The Ministry of Science and ICT (“MSIT”; Minister Yoo Sang-im) announced that it has drafted the 2025 Basic Research Project Implementation Plan and will launch the 2025 Basic Research Projects, which has the largest budget of KRW 2.3413 trillion.
The 2025 Basic Research Projects will have the following four directions:
1) Strengthen the support system for “exploration and expansion of knowledge,” which is the inherent purpose of basic research; 2) Expand the research base of promising young researchers through various research opportunities; 3) Enhance the innovative and strategic nature of basic research through various new projects to create an innovative and bold research climate; and 4) Advance the evaluation and institutional system based on expertise and fairness.
|
◈ Note: Since 2017, the Basic Research Project Implementation Plan has established and announced in November of the year prior to implementation to ensure predictability for researchers, but detailed support details may change depending on the outcome of the National Assembly’s budget deliberations.
|
1. Strengthen the channels for exploration, accumulation, and expansion of knowledge
First, we will expand the support system for exploration, accumulation, and expansion of knowledge (“research growth”), which is the primary purpose of basic research, to promote academic diversity and enable a wide range of researchers to stably pursue their work.
To this end, new projects for “Creative Research (established research)” that support excellent research across a wide range of disciplines will be greatly expanded, and “Leapfrog Research” will be established to support follow-up research so that researchers who have produced excellent outcomes can continue their work.
※ New creative research projects: 140 in 2024 → About 885 in 2025
※ Leapfrog research (Starting in 2025): KRW 75 billion in 2025 (About 300 new projects)
By streamlining the evaluation process when selecting researchers for leapfrog research projects, it is now possible for excellent researchers to steadily pursue follow-up research on the same research topic to promote the growth and maturation of the topic.
2. Expand the research base of promising young researchers
Second, we will enhance the support system for promising young researchers to expand their research base based on various research opportunities and grow them into world-class researchers.
To help new researchers cultivate their research capabilities and grow rapidly by accessing opportunities early, “Seed Research” will be established to further concretize support for young researchers along with existing support for outstanding young researchers. In addition, the “Research Facilities and Equipment Support Program for Young Researchers” will continue to be carried out to support the establishment of an early research environment for excellent researchers.
※ Seed Research (Starting in 2025): KRW 40 billion in 2025 (About 400 new projects)
※ Research Facilities and Equipment Support Program for Yung Researchers: KRW 30 billion in 2025 (About 100 new projects)
3. Enhance the innovative and strategic nature of basic research support
Third, we will enhance the innovative and strategic nature of basic research by fostering an innovative and bold research environment and rolling out various new projects that strengthen the link between national and societal needs and basic research support.
“Pioneering Research” will be established to support transformative research in emerging fields of study through first-of-its-kind questions. In line with the purpose of innovative and bold research, interim inspections will be abolished and the tolerance for failure will be expanded, while exceptions to the one-person-one-project principle will be allowed for pioneering researchers to foster a bold and enabling research environment.
We will establish “National Priority Basic Research,” in which the government identifies and proposes research areas (e.g. capacity building for critical and emerging technologies) in consideration of national and societal needs, and researchers lead the planning and promotion of new projects.
※ Pioneering Research (starting in 2025): KRW 15 billion in 2025 (About 150 new projects)
National Priority Basic Research (starting in 2025): KRW 40 billion in 2025 (About 200 new projects)
To drive overall research innovation at universities, we will establish the “National Research Institute Project (NRL 2.0)*,” which supports university-affiliated research institutes in the form of a package (package - research, facilities, workforce, etc.) with a bundled budget (block funding).
※ National Research Institute Project (starting in 2025): KRW 10 billion in 2025 (separate from the Ministry of Education; four research institutes will be supported)
* The specific project implementation plan (schedule, etc.) will be announced in early 2025 by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Education separately.
4. Advance the evaluation and management system and promote institutional innovation
Finally, we will advance the evaluation and management system to support research efficiently based on expertise and fairness, and the research management system will be reorganized to be more researcher-friendly.
A differentiated evaluation system will be introduced to meet the purpose and characteristics of diverse basic research projects, while measures will be taken to expand the participation of the best researchers in each field to participate more actively in evaluation to improve the expertise and quality of evaluation.
< Differentiated Evaluation System by Project (Example) >
| Project Title |
Evaluation System |
| Leapfrog Research |
▸ Streamline the evaluation process when supporting follow-up research of outstanding researchers |
| Pioneering Research |
▸ Idea-centered evaluation, abolition of interim inspections, increased tolerance for failure |
| Leadership Research |
▸ Evaluation through in-depth interactive discussions between researchers and evaluators |
After consultation with the fiscal authorities, basic research projects will be exempted from the fiscal year alignment principle starting 2025. It is expected to improve the quality of research by enhancing research stability and flexibility for researchers, reduce the burden of evaluation by enabling diversification of project announcements and evaluation timing throughout the year, and allow the selection and management of high-quality projects.
Minister Yoo said, “The MSIT’s support for basic research next year will focus on enabling researchers to pursue the exploration and expansion of knowledge, which is the main purpose of basic research, based on autonomy and creativity, and to provide a wide range of research opportunities for young researchers. We have also expanded the outreach of basic research by linking basic research with national and societal needs.”
Minister Yoo further stated, "I hope that the implementation of the largest-ever basic research projects next year will alleviate the fatigue of researchers caused by last year's R&D restructuring, and serve as a signal to enhance trust in government support and spread positive energy."
The MSIT finalized the 2025 Basic Research Project Implementation Plan at the Basic Research Project Steering Committee on November 5, and the process of call for proposals for new projects began on November 6.
For the 2025 MSIT Basic Research Projects, individual basic research will open call for proposals from November 6 to December 11, 2024, and the group research support projects will open call for proposals from November 6, 2024, to February 3, 2025. After evaluation and selection of projects, the research will begin on March 1 and June 1, respectively.
※ As the application deadlines may differ for each program, researchers wishing to apply should verify the specific deadlines for each program and submit accordingly.
For detailed information on the 2025 MSIT Basic Research Projects and the schedule for call for proposals, please visit the MSIT and the National Research Foundation of Korea websites.
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.