POSTECH Global Young Leaders Program 2026–2027: Historical Fully Funded Exchange in South Korea

POSTECH Global Young Leaders Program 2026–2027: Historical Fully Funded Exchange in South Korea

The Global Young Leaders Program (GYLP) is a full academic year exchange at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), supported by POSTECH and POSCO. This page records the 2026–2027 class. Its application period has ended, and POSTECH’s official page currently presents no later class or open application. The page is therefore an archive, not an invitation to submit an application now.

POSTECH’s program page identifies the 2026–2027 application period as December through February and gives the class timeline and requirements. Partner institution notices specified February 28, 2026 as the application cutoff. That exact day is retained here as the archived deadline; POSTECH’s own timeline gives the period by month. POSTECH says specific dates are announced with each call. The next round’s dates, funding, and conditions must not be inferred from this closed cohort.

Program at a glance

Funding and what it covers

POSTECH describes GYLP as an exchange program funded by POSCO and POSTECH. For the archived class, its scholarship information lists round-trip airfare, a one-time 500,000 KRW visa and transportation fee, and living expenses of 1,000,000 KRW per month. It also lists additional scholarship opportunities. The page names Nuri Impact Creator, Hangeul Merit, and Bud Bridge Builder, but gives no fixed value for these awards. They should not be included in a personal budget as guaranteed income.

The official description says that expenses during the stay are covered for selected students. Applicants still needed to read the cohort guide and admission package for practical terms, payment timing, eligible costs, and arrangements. The listed visa and transportation allowance is a set amount, not a promise that every student’s visa, travel, or local transportation costs will match it. Housing, insurance, and other arrangements also matter during a long exchange. POSTECH’s International Relations office and home institution coordinator are the appropriate sources for an admitted student’s specific questions.

A later class may change the scholarship package. The 500,000 KRW one-time allowance is the figure POSTECH publishes on its 2026–2027 program page; the separate current overview on the older international site has different general wording. For this historical entry, the cohort-specific POSTECH page is the reference for the 2026–2027 award. Do not treat these archived amounts as an offer for an unannounced cycle.

Academic and cultural structure

GYLP lasts one academic year, around 10 months, from September through June. Students join POSTECH’s academic exchange and follow the university’s exchange rules. The cohort page requires a minimum of six major courses, excluding general or liberal-arts courses. This is phrased as courses on the 2026–2027 page; prospective students should not silently convert it into a credit minimum. A future call may specify a different rule.

Students also take Korean-language courses. The 2026–2027 program page says accepted students complete online Korean courses during the summer break before arrival, then attend in-person courses offered by the POSTECH Institute of Culture and Language during the program. Language study is part of the program structure, even for students whose academic courses are taught in English. Students planning their workload should include the language classes alongside their major courses.

Winter research is another required element. POSTECH says students participate in research for at least four weeks, with a minimum of 20 hours per week, during winter break. Students are responsible for finding an on-campus research adviser during the fall semester. This makes early exploration of faculty interests useful after arrival, while course and research plans still need to follow POSTECH guidance. These requirements are specific to the published cohort page and should be checked again if another class is announced.

The program’s LEAD+ component stands for Leadership, Engagement, Achievement, and Development. POSTECH describes educational sessions and cultural excursions as parts of that program and notes that the activities can change by year. Examples it lists include a Jeju ESG discovery activity, a Seoul heritage excursion, and leadership and communication discussions. Those examples indicate the range of activities, but they are not a fixed itinerary or a guarantee that a later cohort will visit the same places.

2026–2027 cohort timeline

POSTECH published an application period of December through February, with admission results in April. Its program schedule lists orientation week from August 24 to 28, the fall semester from September 1 to December 18, winter break from December 21 to February 14, and the spring semester from February 15 to June 4. Official transcripts and certificates are listed for July. These are dates from the closed class schedule and describe that class only.

The exact February 28 application cutoff appeared in partner university notices for the call. POSTECH’s own timeline presents the period as December to February rather than giving that exact day in the timeline. Because POSTECH also says specific dates are announced when a call is issued, the month-only entry should not be used to infer a deadline for the next round. On this archive, the exact date is retained only to document the completed cohort.

Eligibility for the archived cohort

POSTECH’s 2026–2027 page says applicants had to be currently enrolled in the second or third year of an undergraduate degree at one of POSTECH’s strategic partner institutions. The minimum overall GPA was 3.3 on a 4.3 scale. POSTECH gave equivalencies of a B+, 3.3 on a 4.0 scale, 4.5 on a 5.0 scale, or 85 percent. Students with another grading system needed their home institution’s official GPA information to clarify how their record should be read.

For applicants who were not native English speakers, POSTECH listed TOEFL iBT 90, IELTS Academic 6.5, or Duolingo 120. The page says other tests or certificates from the home institution were not accepted. It also states that students enrolled at institutions in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States were exempt from the English proficiency requirement. These are the cohort’s published eligibility terms, not a standing guarantee for a future call.

The official page’s required-document list adds detail relevant to eligibility checks. Enrollment certificates were to be issued within six months; non-OECD nationals needed an apostille by the Korean Embassy or an official apostille center. The academic transcript was to be in English and include the overall GPA, with a separate home-institution paper required if the transcript did not show that figure. English certificates were to be issued within two years. The page lists TOEFL iBT 100, IELTS Academic 7.5, or Duolingo 135 under required materials, which conflicts with the lower scores in the eligibility section. It also says exempt applicants should submit their enrollment certificate again. Because POSTECH’s page itself contains both score lists, this archive preserves the discrepancy instead of claiming one threshold definitively controlled the cohort. A future applicant should ask POSTECH which threshold governs a new call.

Application steps and materials

There is no application to submit for this archived cohort. POSTECH’s published process required students to send an application through its IR Portal with the required documents. The 2026–2027 page says system emails could request supplemental or revised materials during the application period, and applicants were expected to respond promptly. The home institution coordinator’s role included signing the Letter of Nomination; POSTECH’s required documents section says it should be signed by the outgoing coordinator.

POSTECH evaluated applications individually and could require an online interview. Its page says the evaluation usually takes four to five weeks after the deadline. Review considerations included academic and research background, personal statement, study plan at POSTECH, recommendations, language proficiency, overall fit, and available program placements. Results were to be sent by email with an admission package including the GYLP guide. These details explain how the archived selection process worked; they do not open the old portal again.

The documents listed for the cohort were a certificate of enrollment, official transcript, English-language certificate where required, recommendation letter, passport copy, CV or resume, statement of purpose, self-introduction video, and coordinator-signed nomination letter. POSTECH specifies up to three recommendation letters and says recommenders may be home institution faculty, professors, supervisors, or others able to comment on the applicant’s background, goals, and potential; friends and relatives are not allowed. The passport was to remain valid for six months from the end of the program.

The statement of purpose was to be between 500 and 1,000 words, focusing on academic and research background, interests, and reasons for applying. The self-introduction video was to be between three and ten minutes; POSTECH recommends subtitles when audio quality may be insufficient. The CV had no specific form. These formats are useful historical context, but if POSTECH opens another round, follow that round’s forms and checklist rather than submitting materials based on an old page.

Planning lessons for a future call

A year-long exchange affects degree progress as well as travel planning. A future applicant should discuss course equivalencies with an academic adviser and coordinator, then compare POSTECH’s course requirements with the home institution’s credit rules. The program combines major courses with Korean classes, winter research, and LEAD+ activities, so it should be assessed as a full academic commitment rather than a short visit. Faculty research interests may also guide outreach to a potential adviser once the student is on campus, since the published program places responsibility for finding that adviser on the student.

Students should ask their coordinator about partner-institution eligibility, local deadlines, and the nomination letter process before starting a future application. They can gather transcripts and enrollment records early, check GPA presentation, and plan how to meet language-document requirements. A statement of purpose is strongest when it ties the applicant’s academic direction and research interests to a realistic study plan at POSTECH. Recommenders should be given time to describe the student’s work and suitability for an extended exchange. These are preparation ideas, not extra requirements beyond POSTECH’s published call.

Historical status and official source

This listing is a historical reference for the closed 2026–2027 class. POSTECH’s official program page provides its cohort timeline, funding, eligibility, activities, application steps, and materials. It does not announce a later application cycle. No new deadline, scholarship amount, or eligibility change is asserted here. The next class should be treated as unannounced until POSTECH posts a dated call or adds it to its application listing.

For program details, consult POSTECH International Relations’ Global Young Leaders page. Partner institutions may provide local notices and internal submission dates, but those instructions should be checked against POSTECH’s own call and the applicant’s home coordinator. The archive retains the completed cohort’s reported cutoff and schedule so readers can understand what the program offered, while making clear that those details do not establish terms for a future application.