The government will overhaul the system to break the competition among Government-funded research institute researchers to win labor costs and strengthen a performance-based compensation framework. The plan is to fully fund labor costs with institutional contributions to boost research immersion while sharply reducing the burden of institutional evaluations and, instead, ensuring performance-based rewards by introducing performance pay.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 18th that it announced the policy direction for grants research institutes in science and technology at the second meeting of ministers related to science and technology. The direction includes reorganizing the mission-execution system of government-funded research institutes in science and technology, overhauling evaluation and compensation systems, and measures to innovate the research environment.
The Ministry of Science and ICT assessed that although grants research institutes should lead innovation and change as the central axis of national research and development (R&D), it has been difficult to generate large-scale outcomes as in the past due to structural limits such as an unstable financial structure, a pay and incentive system that struggles to attract top talent, and growing administrative burdens on researchers. The government's plan is to resolve the accumulated problems and relaunch grants research institutes as "performance-generating national hubs" that fit the mission of the times.
The core of the policy is a shift in the operating system to support national missions. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it will abolish the project-based system (PBS) and switch to fully supporting labor costs with institutional contributions so researchers can break free from the bidding race to secure labor costs. At the same time, it will create new strategic research programs planned and led by grants research institutes based on government and corporations' needs and establish related implementation systems.
The evaluation and compensation framework will also be adjusted to focus on performance. Institutional evaluations will shift from measuring achievement against plans to emphasizing representative outcomes that the public can feel, while substantially simplifying evaluation burdens. Reflecting evaluation results, the government will introduce performance pay for all members and establish bonuses for outstanding research staff to strengthen a performance-oriented compensation system. Policies to attract and secure top talent, such as improving treatment and expanding special hiring, will continue.
The government will also build an environment that supports research immersion. It will professionalize research administration to minimize administrative burdens shifted to researchers and revamp the institutional base to match current conditions. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it will fully amend the act on the establishment, operation and promotion of government-funded research institutes in science and technology, enacted in 2004, to build a base to support and nurture grants research institutes that suits the changed technology and policy environment.
First Vice Minister Ku Hyuk-chae of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "Grants research institutes in science and technology are key actors that will lead innovation and change in the science and technology community," adding, "We will provide unwavering support so grants research institutes become hubs for carrying out national missions."