming Design Computing and Cognition 2026 (DCC’26), to be held in Paris, France  this July. We warmly invite you to visit our poster session, where we will present the following two studies:

1. Measuring Creativity Across Natural, Biophilic Built, and Spatially Augmented Environments

2. AI-Generated Hospital Room Design within an Environment-Based Design Framework

Our research group has participated in this biennial conference series since 2020 (DCC’20, DCC’22, DCC’24), and all conference papers have been published in Springer Proceedings. We look forward to engaging with the international research community at DCC’26.

Jan 2026

Recipient of the 2026 Mitacs Globalink Research Award, Canada 

We are excited to announce that our Ph.D. student, Jie Yun, has been awarded the 2026 Mitacs Globalink Research Award in Canada. Her project, titled “AI-Driven WELL-Based Design Framework for Healthcare Spaces: An Environment-Based Design Approach,” has been selected for this prestigious program. As part of the award, she has been invited to undertake a research internship at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Congratulations to Jie Yun on this outstanding achievement! 

October 2025

New Opportunities for International Collaborations and Graduate Studies

We welcome potential international collaborations in interdisciplinary design research and practice, with a focus on Neuroarchitecture and Design Neurocognition. Our current projects are supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)–funded research grants (2025–2028) and investigate how built environments shape human cognition, emotion, and behavior, with specific emphasis on mental health, well-being, and human performance. We are currently recruiting highly motivated graduate students for doctoral and master’s programs, as well as researchers interested in joining our ongoing projects.. For inquiries, please contact me via email at ny.kim@catholic.ac.kr

• • 본 연구실에서는 함께 연구할 성실한 박사과정, 석사과정, 학부연구생(인턴) 모집합니다 . 

  • 2025년 - 2028년 한국연구재단(NRF)  연구과제  신경건축학기반 디자인 융복합연구 (Neuroarchitecture, Mental Health, Creativity,  fNIRS,  AI, Data Science) 에 참여할 연구원을 상시 모집합니다. 본 프로젝트에  관심 있는 분 (전공무관, 외국인 환영)은 언제든지 문의해주시기 바랍니다.  디자인 비전공자도 지원 가능하며, 인지심리학,  신경과학, 컴퓨터공학,  AI, 생체신호 시계열 데이터분석 경험자 우대합니다. (근무 형태:  재택근무, 하이브리드, 파트타임, 인턴 가능)

  • 연구원 지원을 원하시는 분들은 언제든지 이력서(CV)와 자기소개서를 이메일(ny.kim@catholic.ac.kr) 로 보내주세요. 

September 2025

NRF Grant (2025.09-2028.08)

• • We are grateful to announce that our project has received a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) for a three-year research (September 2025 –August 2028) titled "Development of WELL-Based Environmental Design Elements and fNIRS-Based Evaluation Framework for Mental Health Promotion in Hospital Settings". 

(연구과제명: 병원 환경에서의 정신 건강 증진을 위한  WELL기반 환경디자인 요소 및  fNIRS 기반 평가체계 개발 연구, 한국연구재단, 연구기간: 2025.09.01–2028.08.31)

September 2025

Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) 2025 Conference, La Jolla, USA

• We are exicited to announce that our research will be presented as a conference poster at the ANFA 2025 Conference, to be held in La Jolla, USA, in September 2026. The study, entitled “Neurocognitive and Physiological Responses to Biophilic Hospital Room Design: A Pilot VR Study Using fNIRS, Eye-Tracking, and GSR,” is an interdisciplinary collaborative work conducted with John Gero and Zeph Phillips.

August 2025

25th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 2025), Dallas, USA

• Our international collaborative research was presented at the ICED 2025, held in Dallas, USA, in August 2025. The paper, “Brain-derived Neural Networks Distinguish Design Representations in Different Media,” was developed in collaboration with Samuele Colombo (University of Strathclyde, UK) and John Gero (Drexel University, USA), contributing to advancing research in the field of design neurocognition.

July 2025

Mitacs Program: Global Research Opportunity in Canada 

• • Our lab has a collaborative partnership with the Design Lab at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. If you are interested in a global research opportunity in Canada and would like to submit an application, please let me know via email at ny.kim@catholic.ac.kr

*Note: Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will receive a $6,000 research award to a 12-week research project in Canada ($12,000 for 24 weeks). For more information, please refer to the link : mitacs program

June 2025

NRF Grant (2025.06-2028.05)

• • We are grateful to announce that our project has received a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) for a three-year research (June 2025 – May 2028) titled "AI-Based Neuroarchitectural Study on the Effects of Biophilic Work Environments on Creativity Enhancement".

(연구과제명: AI기반 신경건축학 접근을 통한 바이오필릭 업무 환경의 창의성 향상 효과 연구, 한국연구재단, 연구기간: 2025.06.01–2028.05.31)

December 2024

Best Poster Award at the 2024 KIID Conference

• • We are happy to share that our lab members—Jie Yun (Ph.D. student), Jie Chen (Ph.D. student), and Yingru Li (Master’s student)—have been awarded the Best Poster Award at the 2024 Fall Conference of the Korean Institute of Interior Design (KIID) on November 16 ,2024. Their research, titled “Visual Attention and Emotional Response to Biophilic Design in Unmanned Stores: A Pilot Study Using Multimodal Biometric and Semantic Differential Methods,” was recognized for its excellence.

July 2024

11th International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC’24), Montreal, Canada

• • We are pleased to present our work, “Visual Attention to Biophilic Elements in Virtual Classroom Design: A VR Eye-Tracking Study,” at the Design Computing and Cognition Conference (DCC’24), held in Montreal, Canada, in July 2024.

June 2024

International Conference of Design Research Society (DRS 2024), Boston, USA

• • We are pleased to present our research, “Harmonizing with Nature: Unpacking the Neurophysiological Impacts of Biophilic Sound in Virtual Classroom Design,” at the DRS 2024 conference, held in Boston, USA, in June 2024.

January 2024

New Opportunities for Doctoral and Master's Study

• • We are actively recruiting graduate students for doctoral and master's studies, as well as researchers to participate in our ongoing research projects. If you have any inquiries, feel free to contact me via email at ny.kim@catholic.ac.kr

  • 본 연구실에서는 함께 연구할 성실한 박사과정, 석사과정, 학부연구생(인턴) 모집합니다 . 본 연구실의 디자인 융복합연구 프로젝트에 참여를 원하는 연구원 (전공무관, 외국인 환영) 언제든지 문의해주시기 바랍니다.  디자인 비전공자도 지원가능합니다. 연구원 지원을 원하시는 분들은 언제든지 이력서(CV)와 자기소개서를 이메일(ny.kim@catholic.ac.kr) 로 보내주세요. 

  • 가톨릭대학교 일반대학원 석사/ 박사과정  입학안내. 모집요강 정보  CUK graduate school