Ask AI to "Find Research Equipment"... ZEUS Introduces Research Equipment Search and Reservation Service

Ministry of Science and ICT Launches Pilot AI-Based Research Equipment Search
Enter Only Your Research Objective for Optimal Equipment Recommendations...
Official Service Set for December

From now on, even if researchers do not know the specific name of an equipment, they can simply enter their research objective—such as "I need an electron microscope to analyze semiconductor samples"—and artificial intelligence (AI) will help find and reserve the appropriate research equipment.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will begin piloting an AI-based search service in the National Research Facilities and Equipment Comprehensive Information System (ZEUS) from July 27.

National Research Facilities and Equipment Integrated Information System (ZEUS) screen. AI-based research equipment search and reservation service will be piloted starting from the 27th. ZEUS homepage screenshot

ZEUS is an inter-ministerial system that integrates and manages information on research facilities and equipment established with the national research and development (R&D) budget, and supports shared usage among researchers.

This new service moves beyond traditional keyword-based searches, allowing users to communicate with AI to search for and reserve the research equipment they need in one go. Even without knowing the exact name of the equipment, users can simply enter their research purpose, and the system will recommend readily available equipment nearby.

Until now, researchers had to manually search for equipment names and institutions that possess them, which could be time-consuming, especially when similar equipment was dispersed across multiple institutions. In particular, universities and regional research institutes, which often find it difficult to secure advanced research equipment themselves, have consistently requested improved access to shared equipment.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to enhance search accuracy and recommendation features by incorporating user feedback and usage data during the pilot period, and then officially launch the service in December. The pilot service is operated on KT’s private cloud infrastructure, and the official service will introduce high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) to improve response speeds.

Hong Soonjung, Director of the Performance Evaluation and Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "The AI-based search service will do more than simply improve search functions—it will promote the shared use of national research facilities and equipment, and help create an environment where researchers can focus solely on their research."

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