Professor Choon Ki Ahn of the Korea University School of Electrical Engineering has been named a 2025 Highly Cited Researcher (HCR) by Clarivate, a global information analytics company. Among four Korea University faculty members selected this year, Professor Ahn is the only Korean researcher in the Engineering field to have been recognized for seven consecutive years.
 

Clarivate annually announces the Highly Cited Researchers list based on data from its Web of Science database, identifying scholars whose publications rank within the top 1% most cited papers in their respective fields. In 2025, a total of 6,868 researchers from approximately 1,300 institutions across 60 countries were selected—representing roughly 0.1% of researchers worldwide.
 

Professor Ahn’s primary research areas include intelligent control systems and Physical AI. In 2022, he became the first Asian Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (IEEE TNNLS), one of the world’s leading journals in neural networks and artificial intelligence. He was subsequently appointed as the first Korean Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Systems Journal (IEEE SYSJ) in 2023 and IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (IEEE TSMC-S) in 2024, both internationally renowned journals in systems engineering and autonomous intelligence.
 

In addition, Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering recently published an in-depth feature exclusively highlighting Professor Ahn’s leadership in Physical AI research—an exceptional recognition that further confirms his global academic stature and influence.
 

In recognition of his distinguished achievements in intelligent control and Physical AI, Professor Ahn was inducted into the Korea University Hall of Honor in 2023 as one of the world’s most outstanding researchers. In 2025, he was also appointed as a Korea University HCR Endowed Chair Professor.

Source: Korea University News https://www.korea.ac.kr/kustory/ko/artclView.do?layout=unknown&artclSeq=28130