South Korea (MSIT) Invests 400 Billion KRW (277.66 million USD) in Fostering University-Affiliated Research Institutes

2025-02-28

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced that it will fully promote the 'National Research Lab (NRL 2.0)' project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. The two ministries plan to select four research institutes this year and support each institute with 10 billion KRW (6.94 million USD) annually for 10 years. This is to foster world-class leading university-affiliated research institutes.

The MSIT diagnosed that domestic universities lack the ability to conduct convergent research due to department-centered operation, and the research institute base for large-scale research is weak beyond the critical scale. Accordingly, the MSIT will select leading research university-affiliated research institutes and provide long-term support, along with administrative and financial support for sustainable operation and development.

The two ministries have finalized and announced the 'National Research Lab (NRL 2.0) Project Basic Plan' and will be accepting new projects until the end of April. Eligible applicants are university-affiliated research institutes in the fields of science and engineering, and not only existing research institutes but also reorganized or newly established research institutes can apply. The selected NRL will start the project in September.

The NRL will be operated as directly affiliated research institutes under the university headquarters, and will be composed of appropriate personnel for large-scale and convergent research, including adjunct faculty members, full-time researchers, administrative support personnel, equipment engineers, and postdoctoral researchers.

Minister Yoo Sang-im, MSIT, said, "Improving the research competitiveness of universities, which are the outposts of advanced research, is a very urgent task for the nation," and added, "I hope that the National Research Lab (NRL 2.0) project will serve as a catalyst for enhancing the research capacity of domestic universities and expanding leading research systems.

Source: https://news.nate.com/view/20250210n23964