culture

A ceremony of conferring the University Student Scientific Search Prize took place in the capital city of Pyongyang in March.

The diploma and medal of the prize were conferred on hundreds of university students exemplary in study and scientific search.

Among them were all members of a fourth-year class of the materials engineering department of the Material Science and Technology Faculty of Kim Chaek University of Technology.

It was in their second year at the university that all members of the class vowed to win the prize.

At that time, some of them, back with excitement from a meeting for congratulating the winners of the prize, suggested to the other members of the class that they, too, win the prize.

Some were uncertain and others insecure.

However, the lecturer in charge of the class expressed his active support to the suggestion.

“A proverb says, ‘An arrow aimed at a tree does not go over the tree, but the one aimed at the moon goes over the tree.’ It is good to set a high goal. If we pool our efforts, our class will surely be able to win the University Student Scientific Search Prize, I think,” the lecturer said.

Thus all of the classmates set a high goal of not only becoming honour students but winning the prize during their university days.

Their decision got active support from the faculty and the university.

It was not an easy job for them to perform the research tasks conducive to the sci-tech and economic development of the country while attending lectures and carrying out study assignments. They were short of time.

So, they decided to divide into two study groups for maximum efficiency and compete with each other in study and research.

They chose sci-tech problems arising in practice as research tasks.

They brainstormed in groups to overcome bottlenecks in study and research. If it did not help, they had a class discussion to solve the problems.

Whenever exhausted, they held recreation parties and played sports games, which helped raise their competitive spirit.

Meanwhile, the faculty and university saw to it that competent lecturers and researchers helped them lest they should give up halfway.

Thus, two of them took the special place and the first place respectively at a national exhibition of IT achievements of university students and a national scientific research presentation of university students held in 2024 and three others won national patents in 2025. And the others were highly appreciated at such events.

“It is the first precious result achieved in scientific research that all our classmates were awarded the University Student Scientific Search Prize. The days of our efforts to win the prize were not only those of learning but also those of pooling our efforts and wisdom. No matter where we will do scientific research after graduation from university, we will live as true scientists to contribute to the economic and sci-tech development of the country, with the honour of being the winners of the prize,” said Ri Ji Hyon, one of the students.