The Ministry of Science and ICT held a public hearing on the "Policy direction (draft) for government grants-funded research institutes in science and technology" at the National Science Museum in Daejeon on the 1st and presented the direction for overhauling the research system at the grants-funded institutes. The hearing was part of "system innovation to realize a top five science and technology power," sharing mid- to long-term innovation tasks that include financial structure, evaluation, and treatment improvements.
The core is the phased abolition of the project-based system (PBS) to change the structure in which researchers have to chase project awards to secure salaries. PBS is a system under which grants-funded institutes win national research and development (R&D) projects through competition, implemented since 1996. Contrary to its intent, it has been criticized for steering research toward short-term projects, leading to project fragmentation and reduced research focus.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said that over the next five years it will convert outsourced projects into strategic research programs, fund salaries entirely from institutional contributions, and, after PBS is abolished in 2030, fully separate salaries from projects.
Strategic research programs will be operated as mission-focused mid- to long-term, large-scale research groups, and basic research programs will be reorganized to focus on securing institutions' mid- to long-term capabilities. To improve the ministry-by-ministry project outsourcing structure, an inter-ministerial council will be newly established to plan and allocate research missions based on government demand. A strategic research support center will be newly established at the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST).
First Vice Minister Gu Hyeok-chae of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "We expect the abolition of PBS to free grants-funded institutes from the burden of salaries and help them leap forward as mission-centered national flagship research institutions."
The evaluation system will also be simplified. Institutional operation evaluations and research project evaluations will be integrated and replaced with a performance report within 30 pages, and those receiving a grade of satisfactory or higher will be paid a performance bonus averaging 3 million won per person at the "very outstanding" standard, and within 1% of the research staff quota, an outstanding researcher bonus of up to 120 million won will be awarded.
Raises for entry-level researchers and standardization of the pay grade system will also be pursued. Until now, wage growth at grants-funded institutes has remained at about 3.2% per year, and support staff per researcher has been only 0.5, leading to continued outflows of personnel.
In addition, common administrative functions such as IT, audit, and legal affairs will be integrated into the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST), and research infrastructure such as graphics processing units (GPUs) will be made available for joint use. The site of the Daedeok Innopolis joint management apartments, left idle for 10 years, will be developed as a hub for industry-academia-institute cooperation.
A range of views from the field were presented at the hearing. Vice Chair Park Gu-gon of the Council of Science and Technology Society of Government Grants-funded Research Institutes said, "There needs to be a plan to ensure diversity so that existing research is not marginalized by a policy focused on large-scale projects," and noted, "Governance that allows researchers to participate in decision-making processes is also necessary." Kim Sang-gil, head of the Korea Industrial Technology Association, said, "There are concerns that a focus on large-scale projects could weaken tailored support for small and midsize enterprises," and called for countermeasures.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to finalize a tentative "innovation plan for government grants-funded institutes in the science and technology field" after additionally gathering on-site feedback through an online survey and in-person roundtables.