Why a Mongolian computer engineering student is leaving Korea for China

A Mongolian computer engineering student at Gachon University in Korea became the first author of a peer-reviewed paper in a leading Korean academic journal, developing an AI system that analyzes football players' movements in real time. Despite her academic success in Korea, she is leaving for China, citing better opportunities.

When Michelle, a 22-year-old student from Mongolia, came to Korea to study computer engineering, her talent did not go unnoticed for long. A professor at Gachon University recruited her as an undergraduate researcher last winter. Soon afterward, she became the first author of an academic paper and the star of a news article taped to the laboratory door like a poster. The headline: “Third-year computer engineering student publishes first-author paper in leading Korean academic journal.” Michelle had devised a system that uses artificial intelligence AI to analyze football players’ movements, ball possession and tactical execution in broadcasts in real time. The paper appeared in a journal listed in the Korea Citation Index, a database of recognized Korean academic publications. Such journals largely receive submissions from professors and postdoctoral researchers, and papers must pass a blind review by multiple experts before being accepted. For an undergraduate, publishing the research as its first author was a rare accomplishment. For Michelle, it meant earning recognition in t