Jungseok International Scholarship Program

[Graduate School, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea]

[Fall semester, 2012]

Admission Guideline for International Students

♣ Graduate Admission
A. Degree program : ① Master's program, ② Doctoral program,
③ Integrated Master's and Doctoral program
B. Departments(Majors) :
① Master's : 51 departments and 13 inter-department programs
② Doctoral / Integrated : 46 departments and 13 inter-department programs
* Graduate School Homepage(English) > Academics > Master's and Doctoral Program
(http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/academics/MastersDoctoralProgram.asp)

1. Schedule of Admission Process
1) Application Period
- Online application : March 19(Mon) 09:00 ~ April 13(Fri) 17:00
- Documents submission : April 2(Mon) 09:00 ~ 18(Wed) 17:00
2) Evaluation in each department : May 16(Wed) ~ 30(Wed)
- There will be an interview by face to face or by e-mail or by phone.
- Each department will decide the way of interview.
3) Result notification : June 20(Wed)
- Both Admission and Scholarship Evaluation Result will be notified.
- Evaluation scores for admission will not be disclosed.

2. How to apply
※ All applicants must complete both online application(Internet upload of application form) and documents submission during the designated period.
1) Online Application
- After Internet upload of application form, you should print out the application
form and leave your signature on it and submit it to the graduate school office
with other application documents.
- You should prepare your photo file (JPG form) for Internet upload of application form.
- During the designated online application period, you can reach the webpage of
on-line application through the main page of our homepage(http://grad.inha.ac.kr).
2) Documents submission
- Submit all of application documents including printed form of online application to the
graduate school office on time.
- For the list of application documents, visit
http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/admission/AdmissionDocuments.asp
- All of application documents must be submitted by April 18th(Wed) 17:00.
- Address where you submit your application documents :
"Graduate School Office(Main building #317), Inha University,
100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon, South Korea, [Postal Code : 402-751]"
※ There is no application fee for international students.

3. Application documents
* Graduate School Homepage (English) > Admission > Admission Guidelines
(http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/admission/AdmissionDocuments.asp)
1) Applicants cannot change application records after the application deadline.
(Changes of degree program or department are strictly prohibited.)
2) Applicants are not allowed to apply for two or more departments simultaneously.
3) If application records are not true or there is a missing document, applicants must take
responsibilities for them and admission will be canceled.
4) Submit a copy of your alien registration ID card, If you stay in Korea.
5) If you had been admitted into the third year of Bachelor degree program, you have to
submit additionally your enrollment and GPA records from your previous university.
6) Trans must contain credits and obtained scores(marks) of each subject, GPA or percentage of applicant's total grade, and cumulative score of the whole course or CGPA(cumulative grade point average).
7) If you are a prospective graduate, submit enrollment certificate or verification of statement
of anticipated degree instead of the certificate of degree. Submit the official certificate of
degree and graduation to the graduate school office at least before the date of entrance.
If you fail to submit it, your admission will be canceled.
8) All documents that are not in Korean or English must be translated and notarized.
9) Submitted documents will not be copied or returned to the applicants.
10) Check the expiry date of Korean or English language proficiency test certificate before
submitting it. The test date should be before the deadline of online application and the
original certificate must arrive at the graduate school office before the deadline of
document submission. (The certificate of language proficiency test is usually valid for two
years.)
- TOPIK(Test of Proficiency in Korean) : The result of the 1st ~ 25th TOPIK will be accepted
for admission evaluation. The result of the 26th TOPIK(test date : April 15) will be rejected
because it will be notified on June 4th after admission evaluation in May.
11) To achieve Jungseok International Scholarship for the first semester, it is strongly
recommended to submit the certificate for Korean or English language proficiency(TOPIK,
TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, TEPS). If you have both Korean and English language proficiency
scores, submit all of them.

4. Jungseok International Scholarship
* Graduate School Homepage (English) > Admission > Scholarship Guidelines
(http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/admission/Scholarships.asp)
1) Full or half tuition fee waive.
2) The amount of scholarship for the first semester will be decided according to the evaluation of admission. From the second semester it can be changed based on scholarship evaluation.
3) Graduate School can cease International Scholarship or reduce the amount of it according to the result of scholarship evaluation every semester.
4) Factors of Scholarship Evaluation : ① Fulfillment of the original study plan ② GPA,
③ Language ability (Korean / English), ④ Dissertation accomplishment and research participation
5) Duration of Scholarship : Up to 4 semesters for Master's, up to 6 semesters for Doctoral,
up to 10 semesters for Integrated Program
6) Requirements for scholarship application : Applicants should meet (1) or (2).
(1) Obtain a grade point average(G.P.A.) above 80 points out of 100 in the previous
degree program
(2) Have at least one of Language Proficiency Certificates.
* Minimum score of official certificates for Language Proficiency
- (English) TOEFL : PBT 540 or above, CBT 207 or above, IBT 76 or above
- (English) TOEIC 700 or above
- (English) TEPS 600 or above
- (English) IELTS 5.5 or above
- (Korean) TOPIK level 3 or above
7) You can get specific information of scholarship evaluation from the website
(http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/admission/Scholarships.asp).
8) Available number of scholarship for admitted students in Fall semester, 2012
- Full Scholarship : Approx. 42 students
- Half Scholarship : Approx. 32 students
9) Part-time students(job holders) cannot receive any scholarship from the graduate school.

※ Other Scholarship Program
① Scholarship for Laboratory Assistant : 1~2 million KRW / a semester
② Scholarship for Teaching Assistant : 1~1.45 million KRW / a semester
③ Scholarship for Office Assistant : 500,000 KRW / a month
* Requirement : Recommendation from your adviser professor after entrance
* Assistantship can be awarded in addition to the Jungseok International scholarship.
※ If you take part in a certain project, you can get a research stipend(private expenses)
from it. Please, talk to your adviser professor about this.

5. For detailed information about admission guideline, please visit the graduate school homepage.http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/notice/noticeNews.asp?i_idx=5&bbs_seq=3539&mode=v

◈ If you want to apply for "International Trade Department", you should submit level 3
or more of TOPIK certificate.
◈ For e-mail assistance regarding 'Application procedures' from Inha Student Ambassadors,
check "Student Ambassadorship".
* http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/admission/Student_Ambassadorship.asp
◈ Please check the menu of FAQ (http://grad.inha.ac.kr/english/notice/FAQ01.asp) before
sending an e-mail or making a call.

※ Contact Information : Ms. Kim, Ji-hee
(TEL) +82-32-860-8389
(E-mail) graduate@inha.ac.kr or jiffy@inha.ac.kr

Further Information

Application Deadline : 13 April 2012 
Contact Adress: +82-32-860-8389

Contact Email: graduate@inha.ac.kr 

The neurogenics of niceness: Study finds peoples' relative niceness may reside in their genes

(Medical Xpress) -- It turns out that the milk of human kindness is evoked by something besides mom's good example.

Research by psychologists at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine, has found that at least part of the reason some people are kind and generous is because their genes nudge them toward it.

Michel Poulin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at UB, is the principal author of the study "The Neurogenics of Niceness," published in this month in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The study, co-authored by Anneke Buffone of UB and E. Alison Holman of the University of California, Irvine, looked at the behavior of study subjects who have versions of receptor genes for two hormones that, in laboratory and close relationship research, are associated with niceness. Previous laboratory studies have linked the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin to the way we treat one another, Poulin says.

In fact, they are known to make us nicer people, at least in close relationships. Oxytocin promotes maternal behavior, for example, and in the lab, subjects exposed to the hormone demonstrate greater sociability. An article in the usually staid Science magazine even used the terms "love drug" and "cuddle chemical" to describe oxytocin, Poulin points out.

Poulin says this study was an attempt to apply previous findings to social behaviors on a larger scale; to learn if these chemicals provoke in us other forms of pro-social behavior: urge to give to charity, for instance, or to more readily participate in such civic endeavors as paying taxes, reporting crime, giving blood or sitting on juries.

He explains that hormones work by binding to our cells through receptors that come in different forms. There are several genes that control the function of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors.

Subjects were surveyed as to their attitudes toward civic duty, other people and the world in general, and about their charitable activities. Study subjects took part in an Internet survey with questions about civic duty, such as whether people have a duty to report a crime or pay taxes; how they feel about the world, such as whether people are basically good or whether the world is more good than bad; and about their own charitable activities, like giving blood, working for charity or going to PTA meetings.

Of those surveyed, 711 subjects provided a sample of saliva for DNA analysis, which showed what form they had of the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors.

"The study found that these genes combined with people's perceptions of the world as a more or less threatening place to predict generosity," Poulin says.

"Specifically, study participants who found the world threatening were less likely to help others -- unless they had versions of the receptor genes that are generally associated with niceness," he says.

These "nicer" versions of the genes, says Poulin, "allow you to overcome feelings of the world being threatening and help other people in spite of those fears.

"The fact that the genes predicted behavior only in combination with people's experiences and feelings about the world isn't surprising," Poulin says, "because most connections between DNA and social behavior are complex.

"So if one of your neighbors seems really generous, caring, civic-minded kind of person, while another seems more selfish, tight-fisted and not as interested in pitching in, their DNA may help explain why one of them is nicer than the other," he says.

"We aren't saying we've found the niceness gene," he adds. "But we have found a gene that makes a contribution. What I find so interesting is the fact that it only makes a contribution in the presence of certain feelings people have about the world around them."

Provided by University at Buffalo

"The neurogenics of niceness: Study finds peoples' relative niceness may reside in their genes." April 10th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-neurogenics-niceness-peoples-relative-reside.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Marriage and a high socioeconomic level improve health

People with a high socioeconomic level have been demonstrated to have better health than the rest of people. Other protective factors against chronic diseases are having higher education, having a job, and the per capita income and welfare in the region of residence.

These are some of the conclusions drawn in a pioneer study conducted at the University of Granada by Kristina Karlsdotter, at the Department of Applied Economics, and supervised by professors José Jesús Martín Martín and María del Puerto López del Amo González. The study also reveals the potential long-term effects that socioeconomic inequalities have on the health of the population at regional level, and the relevance of family when it comes to assess how social inequalities affect population's health.

To carry out this study, the researchers used data from two surveys conducted in Spain: the 2007 Survey on Living Conditions, performed by the Spanish National Statistics Institute, and the 2001 Longitudinal Database of the Andalusian Population conducted by the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia and the Spanish National Research Council.

The Higher the Income, the Better the Health

University of Granada researchers have found that the individual income of a person "is positively associated with a good health status". Additionally, education level is statistically associated with health status: the higher the education level, the better the health of the individual according to several health variables: perceived health status –the perception that an individual has on his/her own health status– presence of chronic diseases, and the risk of been granted a temporary/permanent disability pension.

This study reveals the influence of family environment on an individual's health status. Thus, over 30% of variations in an individual's health status are caused by their family environment.

Social relationships are another protective factor against disease, but only in women.

Design of Policies

The authors of this study affirm that the results obtained "are relevant for the design of policies aimed at reducing health inequalities in Spain. The association between health status and the geographical (Autonomous Community, province, city, district) and family environment is very innovative, as well as the association between health status and income and social inequalities. "

This is a pioneer comparative study in Spain on the relationship between individual income, income inequalities, regional and social factors, and health status in people in Spain. This is also the first study to examine how the social environment affects an individual's health status. Finally, this is the first study to analyze the distribution of temporary/permanent disability pensions according to socioeconomic and geographic factors.

More information: Karlsdotter, K; Martín Martín, JJ; López del Amo González, MP (2012). Multilevel analysis of income, income inequalities and health in Spain. Social Science and Medicine. 2012. http://dx.doi.org/ … .2011.12.020

Provided by University of Granada

"Marriage and a high socioeconomic level improve health." April 10th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-marriage-high-socioeconomic-health.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Zip code as important as genetic code in childhood obesity

Nearly 18 percent of U.S. school-aged children and adolescents are obese, as the rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity puts children at greater risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and other illnesses, and of suffering severe obesity as adults. New study results indicate that where a child lives, including factors such as the neighborhood's walkability, proximity to higher quality parks, and access to healthy food, has an important effect on obesity rates. Researchers found that children living in neighborhoods with favorable neighborhood environment attributes had 59 percent lower odds of being obese.

"Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study" was published in a special theme issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Led by Brian Saelens, PhD, of Seattle Children's Research Institute, this is among the first neighborhood environment studies to look at a combination of nutrition and physical activity environments and to assess children and their parents. It is also among the largest studies of its kind to use objective geographic information system (GIS) data to examine the physical activity and healthy food option attributes of a neighborhood related to obesity.

Researchers used GIS to assess Seattle and San Diego area neighborhoods' nutrition and physical activity environments. Nutrition environments were defined based on supermarket availability and concentration of fast food restaurants. Physical activity environments were defined based on environmental factors related to neighborhood walkability and at least one park with more or better amenities for children. Kids that lived in neighborhoods that were poorer in physical activity and nutrition environment had the highest rates of obesity—almost 16 percent—in the study. This figure is similar to the national average. On the flip side, only eight percent of children were obese in neighborhoods where physical activity and nutrition environments were positive.

"People think of childhood obesity and immediately think about an individual's physical activity and nutrition behaviors, but they do not necessarily equate obesity with where people live," said Dr. Saelens, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. "Everyone from parents to policymakers should pay more attention to zip codes because they could have a big impact on weight."

Fast food may not be as easy to come by in the Seattle area, based on the study. There were 3,474 fast food locations in San Diego County, as compared to 1,660 in King County, Wash. On a county-level block group average basis, San Diego had 2.0 fast food locations per block group, and King County had 1.1.

Numerous national health organizations have identified neighborhood environment and built environment, including healthy food and physical activity opportunities, as important factors in childhood obesity, including the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Our data support recommendations from these groups that we need to change our environments to make them more supportive of physical activity and nutrition," said Saelens.

Provided by Seattle Children's

"Zip code as important as genetic code in childhood obesity." April 10th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-code-important-genetic-childhood-obesity.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Sejong University offers International PhD Scholarship in the field of Steel Structure Lab, Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Korea

Study Subject(s):Steel Structure Lab, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Course Level:PhD
Scholarship Provider: Sejong University
Scholarship can be taken at: South Korea

Eligibility:
Candidates should hold a Master's Degree in Civil or Structural Engineering.
- Candidates should have one of the following research experiences: nonlinear analysis,
dynamic analysis, bridge structures, steel structures, steel–concrete composite structures, or
FRP composite structures.
- Candidates must have one of the following English scores: TOEIC: 630, TOEFL (PBT): 500,
TOEFL (CBT): 185, TOEFL (IBT): 62, IELTS: 5.2

Scholarship Description: PhD scholarship for international students is available at the Bridge and Steel Structure Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, South Korea.

How to Apply: sekim@sejong.ac.kr

Scholarship Application Deadline: May 4th, 2012
http://steel.sejong.ac.kr/e-index.html

Mothers and OCD children trapped in rituals have impaired relationships

A new study from Case Western Reserve University finds mothers tend to be more critical of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder than they are of other children in the family. And, that parental criticism is linked to poorer outcomes for the child after treatment.

Parent criticism has been associated with child anxiety in the past, however, researchers wanted to find out if this is a characteristic of the parent or something specific to the relationship between the anxious child and the parent.

"This suggests that mothers of anxious children are not overly critical parents in general. Instead they seem to be more critical of a child with OCD than they are of other children in the home," said Amy Przeworski, assistant professor of psychology. She is the lead author of the study, "Maternal and Child Expressed Emotion as Predictors of Treatment Response in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," in the recent journal, Child Psychiatry & Human Development.

OCD is found in one in 200 children, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The psychological disorder overcomes individuals with repetitive thoughts that lead to anxiety, which is then acted out in exacting routines or behaviors that can range from foot tapping to eating rituals to school or bedtime preparations.

This research evolved from other studies that found parental criticism is associated with less success in therapy and a relapse of behavior.

"Parents' criticism may be a reaction to the child's anxiety. This research is not blaming the parent for the child's OCD. But it does suggest that the relationship between parents and children with OCD is important and should be a focus of treatment. This means that parents can help children with OCD to get better." Przeworski says.

"OCD sneaks up on the kids and parents," Przeworski says.

The psychology professor, who specializes in anxiety disorders, says some parents become concerned when their children show some early warning signs for OCD: 

• Rigidity in a child, with things routinely done or said in exactly the same way or order.
• Asking for reassurance many times in the day.
• Repetition of a task from tapping the foot, checking on the stove, washing hands that the child cannot stop when asked.
• Routines that have prescribed patterns or are excessive lengthy: An example is a two-hour shower or raw and chapped hands that look like the child is wearing red gloves.
• Bedtime or dinner rituals, where there is a prescribed order for eating food, placement of food on the plate, etc.
• Temper tantrums where the child goes beyond being stubborn but has anxiety associated with them.
• Children want symmetry in appearance or things around them.

Parents initially may think it is a phase, a habit or stubbornness. Over time, the behaviors become so exacting that the child and family members have to act in prescribed ways. Parents may end up criticizing the child in an effort to get them to drop obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

The researchers videotaped interviews with 62 mother-child pairs just before the child's OCD treatment began. Children either had medication, therapy, a combination of the two, or a placebo. The children were between the ages of 7 and 17.

Because most mothers bring their children for treatment appointments, the researchers focused on the mother's view of their children. Mothers were asked to give a five-minute description of their relationship with the child with OCD and the mother's relationship with the sibling closest in age to the child with OCD. The researchers asked the children to describe their relationships with their mothers and fathers.

The researchers examined the presence of criticism and emotional over-involvement (over-protection or excessive self-sacrificing) in these descriptions. The tone of the OCD child and parent tended toward criticism, they said. The other sibling received more loving expressions. Parent criticism was associated with poorer child functioning after treatment.

Przeworski said treatment of OCD has good results, but many times parents misjudge these rigid routines as stubbornness or "just going through a phase" until the behavior takes over family life. Then parents realize the behavior requires therapy.

Provided by Case Western Reserve University

"Mothers and OCD children trapped in rituals have impaired relationships." April 10th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mothers-ocd-children-rituals-impaired.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Overcoming obsessive-compulsive disorder: Researcher pioneers treatment that tackles sufferers' fears and doubts

Did I remember to lock the back door? Did I turn off the stove? Were the lights still on when I left the house this morning? Such minor doubts are part our daily mental chatter. But for the over 650,000 Canadians who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), thoughts along these lines can lead to compulsive checking — a potentially debilitating behaviour that keeps the sufferer locked in an endless cycle of fear and doubt.

For Concordia University's Adam Radomsky, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Director of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health at Concordia, finding a viable treatment for these individuals is driving research freshly funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). Based on previous work conducted with colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, Radomsky is now testing a novel approach to treatment for compulsive checking that could just mean vast improvements in the quality of life of countless individuals.

"For years, the best way to treat compulsive checking in OCD sufferers has been through a difficult therapeutic process known as exposure and response prevention, or ERP" explains Radomsky. "By facing their worst fears repeatedly until their anxiety declines, patients learn to diffuse their hypervigilant checking responses — in theory." In practise, however, this type of treatment often results in patients quickly discontinuing the therapy. "Refusal rates for ERP are unacceptably high, which is why we need to develop a new and refined treatment that specifically works for compulsive checking."

Radomsky's treatment builds on previous research which found that individuals with OCD who compulsively checked certain aspects of their surroundings did so because of an inflated sense of perceived responsibility. "If I don't turn off the stove, the house will burn down", is a plausible thought that can quickly devolve into an obsessive cycle of checking and re-checking, and can even result in an inability to leave the house. Yet, as proved by Radomsky's previous research, performing these seemingly senseless repetitions actually results in a loss of confidence.

By modifying the patient's inflated feelings of personal responsibility and reducing predictions of seriousness of anticipated misfortunes, the cycle can be turned the around. By placing the emphasis on how people think rather than on what they do, Radomsky's new approach targets people's faulty beliefs about how responsible they think they are, about their own memories, and about the dangers that they perceive. The progress of the proposed treatment takes the patient from exercises in normalizing inflated responsibility, through restoring confidence in memory, all the way to reducing self-doubt and guilt, hopefully leaving patients with new insights into how they perceive themselves, and the world around them.

Developed in the lab, Radomsky's research is set to show real promise in the field. "For me and my team," says Radomsky, "this work will capitalize on all of our previous experimental research and lead us to testing a new intervention based on our previous findings. It's our hope that this work will lead to a more substantial test of the treatment, which in turn could influence how people treat OCD in Montreal, in Canada and beyond."

More information: The study paper was published in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

Provided by Concordia University

"Overcoming obsessive-compulsive disorder: Researcher pioneers treatment that tackles sufferers' fears and doubts." April 10th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-treatment-tackles.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Animals