Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) said on the 21st that it won four projects under Horizon Europe, the European Union's large-scale multilateral research and innovation program.
Horizon Europe is the world's largest research and innovation program, into which the EU is investing a total of €95.5 billion (about 160 trillion won) from 2021 to 2027. KRISS was selected for four projects in the European Partnership on Metrology (EPM) calls within this program, and three of them will receive about 500 million won (€285,000) in research funding over three years starting this year.
The selected projects focus on national strategic technologies such as next-generation communications, advanced bio, and quantum. KRISS will form a consortium with major European national metrology institutes, including the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany, to carry out joint research.
Specifically, they include on-wafer electromagnetic measurement and electromagnetic device measurement technologies to support 6th-generation (6G) communications base technologies; establishing measurement standards for rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases; support for adopting advanced technologies to disseminate thermodynamic temperature; and development of quantum-based nanoscale magnetic field metrology to ensure traceability.
The achievement is also seen as a case where the benefits of Korea's associate membership in Horizon Europe are beginning to materialize. Until now, domestic research institutes, even when participating in Horizon Europe joint research, took part as third-country researchers with limited access to EU budget support and had to secure separate domestic funding. But after Korea joined as the first Asian associate member in January last year, KRISS became a beneficiary able to receive and execute EU research funds directly starting with these projects.
Lee Ho-seong, the head of KRISS, said, "This result shows that Korea's measurement standards technology capabilities are top-tier within the large research ecosystem led by Europe," and added, "We will further strengthen cooperation with core researchers to secure global technological leadership."