National R&D Research Funding to Be Changed Autonomously

Unified Research Fund Usage Standards for National R&D
for Researchers This Year
Abolition of Fixed Government Technology Fees, etc.

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The government will implement a system this year to expand researchers' autonomy in using research funds and to revitalize corporate research and development. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that with the enforcement of the National Research and Development Innovation Act on January 1, subordinate ordinances such as the enforcement decree and standards for the use of research and development funds in national R&D projects have been established.

First, researchers' autonomy in using research funds will be expanded. Previously, detailed plans for the use of research funds had to be prepared, but now only the total amount by budget category such as personnel expenses, facilities and equipment expenses, and material costs need to be prepared. Also, except for some important matters, changes to the research fund usage plan can be made autonomously by research institutions without obtaining approval from ministries one by one.

The settlement of research funds will also shift from the previous method of settling and recovering funds annually to settling and recovering only at the end of the entire research period or the stage research period. Within the entire research period or stage research period, research institutions will be able to carry over research funds to the next year autonomously.

The technology fee, which was paid proportionally to government research funds regardless of whether the technology was implemented, will be abolished. The maximum limits and payment standards for technology fees, which were applied differently by each ministry, will be unified to reduce administrative burdens. This year, the support target of the 'Sharing Equipment Transfer Support Project' will be expanded from non-profit organizations to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Transfer costs for free transfer of idle or underutilized equipment will also be supported for SMEs.

In addition, through the enactment of the Innovation Act, the Ministry of Science and ICT will establish the 'Researcher Rights Protection Committee' to prevent researchers and research institutions from receiving unfair sanctions. Previously, if sanctions such as participation restrictions or penalty surcharges were imposed in national R&D projects, objections could only be filed with the ministry that imposed the sanctions. However, going forward, requests for reconsideration of sanctions can be made to the newly established Researcher Rights Protection Committee within the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters.

Moreover, a system will be established to investigate and support the status of research management specialized institutions that manage national R&D projects and tasks, and the upper-level evaluations of national R&D projects will be gradually reduced to strengthen autonomous inspections while improving the system to enhance accountability through information disclosure.

Kim Seongsu, head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, said, "Starting next year, we will continue to listen carefully to field opinions so that the purpose of the Innovation Act, which aimed to reduce researchers' administrative burdens and create an environment where they can focus on research, can be felt."

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