- Presents the vision and goals to promote talents for the next five years to strengthen national competitiveness in science and technology

On February 25 (Thur), the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi Kiyoung) announced that it has established the "4th basic plan for nurturing and supporting scientific talents (2021~2025)" by working together with other ministries. The plan encompasses the vision, goals and implementation tasks in promoting policies to nurture scientific workforce for the next five years.

※ Legal basis: In accordance with the "special act on supporting talents in science and engineering for strengthening national competitiveness in science and technology" legislated in 2004, the government has established and implemented the basic plan every five years since 2006.

Under the vision of "scientific talent powerhouse leading innovation in great transition", the basic plan outlines the following three policy goals over the next five years: △ attract talents with capabilities to respond to future changes △ sustain and expand the scientific talent pool △ advance ecosystem for transforming into a country that attracts talented workforce

To this end, the government has come up with the following four strategies and 14 implementation tasks by taking into account of the growth stages of scientific talents and workforce ecosystem: △ nurture future talents with skills △ create an environment where young researchers can become talented workforce △ lay groundwork for scientists and engineers to thrive continuously △ ensure talent ecosystem remains open and dynamic

Major implementation tasks under each strategy are as follows:

The Ministry is planning to encourage elementary and middle school students to gain more interest and skills in mathematics and science as the two subjects have lost popularity among students who will be the future leaders.
※ level of interest in math/science (TIMSS,'19): (4th grade) ranked at 57th/ 53rd (out of 58 countries), 39th (8th grade)/26th (lowest bottom)

- The Ministry will build an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based math learning support system to provide customized lessons and improve the learning capacities of students and have completed building intelligent science labs for all schools by the year 2024.

- Along with that, support will go to science education by connecting elementary/middle schools to universities, research institutes, and local communities, and a cooperation system (tentatively named 'Star Bridge Center') will be established and operated (from the year 2022) to help teachers develop their teaching skills.

'AI education leader schools' will be expanded to help elementary/middle schoolers be equipped with strong basic digital skills and 'AI education standards by school level' will be prepared and apply within this year.

Along with efforts to strengthen basic capacity in science, more education opportunities will be offered to talented young scientists so that they can be future leaders in science.

- Advanced math and science classes will be made and offered online for anyone wishing to take a class (from 2021 and beyond) and a separate admission system will be expanded (from 2022) to allow outstanding students from marginalized regions to get support as qualified talent.

To help college students in science and engineering equip themselves with skills for the changes in the future, basic science and engineering courses will be improved and systems for education and research will be renewed as part of the efforts to innovate college education in science and engineering.

Support systems will be expanded for young researchers so that they can develop their research career without unexpected interruptions when they are the most academically active.

- 'Sejong Science Fellowship' (200 researchers in one year, for up to five years) will be implemented in earnest starting from this year to ensure that postdoctoral researchers can switch labs as they wish.

- Also, Korea Initiative for fostering University of Research & Innovation (KIURI) focusing on postdoctoral researchers will be expanded (in 2021, from four to six) and help master or doctoral degree holders in science and engineering find various paths to enter industries by supporting entrepreneurial activities that suit lab environments.

Measures to ensure heightened lab safety and labor standards will be fortified to create a stable research environment for young researchers. For example, the Ministry will try to guarantee special industrial accident insurance coverage for mater’s/doctoral degree students in science and engineering, postdoctoral researchers and student researchers when involved in lab incidents.

To proactively tackle the expected difficulty in finding talent in science and engineering due to the population decline in Korea, a strong foundation will be established to help people in science and engineering develop their career, with a focus on female scientists and engineers.

- W-Bridge (tentatively named) will be prepared to support female scientists across all stages of life (in 2021) and action plans for work-life-balance research culture will be prepared within this year.

Lifelong learning support systems for scientists and engineers will be strengthened and more learning opportunities will be offered to working professionals to help them advance their expertise and convergence capacity.

- An online system will be established to support scientists and engineers with lifelong learning and career development in an integrated way and learning courses such as AI convergence capacity (AI+X) will be expanded to offer digital skills required in the fields.

Relevant regulations and programs will be amended to make it easier for non-Korean research leaders to settle in Korea and continue their research.

- The program to invite outstanding scientists from abroad (Brain Pool Plus), which offers up to KRW 600 million for up to 10 years will be expanded and the visa process will be simplified e.g., application of e-Visa to make it easier to invite leading researchers from abroad.

- 'Linko Center' (tentatively named), an organization and total portal will be established (in 2021) and dedicated to providing information on Korea and supporting exchanges for non-Korean researchers. Non-Korean leading researchers will receive more support for job hunting and entrepreneurial activities in Korea.

Also, talented researchers will be offered a research environment where they can pursue their interest area of research regardless of where they belong, whether it be a certain industry, university or research institute. With public officials in education allowed to be employed for companies in intelligence and information, systems for talent recruitment will be improved not only for the major four institutes of science and technology but also domestic universities.

A committee for protecting researchers’ rights and benefits is established and go into operation starting from this year. More efforts will be made to encourage scientists and engineers to have a strong responsibility as a member of society by pushing for establishing a special research support center that specializes in ethical and economic/social impacts of advanced technologies.

The MSIT estimates that a total of more than KRW 25 trillion will be invested from relevant departments and local governments to support future talent and their activities for the five years to come (from 2021 to 2025).

The MSIT noted that this will allow for a smooth implementation of support measures that will go to 180,000 future researchers in promising future research areas such as digital (AI‧SW), Green New Deal, and Bio new business.

For further information, please contact Deputy Director Kim Joo Yeon of the Ministry of Science and ICT (E-mail address : kwndus@korea.kr).