Hanshin University has established Korea’s first graduate school of interdisciplinary convergence for esports.

The school on Monday said in a press release that students will be granted a Master of Science degree upon finishing the program of esports convergence, which will open from the spring semester next year.

The courses for esports convergence will be led by professors from the departments of software convergence, computer engineering and public service as well as the colleges of information technology and peace and liberal arts.

“Even though esports has now become an official medal event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2022 and the number of esports viewers has been increasing rapidly despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no international level of professional education and research system that has been established in the country of birth for esports,” Hanshin University said in the press release.

“So the establishment of interdisciplinary convergence esports graduate school will contribute to the development of esports in Korea.”

The 2022 Asian Games will mark the first time that esports are played as official medal events in the history of global sports competition. There will be eight esports events, including League of Legends, Hearthstone and EA Sports’ FIFA.

The school also laid out four academic goals for the graduate school for online games.

The first two objectives are to explore creative and innovative studies for the new era of convergence technology, obtain basic knowledge of the online digital games, industry and technology that combine new media and ICT and policies and regulations of esports.

The other goals are to learn theories and practices of esports, global sports media and the entertainment industry and to develop the global leadership to pioneer a new world.

The school added that the curriculum of the esports convergence graduate school is designed to help students become professionals who can participate in esports competitions or join relevant industries for their career.

Established in 1939, Hanshin University is located in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. The school has academic ties and exchanges with over 50 schools in 18 countries across the world, allowing its students to have global experiences abroad.

“We hope many including those who have work experience in the field or esports, esports players or coaches with disabilities, students hoping to pursue a career in esports or foreign students will apply,” the school said.

For next spring semester, Hanshin University will begin accepting applications for graduate school students from Monday.