Hyundai, SNU's new grad school offers full rides and jobs

Seoul National University (SNU) will establish a new graduate program for automotive engineering talent, where all students will receive full scholarships and guaranteed positions at Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai Motor President Kim Yong-hwa, right, poses for a photo with Kim Seong-Kyu, dean of the graduate school at Seoul National University at its main campus in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, Wednesday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Seoul National University (SNU) will establish a new graduate program for automotive engineering talent, where all students will receive full scholarships and guaranteed positions at Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai Motor and SNU signed an agreement Wednesday to establish a new department called Future Automotive Mobility that will accept 20 students per year from next year.

Students enrolled in the department will be focused on automotive software with Hyundai Motor investing big in so-called software-defined vehicles (SDVs), or what the industry calls "smartphones on wheels."

An SDV is equipped with an over-the-air (OTA) system, wireless technology that drivers can use to update their cars' software and add the latest features.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung gives a speech at an opening ceremony of its joint battery research center with SNU at the school's Gwanak Main Campus in Gwanak District, southern Seoul in July. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

After the two-year graduate program, students will be hired at Hyundai Motor.

The students will receive numerous advantages, including full scholarships from Hyundai and a chance to visit the automaker’s research centers both at home and overseas.

“Competitiveness in the future mobility technology is very much dependent on securing talent with expertise in electrification, as well as in software,” said Hyundai Motor President Kim Yong-hwa.

“Hyundai Motor will spare no expense to nurture mobility talent at SNU, the country’s best educational institution.”

Hyundai Motor earlier in the year announced an 18 trillion won ($13 billion) investment in software development to shift all Hyundai and Kia cars to SDVs from 2025.

In July, Hyundai Motor opened a 901-square-meter (9,698-square-foot) battery research center at SNU's main campus in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, with seven laboratories for 22 joint battery development projects.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]