Minister Choi Ki-young: "In the Era of Basic Research 2.0, We Must Consider a New Leap Forward"

Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] On the 12th, Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, reflected on the 30-year history of basic research in South Korea and explored the future, presenting 'Basic Research 2.0' by stating, "We must consider a new leap forward for Korean basic research, including big science."

Minister Choi said, "Over the past 30 years, the Republic of Korea has achieved Basic Research 1.0 by creating a research environment similar to advanced countries through support for Leading Research Centers. Now, we need to consider Basic Research 2.0 as our own advanced model," adding, "I expect active participation from the scientific community in discussions for a new leap forward in Korean basic research, including big science."

The event was held under the theme of '30 Years of Basic Science, 30 Years of Leading Research Centers, Drawing the Future of the Republic of Korea' to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Leading Research Centers.

The Leading Research Center project was established in 1989 under the Ministry of Science and Technology's 'Plan to Foster Excellent Research Centers' and has supported a total of 358 centers with 2.3183 trillion KRW over 30 years since 1990. Through this, a total of 68,325 SCI papers have been published, and technology transfer and commercialization have been carried out, contributing to the enhancement of national science and technology competitiveness.

Through joint research with excellent researchers supported by the Leading Research Centers and the transfer of experience, 41,238 master's and doctoral talents have been nurtured, and among participating researchers, 3,950 have been appointed as full-time university faculty members. Among them, 130 (36% of all centers) have been reappointed as center directors, and 2,882 are conducting excellent research projects (mid-career, leader research).

The event began with keynote speeches by Park Sung-dong, Chairman of Setrec-I Co., Ltd., who has led the domestic satellite project since receiving support from this project in 1990, and Noh Tae-won, Director of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), who participated as a researcher at the Genome Physics Research Center (SRC) at Seoul National University in 1991.

The policy forum was held under the theme '30 Years and the Future of Leading Research Centers.' Unlike 30 years ago when large-scale long-term research support within universities was weak, there was consensus on the need to establish a differentiated support direction unique to the Leading Research Center project in response to the increasing number of mid- to long-term large research projects and environmental changes.

Additionally, various development plans beyond the existing framework were discussed, including building a sustainable support system through enhanced participation and follow-up support for excellent centers after project completion, discovering and supporting new fields based on big science (such as the origin of the universe), strengthening autonomy by academic discipline, and adjusting or establishing new programs.

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