Annual Training of 19,000 Master's and Doctoral Graduates to Lead the Future of the 4th Industrial Revolution

Ministry of Education Confirms and Announces 4th Phase BK21 Project Basic Plan
Annual Budget of 408 Billion KRW Over 7 Years... Expansion of Qualitative Evaluation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The government will support domestic master's and doctoral-level talents who will lead the future 4th Industrial Revolution era with an annual budget of 408 billion KRW for seven years starting this September. Instead of quantitative evaluation, qualitative evaluation of each research achievement will be strengthened.

The Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 6th the finalized and publicized "4th Phase Brain Korea 21 (BK21) Basic Plan" containing these details.

BK21 is a talent development project for master's and doctoral-level personnel that supports graduate student research scholarships and salaries for early-career researchers so that the next generation of scholars can focus on their studies and research. The first phase began in 1999, followed by the second phase in 2006 and the third phase in 2013, which will conclude this August.

The upcoming 4th phase project will support approximately 19,000 master's and doctoral-level graduate students annually with a budget of 408 billion KRW per year for seven years starting September 2020.

The project budget consists of the Future Talent Development Project and Innovation Talent Development Project, which support education and research groups, and the Graduate School Innovation Support Fund, which supports university headquarters. First, the Future Talent Development Project supports education and research groups to enhance research capabilities in basic and core academic fields such as science, technology, and humanities and social sciences. Approximately 194 education and research groups and 174 education and research teams will be selected to receive about 233.8 billion KRW annually, supporting 12,600 personnel.

The Innovation Talent Development Project supports education and research groups to enhance competitiveness in new industrial sectors leading innovative growth and to cultivate convergent research personnel who will lead solutions to industrial and social problems. About 207 education and research groups will be selected and supported with an annual budget of 118.7 billion KRW, supporting 6,400 personnel.

The Graduate School Innovation Support Fund promotes convergence between academic fields and supports university headquarters to become the center of institutional innovation. Universities with a certain number of selected education and research groups will receive an annual 52.9 billion KRW, distributed based on the number of education and research groups, participating professors, and supported graduate students.

The Ministry of Education decided to newly establish the "Innovation Talent Development Project" in this 4th phase BK21 project to focus on cultivating and supplying research personnel in fields necessary for the nation and society.

First, to create a stable environment for graduate students to focus on their studies and research, the number of supported master's and doctoral students will be expanded from the current 17,000 annually to 19,000. Graduate student research scholarships and early-career researcher support funds have been increased as follows: master's students from 600,000 KRW to 700,000 KRW per month, doctoral candidates from 1 million KRW to 1.3 million KRW per month, and early-career researchers from 2.5 million KRW to 3 million KRW per month.

Additionally, to elevate the qualitative research achievements of Korea to a global level, qualitative evaluation of research achievements will be expanded to about 80%, and it was announced that research outcomes will be evaluated 100% qualitatively during the mid-term evaluation in 2023.

Graduate education, which had been relatively underemphasized, will be strengthened through curriculum reforms, and the newly established "Graduate School Innovation Support Fund" will support institutional innovation at the university headquarters level.

Furthermore, from the perspective of regional balanced development, regional universities will be selected separately and supported at the same level as the 3rd phase project to foster excellent talents at the regional level and promote balanced academic development.

The Ministry of Education will begin accepting project applications starting with the announcement today, followed by preliminary applications early next month, and will receive project applications until April 24. Eligibility reviews will commence thereafter. Selection evaluations will be conducted over approximately six weeks from mid-May to early July. Preliminary results will be announced in July, followed by objection submissions and on-site inspections, with final results announced in September.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye emphasized, "Through this 4th phase BK21 project, I hope that our master's and doctoral-level talents will grow into leaders who will guide the country's future in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.