12 National Research Institutes Promote Innovation Including 'Strengthening Research Capabilities and Organizational Flexibility'

Ministry of Science and ICT Reveals Innovation Plans by Institution

The view of Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone. From the left, the Korea Institute of Energy Research, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology stand out.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] As the era of 100 trillion won in national research and development (R&D) begins, 12 national research institutes are promoting institutional innovation through strengthening research capabilities, flexible organizational management, and activating cooperation with other institutions.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 8th that nine central administrative agencies and 12 national research institutes under these agencies have established and are implementing innovation promotion plans for each institution. According to this, the National Institute of Fisheries Science will establish the Fisheries Seed Breeding Research Institute, the Advanced Aquaculture Demonstration Center, and the Commercialization Support Team through inter-organizational coordination in line with the R&D policy direction in the fisheries sector. The National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation plans to entrust the management function of government-funded R&D to specialized institutions to create an environment focused on its own research. The National Institute of Forest Science will review and reorganize its mid- to long-term technology development plans in response to changes in the internal and external R&D environment. The Korea National Institute of Health will introduce a 'Focused Research Group' that provides a concentrated research environment to nurture star-level researchers.

These 12 national research institutes also plan to enhance the entire R&D cycle promotion system of their institutions by ▲activating open planning, ▲strengthening their own R&D execution capabilities, ▲improving the expertise of R&D evaluation, and ▲advancing the R&D performance management and utilization system for each institution, thereby maximizing government mission-oriented R&D capabilities.

Efforts to establish an open research ecosystem in public research institutions will also be promoted. Exchanges among industry, academia, research, and government in related fields will be expanded, and demands for joint research and personnel exchanges with other institutions will be discovered and pursued.

Lee Kyung-soo, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, said, "To lead rapidly changing environments such as digital transformation, climate change, emerging infectious diseases, and US-China technological hegemony with science and technology at the center, innovation of national research institutes responsible for national infrastructure R&D in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, broadcasting, safety, health, and environment is essential," adding, "We plan to actively support the innovation efforts of national research institutes suitable for the era of 100 trillion won in national R&D by linking them with budget allocation and evaluation of national research and development projects."

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