The government will work to break down the barriers between universities and government-funded research institutes to enable global research. The strategy is to eliminate the human and material walls between universities and government-funded research institutes, such as the joint graduate school operated by Korea University and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), to enhance the public research and development ecosystem.
On the afternoon of the 19th, the government held the fourth talent development strategy meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok at Korea University. The talent development strategy meeting is a public-private consultative body launched in February 2023 to establish and manage comprehensive and systematic national talent development policies and discuss key policy directions for inter-agency talent development, consisting of about 30 members including ministers from relevant departments, as well as private experts from the education, industry, and research sectors.
The main agenda of the fourth meeting is the 'strategy for breaking down the university-government-funded research institute barriers.' Universities and government-funded research institutes are key pillars of national research and development, but their cooperation is not being carried out organically. Universities are overseen by the Ministry of Education, while government-funded research institutes are overseen by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The two ministries cited a lack of personnel exchanges and the absence of a system to collaboratively utilize research facilities as reasons for the low levels of cooperation between academia and research institutes.
A Ministry of Science and ICT official noted, 'Cooperation between academia and research institutes is primarily based on short-term and temporary collaborations tied to government R&D projects, which typically end when the project concludes.' They pointed out that there is no foundation for long-term and stable national R&D performance creation.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT have focused on removing human and material barriers to increase exchanges between universities and government-funded research institutes. They plan to spread the examples of cooperation, like the joint graduate school of Korea University and KIST, which has been collaborating for over 50 years, to other universities and government-funded research institutes.
The joint graduate school of Korea University and KIST has faculty from Korea University and researchers from KIST participating together in the admissions committee to select students, and KIST researchers are required to give lectures worth 3 credits each semester, facilitating natural personnel exchanges. A system has also been established for KIST researchers to actively participate in student guidance.
The government decided to improve the system so that researchers from government-funded research institutes can hold dual positions as university faculty, thereby granting them authority equivalent to that of full-time faculty members. They will also provide personnel exchange funding so that university faculty can research together with government-funded research institutes without a joint research project. Regulations will also be revised to allow excellent retired researchers from government-funded research institutes to be utilized as adjunct or invited faculty in universities.
A joint research lab (JRL) project will be promoted to assist collaborative research between universities and government-funded research institutes. The plan is to enable participating researchers to freely enter each other's institutions and utilize research infrastructure to create synergies. Additionally, hubs will be established in each region to allow shared use of research equipment, and various incentives will be offered for collaborative use of research equipment.
Benefits for joint research enterprises will also be increased. Currently, there is a regulation that requires a minimum equity share of 10% for research enterprises established by government-funded research institutes, and the plan is to relax or abolish this regulation.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that they will create a 'cooperation promotion council between academia and research institutes' to focus on breaking down the barriers between universities and government-funded research institutes. To this end, they will also strengthen exchanges between the two ministries. Since last year, the Research Industry Promotion Division of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Industry-Academia Cooperation and Startup Support Division of the Ministry of Education have been exchanging personnel.