Record KRW 2.9 Trillion for Basic Research Next Year; Expanded Support for Regional and Young Researchers

18,516 Funded Projects... 5,318 New Individual Projects
1,000 New Projects Prioritized for Regional Researchers; Quantitative Evaluation of Publication Records Scrapped

The government will invest a record 2.9102 trillion won in basic research next year and increase the number of funded projects to 18,516. As it expands support for basic research, which contracted after cuts to the research and development (R&D) budget, the government will prioritize about 1,000 new projects for regional researchers and strengthen support for early-career researchers. It will also reform the project selection process, including by abolishing quantitative evaluations based on publication and patent records.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said it finalized the "2027 Basic Research Program Implementation Plan" at a meeting of the Basic Research Program Steering Committee on November 4, and would begin accepting applications for the first round of new individual basic research projects on November 5.

Source: Ministry of Science and ICT. AI-generated image

Next year's basic research budget, based on the government's budget proposal, will total 2.9102 trillion won, up 173.9 billion won (6.4%) from this year. Compared with 1.7907 trillion won in 2021, this represents an increase of about 62.5% in six years. The total number of funded projects will also rise to a record 18,516.

The number of projects funded under the individual basic research program will increase by 2,317 (14.8%), from 15,694 this year to 18,011 next year. In particular, the number of new individual basic research projects will fall from 7,421 this year to 5,318 next year, but will remain higher than the 3,080 in 2024 and 4,074 in 2025. The government said the scale of support for new projects had returned to its 2022 level of 5,305, before the R&D budget cuts.

1,000 New Projects Allocated to Regions... Increased Support for Early-Career Researchers

The key focus of next year's basic research program is expanding support for regional researchers. The government plans to prioritize about 1,000 of the 5,460 new projects for regional researchers. For the Basic Research A and B categories of the individual basic research program, it will set the share of projects awarded to regional researchers at 40% for each category, supporting at least 300 and 480 projects, respectively.

The government will also launch a new Regional Long-Term Research program to help promising early-career researchers at regional universities pursue their research steadily. It plans to select 100 projects next year and fund them for up to 10 years.

Source: Ministry of Science and ICT. AI-generated image.

Researchers selected for the program will receive about 300 million won in the first year to establish their research equipment, followed by about 150 million won in research funding each year for the next nine years. The aim is to ease the burden of setting up equipment at the start of research and provide an environment in which researchers can focus on one field over the long term.

Support for early-career researchers will also be expanded. Through programs specifically for early-career and postdoctoral researchers, the government plans to direct at least 30% of all new individual basic research projects to early-career researchers. The goal is to strengthen support so that researchers with limited experience can establish an independent research base.

The project selection process will also change. Quantitative evaluations that assess publication and patent records solely by the numbers will be abolished, and the system will be revised to focus on research content and creativity. The government also plans to make greater use of presentations and English-language research proposals to assess researchers' capabilities and the quality of their research plans more comprehensively.

The implementation plan focuses on increasing the basic research budget and number of projects while expanding research opportunities for regional and early-career researchers. However, for the increased budget to lead to tangible improvements in researchers' working conditions, it will be important to consider not only the expansion of new projects but also funding per project, the duration of support, and continuity of research.

Gu Hyeokchae, First Vice Minister of Science and ICT, said, "Next year, we will strengthen support for regional researchers and early-career and postdoctoral researchers to help advance basic research in Korea. We will pursue long-term, stable support so researchers can continue creative and challenging work, and improve the research support system."

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