The Creative Research Program is a program in which undergraduate students can take initiatives to determine the research topic with the research advisor, design their own research, and perform the research to produce results. The program was prepared to increase the interest in the research of their major and provide the opportunities to obtain the sense of accomplishment through the research results.

We met with Jeong-eun Lee; Jeong-hyeon Kim; and Jeong-hun Cho (admitted at SNU in 2019) in Team 3J of the Department of Animal Biotechnology. They planned and conducted a research project with two graduate students in the doctorate course at the Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of Professor Younghoon Kim with the topic, ‘Comparative Analysis of Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Functionality depending on Fermented Sugar Sources and Fruit Type in Kombucha Manufacturing Process.’ They applied for the program as they were regretful for having fewer opportunities to perform experiments, which were often conducted online due to COVID-19.

They said that while participating in the Creative Research Program, they learned through their own experiences that theory is different from experiment. Their level of understanding about the experiment increased with mistakes, and they realized precaution plays the most important role in preventing the same mistakes. When they were planning the experiment in the program, they had to read so many research papers for the first time. They said that their literature research skills were improved, as they referred to the experimental protocol and read the necessary excerpts from the papers. They also expressed their gratitude to the graduate students who actively helped them in a great laboratory environment. They recommended any of their colleagues interested in developing the career path in the major and studying further in the graduate school to apply for the Creative Research Program.