The 'Science and Engineering Research Living Allowance' to support stable research activities for science and engineering graduate students will be distributed to a total of 29 universities this year.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 25th that it has finalized the selection of 29 universities participating in this year's research living allowance support project and will begin support in May.
This project operates in a way that the government subsidizes the shortfall to guarantee a research allowance of 800,000 won per month for master's program students and over 1.1 million won for doctoral program students. A total of 29 universities applied for this solicitation, and all were confirmed as participating universities after review of eligibility and selection evaluation.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to conduct face-to-face consultations with the selected universities to identify students who do not meet the support criteria and to establish standard procedures for the smooth payment of the allowances. Once the detailed operational plans for each university are finalized, support will be provided to the graduate students affiliated with those universities.
The Ministry of Science and ICT is also considering additional solicitations in the second half of the year if budget surpluses arise after this first support.
Minister Yu Sang-im noted, "In order to nurture key research personnel who will lead global technological competition, active efforts must be made not only by the research leaders but also by the government and universities. We will establish a stable introduction and expansion of the Korean-style stipend system based on a three-party cooperation framework, creating an environment where scientific and technological talents can research and challenge themselves without financial worries."