507 Billion KRW Support for Science and Engineering Students... 8,725 Scholars Selected

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The government will invest 50.7 billion KRW this year to support 8,725 scholarship students in the STEM fields.

The government announced the national scholarship program for outstanding STEM students for this year on the 10th. This program has been established since 2003 to promote youth entry into STEM fields.

Scholarship recipients supported through this program are divided into Presidential Science Scholars, who are students with outstanding potential in mathematics and science and a sense of social responsibility, and excellent STEM scholars aimed at encouraging entry into STEM fields. This year, a total of 157 Presidential Science Scholars will be selected. In particular, 27 new third-year domestic university students will be selected. The number of students selected for overseas universities will also be doubled to support 20 students.

The government has improved the selection criteria for outstanding STEM students. They decided to strengthen the evaluation of personality factors such as social responsibility. Also, to select future talents from diverse backgrounds, a multi-faceted evaluation system was introduced. The government will regularly support periodic meetings between scientists and selected Presidential Science Scholars to enable continuous self-development. They also plan to publish an e-newsletter introducing the research activities and volunteer work of Presidential Science Scholars to increase the number of STEM applicants. By strengthening talent-donation type social service such as mentoring low-income students, they will provide opportunities for scholars to experience the joy of sharing their talents and abilities with neighbors in need.

Detailed plans regarding scholarship applications will be announced next month. Final selection will take place in June this year. The Ministry of Science and ICT stated that they will continue to strengthen support so that talented students from diverse backgrounds can fully demonstrate their abilities, lead the future of the science and technology powerhouse Republic of Korea, and grow into warm-hearted scientists who empathize with society.

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