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Minjae Kim (김민재)

Undergraduate Student in Physics at KAIST
heromj27@kaist.ac.kr📍Daejeon, Korea

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Research Interests

Cosmology & High-Redshift Universe Galaxy Formation & Evolution Computational Astrophysics : Simulation & Machine Learning, Causal Inference

About Me

Hello! I'm Minjae Kim, an undergraduate student in physics at KAIST. My research focus lies in astrophysics, particularly in understanding the physical processes that govern the structure and evolution of the universe.

Currently, I am an undergraduate student researcher in the OBSCAL group at KAIST, investigating cosmology and galaxy evolution through cosmological simulations. In parallel, I am probing the formation and early evolution of supermassive black holes at high redshifts (z > 5) using data from the SPHEREx mission. I plan to graduate in Spring 2027 and pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics & astronomy.

Recent News

Feb 2026 Created my academic website! 🎉
Jan 2026 Started working as a Winter Research Intern at KASI, focusing on SPHEREx data analysis.
Jan 2026 My high school mentee from the UCSC SIP successfully presented our research at the 247th AAS Meeting. Very proud!
Oct 2025 Won the Excellent Awards at the KPS undergraduate physics research competition & KAIST URP for CGM research.
Oct 2025 Won the Tech Innovator Recognition at NASA Space Apps Challenge, Seoul.

Education

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 2020 - Present
B.S. in Physics, Minor in Electrical Engineering
  • Cumulative GPA: 3.90 / 4.3 (Major: 3.96 / 4.3)
Summer Exchange Student Summer 2024
UC Berkeley Summer Session
  • Completed coursework in Introduction to Astrophysics during the summer session.
Jeonnam Science High School 2018 - 2019
Early Graduation (Ranked 2nd in School)

Research

Undergraduate Researcher (OBSCAL) Fall 2024 - Present
KAIST | Advised by Prof. Junhan Kim
  • Project: Probing Hot gas Components of Circumgalactic Medium Through X-ray signatures.
  • Participating in KAIST Undergraduate Research Program (URP) (Spring 2025).
  • Follow-up research currently in progress, focusing on machine learning–based causal inference.
KASI Research Intern (SPHEREx team) Winter 2026 - Present
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) | Advised by Dr. Bomee Lee & Dr. Woong-Seob Jeong
  • Conducting spectral analysis of Quasars with very high redshift (z > 5) through the SPHEREx survey results.
  • Developing Python-based automated fitting pipelines to identify spectral peaks and analyze physical properties by statistical approach.
  • Working under the supervision of Dr. Bomee Lee in the research group led by Dr. Woong-Seob Jeong.
International Student Researcher Summer 2025 - Winter 2025
UC Santa Cruz | Advised by Prof. Puragra Guha Thakurta
  • Participated in UC Santa Cruz International Summer Research Program (ISRP) .
  • Project: Kinematical Analysis of M32 - A Comparative Study of Serendipitously Observed Versus Targeted Stars and Assessment of Spectral Blending.
  • Served as a Mentor for the Science Internship Program (SIP), leading a research group of high school interns.

Presentations

Spectral Analysis and Automated Fitting Pipeline for High-Redshift Quasars using SPHEREx Data Winter 2026
[Oral Presentation]KASI Winter Internship Seminar / KAS Spring Meeting 2026
📄 View Presentation Slides (PDF)
Probing Hot gas Components of Circumgalactic Medium Through X-ray Signatures Spring 2025 - Present
[Poster Presentation] Korea Physical Society (KPS): Undergraduate Physics Research Competition (Oct 2025)
[Poster Presentation] Korea Physical Society (KPS) Spring Meeting (Apr 2025)
[Poster Presentation] Korean Astronomical Society (KAS) Spring Meeting (Apr 2025)
  • Progression: Initially presented at KPS & KAS Spring 2025 meetings; further developed and awarded at KPS Fall 2025.
  • Upcoming: will present at APRIM 2026 (Hong Kong). (Comming soon)
📄 View Fall 2025 Poster (PDF)
Kinematical Analysis of M32 - A Comparative Study of Serendipitously Observed Versus Targeted Stars and Assessment of Spectral Blending Summer 2025
[Oral Presentation] UC Santa Cruz SIP Symposium
📄 View Presentation Slides

Coursework

Selected coursework and lecture notes.

Fall 2025

  • Machine Learning Basics and Practice Prof. Jaekyun Moon Focus: Supervised/Unsupervised Learning, Neural Networks, CNN, Generative Model, Attention, Reinforce Learning
    Coming Soon

Spring 2025

  • Radio Astronomy Prof. Junhan Kim
    View PDF
  • Solid State Physics I Prof. Sungbin Lee Focus: Drude Model, Sommerfeld Theory, Tight-Binding Model, Graphene
    Coming Soon

Fall 2024

  • Astrophysics Prof. Junhan Kim Focus: Celestial Mechanics with Dark Matter, Equilibrium in stars & structure and evolution, Astrophysical Processes (synchrotron radiation, Bremsstrahlung, etc)
    View PDF
  • Statistical Physics Prof. Minho Son Focus: Central Limit Theorem, Entropy
    View PDF

Spring 2024

  • Thermodynamics Prof. YongWoon Kim Focus: Classical Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, Boltzmann Equation, Ensemble
    View PDF

2020 - 2021

📂 Archiving in progress...
Course materials from 2020-2021 are not currently organized.
They will be uploaded if I get retrieval.

Honors & Awards


Teaching & Mentoring

Undergraduate Tutor (General Physics II) Fall 2025
KAIST Freshman Tutoring Program
  • Mentored 2 KAIST freshmen in General Physics II, facilitating a deeper understanding of core physics concepts.
  • Conducted weekly review sessions and Q&A to help students improve problem-solving skills and academic performance.
Research Mentor (Science Internship Program) Summer 2025
UC Santa Cruz | Prof. Puragra Guha Thakurta's Group
  • Supervised a research group of 3 high school interns for the UCSC Science Internship Program (SIP).
  • Guided students through the fundamentals of astronomical data analysis, coding in Python, and the process of scientific presentation.
  • Successfully guided one intern to present their research at the 247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting (Jan 2026).

Skills & Others

Gallery

Memories and moments.

Please select a year above.