Basic Research Project in 2024 to Lead Innovation of R&D
- Launched the Basic Research Project 2024 worth KRW 2.1179 trillion (up KRW 67.8 billion from 2023) -
The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong Ho, MSIT) has developed the '2024 Basic Research Project Implementation Plan' and announced that it will dedicatedly carry out the "2024 Basic Research Project" worth 2.1179 trillion won, an increase of 67.8 billion won from the previous year.
The Basic Research Project will focus on shifting to innovative R&D that challenges the world's first and best, strengthening the ever-growing global R&D drive through cooperation and competition with global leaders, and supporting excellent young researchers to grow into talent in the future by working together and competing with the world's top researchers.
The key points of the Project can be summarized as follows. First, the support system for basic research projects has been partially reorganized to shift to innovative R&D that challenges the world's first and best.
Leader-led research, mid-sized research (global type), young researchers’ projects (global type), basic research laboratories, and leading research centers will be promoted as global R&D to create innovative results through free and diverse collaboration with world-class researchers, and global matching-type research will be established to conduct joint research in the pre-agreed fields through matching with specific overseas institutions.
In promoting global R&D, the Ministry has provided a wide range of guidelines for the types of international collaborative research based on the characteristics of each project and task so that researchers can have more autonomy. MSIT plans to offer full-scale support to researchers for research on the global stage through international cooperation.
In addition to global R&D, the Ministry has established a creative research type* to support small-scale excellent research in various fields such as pure theoretical research and conceptual research.
* Newly established in 2024 with a total budget of 9.8 billion won); 70 million won per project, 1 to 3 years of support
Second, research funding and infrastructure support will be expanded for young and talented researchers to grow into global talent.
For young researchers’ growth on the global stage, MSIT will expand support for them by up to doubling the number of new projects and research funds, and support global R&D projects.
* Approximately doubled the number of outstanding new research projects: 400 in 2023 → 759 in 2024; Increased the unit price of research grants: up to KRW 150 million in 2023 → up to KRW 300 million in 2024
In addition, the support for the Sejong Science Fellowship was more than doubled* from the previous year to help postdoctoral researchers and non-tenured faculty members conduct challenging research and grow into competent researchers. (Budget: KRW 86.9 billion in 2023 → KRW 129.9 billion in 2024)
* Number of new projects: 200 in 2023 → 500 in 2024
Furthermore, the Ministry expanded the long-term research program, which supports outstanding young researchers to grow into global talent through long-term challenging research in one field (Budget: KRW 3 billion in 2023 → KRW 9 billion in 2024).
Plus, the "Infrastructure Support Project for Young Researchers" was newly launched* to support the establishment of cutting-edge research facilities and equipment so that young researchers can devote themselves to challenging research from the beginning of their research.
* Budget of 60 billion won, 200 new projects to be supported, 100 to 500 million won/year
Finally, MSIT plans to continuously improve the system to enhance R&D effectiveness. By abolishing the fiscal year matching system (starting in March and completing in February) of basic research projects, excellent projects will be selected with flexibility throughout the year, and meta-evaluation of the entire basic research project evaluation process will be piloted to analyze problems in the evaluation process and continuously improve the evaluation system.
For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division (Phone: +82-44-202-4034, E-mail: msitmedia@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Please refer to the attached PDF.