"In Horizon Europe proposals, the excellence of the research, its industrial and social impact, and feasibility must be linked in a single logic."
Last year, Korea became an associate member of the European Union (EU) program "Horizon Europe." Horizon Europe is the world's largest multilateral research and innovation program run by the EU to address shared challenges such as climate change, health, and the digital transition. But on the 15th (local time) in Saarbrücken, Germany, Kim Sang-won, research coordinator at the Europe Office of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), said, "Many domestic researchers are unfamiliar with Horizon Europe's program structure, evaluation methods, and proposal drafting procedures."
With Korea becoming an associate member of Horizon Europe, domestic research institutes now have broader opportunities to participate. Still, experts said researchers often struggle because the call analysis, formation of multinational research teams, and proposal-writing methods differ from domestic research projects.
Research coordinators are personnel who support the preparation and operation of international collaborative research projects such as Horizon Europe. They find calls suitable for researchers, handle consolidation among domestic and overseas research institutes, and assist with consortium building, coordinating roles by participating institution, and proposal writing. After a project is selected, they also take part in managing the research schedule and outcomes.
The KIST Europe Office has assigned three research coordinators to the advanced bio, energy and environment, and artificial intelligence (AI) convergence fields to respond to Horizon Europe projects. Last year, a Horizon Europe project with KIST participation was selected. It was the first selection involving a domestic institution since Korea became an associate member of Horizon Europe. Recently, the research coordinators have been expanding their support beyond KIST to other domestic research institutions.
Horizon Europe projects are typically prepared over several months. Universities and research institutes from multiple countries and corporations participate, but proposals are generally limited to 40–50 pages, requiring a concise presentation of research objectives, roles by institution, implementation plans, and expected effects.
Research coordinator Yun Juyong said, "We review the call text sentence by sentence to see what intent lies between the lines," noting that it is "the process of identifying what problem the EU seeks to solve through the project."
In particular, Pillar 2, "Global challenges and industrial competitiveness," where Korea participates, focuses on plans for utilization after technology development. Research coordinators explained that rather than presenting expected effects broadly as economic spillover or improved industrial competitiveness, applicants should specify the application targets, the implementing actors, and the anticipated changes.
Yun said, "You need to draw a concrete blueprint for how a technology developed with public funds will be applied and how it will affect the lives of European citizens." Research coordinator Kim Yong-jun said, "In Korea, expected research effects or economic effects are often described at a macro level," adding, "If this part is lacking, 9 out of 10 are eliminated."
In building a consortium, the division of roles and the necessity of participation are more important than the number of participating institutions. Each institution's research assignment and why that institution is needed for the project must be explained by consolidation with the overall research objectives.
Research coordinator Kim Yong-jun said, "When we ask researchers why they want to participate in Horizon Europe, some answer that it's because it is an international project," adding, "If it is unclear why they should participate and what they intend to do together with European partners, they may face difficulties getting selected."
In particular, research coordinators advised that securing research funding should not be the sole purpose of participating in Horizon Europe. Research coordinator Kim Yong-jun added, "If Korean technology is jointly validated with European partners, you can build research results that can be used in other regions as well," noting, "Who you collaborate with and what research value you accumulate are what matter."