Munjung Kim 김문정

PhD Candidate in Data Science, University of Virginia

About

Munjung Kim

Hi! I'm MJ (Munjung Kim, 김문정), a PhD candidate in Data Science at the University of Virginia, advised by Professor Ahn.

My research uses and develops AI and machine learning to understand innovation in science and technology. Lately I'm also interested in how large language models can be enhanced and understood through the lens of collective intelligence.

Before the PhD, I studied Physics at POSTECH in Korea.

Projects & Papers

The Murmuration of Scientists

Characterizing individual research movements with simple rules—alignment, cohesion, and separation—drawing on the boids model of collective animal behavior.

The Potential Impact of Disruptive AI Innovations on U.S. Occupations

Computing the disruption index of 3,237 U.S. AI patents (2015–2022) and linking them to job tasks to distinguish consolidating from disruptive AI innovations.

Quantifying Disruptiveness using Neural Embedding Methods

A continuous measure of disruptiveness based on neural embeddings that better distinguishes disruptive works, such as Nobel Prize–winning papers, from others.

Quantifying Topic Diversity and Disparity

Using neural embeddings to show that topic disparity is negatively associated with citation count—less conventional research tends to receive fewer citations.

News

Jun 26, 2026Taught a tutorial, "Claude Code in Research for Beginners," at SICSS Korea.
Jun 2026Gave a talk at NetSci 2026.
May 20, 2026Served as a panelist at the National Academies of Sciences workshop on Disruptive Innovation, Washington, DC.
Apr 18, 2026Presented at the Advisory Board meeting in SDS, UVA.
Apr 2026🎉 Paper published in Science Advances.
Aug 2025Transferred to University of Virginia.
Jan 2025Delivered an invited talk at SNU and KISTI.
Dec 2024Delivered an invited talk at KDI School and KAIST STP.
Jun–Aug 2024Completed an internship at Nokia Bell Labs.
Jul 2023Poster at IC2S2; oral presentation at NetSci 2023.
Jun 2023Joined the Santa Fe Institute Complex Systems Summer School.

Education

University of Virginia
Ph.D. in Data Science
August 2025 – Present
Indiana University
Ph.D. in Informatics (transferred with advisor)
August 2022 – July 2025
Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
B.S. in Physics
Feb 2017 – Dec 2021