Strengthening Agri-Food R&D... Research Evaluation System Revised from 'Annual' to 'Project-Based'

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Announces Changes to Agricultural Food R&D System This Year
Simplification of Research Fund Carryover Procedures, etc.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to simplify the evaluation system for researchers and the procedure for carrying over research funds to strengthen the research and development (R&D) capabilities in the agriculture and food sector.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (KIPET) announced on the 4th that they have revised regulations and detailed guidelines related to agriculture and food R&D projects this year.

They decided to simplify the evaluation system and the procedure for carrying over research funds so that researchers can focus on their research.

Until now, annual evaluations were conducted every year, but from now on, evaluations will be conducted at each stage of the R&D project. Even after the research is completed, follow-up evaluations will be conducted up to three years later, but from now on, evaluations will be based on performance utilization reports submitted by R&D institutions to widely utilize research outcomes.

The system that required approval from a specialized institution to carry over research funds exceeding 5 million KRW has been improved. From this year, research funds can be carried over to the next year simply by registering the carryover in the Pan-Ministry Integrated Research Fund Management System.

To enhance the consistency and transparency of R&D projects, the government will unify the bonus and penalty point system. Previously, each institution such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Rural Development Administration, and Korea Forest Service had different bonus and penalty point systems during the R&D project selection process, but these will now be unified. Bonus and penalty points will be applied within a maximum of 10 points (%).

Within 30 days after the start of each year, the R&D project implementation plan will be announced on the websites of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and KIPET.

To reduce the burden on companies, R&D budgets will be provided within the first quarter. When small and medium-sized enterprises undertake projects, the cash contribution (at least 10% of the company’s share) of the institution’s burdened R&D costs can be replaced with in-kind contributions.

Kim Jong-gu, Director of Agricultural Life Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We will strive to help agricultural companies, which are facing many difficulties amid the COVID-19 situation, overcome the crisis based on agricultural and food science and technology and to further revitalize related industries."

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced in January through the 'Agriculture and Food R&D Project Implementation Plan' that it plans to support 94.8 billion KRW for 13 detailed projects this year.

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