KIST Europe was established in 1996 in Saarbrücken, Germany, as an overseas branch of the KIST in Seoul, Korea.
Decades ago, at a time when the globalization of science and technology was a new concept, the KIST Europe was the first and only Korean government commissioned R&D institute abroad with R&D capability in its own right.
Since then, the KIST Europe has endeavored to build global S&T networks with prominent EU research institutes in the field of basic and application orientated researches. Its partners are research institutes and industrial companies in Europe and Korea. Together with its partners, the KIST Europe solves problems and develops technologies which can be utilized on both continents. Its vision is to be the core of scientific and technological cooperation between Korea and EU countries.