Government to Attract 2,000 Outstanding Overseas Scientists by 2030... Aiming to Build a Global Research Hub

85 Individual Recruitment Projects and 5 Institutional Recruitment Projects Selected

The government has launched a new initiative to attract outstanding overseas scientists as part of its efforts to secure top talent amid the intensifying global competition for technological supremacy. The government has set a goal to bring 2,000 outstanding overseas scientific talents to Korea by 2030 and to establish the country as a global research hub.

Ministry of Science and ICT logo. Provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on June 8 that it has finalized the selection of new projects for the 2026 Foreign Outstanding Scientists Invitation Program, as part of the detailed national policy task ‘Brain to Korea.’ Under this initiative, 85 BP Individual Invitation projects and 5 BP+ Institutional Invitation projects will receive support.

The Individual Invitation track allows domestic principal investigators to invite outstanding overseas researchers to collaborate on joint research projects tailored to the needs of the local research field. Each project may receive up to 350 million won in annual research funding. A total of 85 outstanding overseas researchers from 20 countries—including Korea, India, the United States, and China—will be invited to participate in domestic research projects. By field, more than half of the researchers will be working in national strategic technology areas such as advanced biotechnology, secondary batteries, hydrogen, semiconductors and displays, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. The program also includes excellent researchers from various basic and fundamental fields, including aerospace and physics.

The Institutional Invitation track enables research organizations to independently identify and recruit outstanding overseas talents according to their own research strategies, and flexibly utilize necessary resources for fostering research environments and building infrastructure. These institutions will focus on key areas tied to national strategic technologies, such as advanced biotechnology, batteries, quantum technology, and AI. Each institution may receive up to 3 billion won per year in support.

This year, a total of five institutions—Korea University, Sogang University, Sungkyunkwan University, Ewha Womans University, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)—were selected for the Institutional Invitation track. In this evaluation, the Ministry of Science and ICT reviewed each institution’s mid- to long-term research strategies, self-investment plans, research infrastructure, dedicated support systems, settlement support measures, and post-project utilization plans. The ministry also focused on how strategically and stably each institution could identify, retain, and utilize outstanding talent in the relevant fields. Some of the selected institutions also pledged to invest their own resources in addition to government support or to establish comprehensive support systems spanning the entire research cycle.

Lee Junbae, Director General for Human Resources Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “With the selection of these new projects, we will further strengthen both joint research led by individual researchers and institutional-level support for settlement and utilization. We will continue to support Korea’s rise as a global research hub.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.