Seoul National University launches Robotics National Research Lab

Seoul National University has launched the Robotics National Research Lab (NRL 2.0) to advance next-generation physical AI and foster a robotics startup ecosystem. The institute will receive 10 billion KRW in annual funding for the next 10 years.

Led by Director Cho Kyu-jin, the research will focus on three primary areas: life-support robots for daily activities, wearable robots to assist or extend physical functions, and medical robots for internal diagnosis and treatment. The research aims to develop distributed intelligence, where robot components process information locally, and modular reconfiguration technologies that allow robots to adapt their shape and function to their environment.

The university plans to establish a dedicated robotics research building and an industry-academic startup support center to facilitate the commercialization of research findings. The institute also intends to pursue collaborative research with international institutions and global companies, including NVIDIA.