59 Universities Selected for Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Leading Colleges 'Jeonmundae Link 3.0'

A Total Budget of 104.5 Billion KRW Invested This Year... Support for Up to 6 Years
44 Schools Selected for Demand-Customized Growth Type, 15 Schools for Cooperation-Based Foundation Type

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 4th that they have selected 59 schools as participants in the 3rd phase of the Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Leading Junior College Development Project (Junior College Link 3.0).

Junior College Link 3.0 is a comprehensive support project aimed at creating an ecosystem of industry-academia-research cooperation where junior colleges and industries can grow together, with a budget of 104.5 billion KRW allocated this year.

The selected colleges will receive support for up to six years from this year until 2027. Continued support will be determined through a phase evaluation after three years.

The Junior College Link 3.0 selected colleges are categorized into Demand-Customized Growth Type and Cooperation-Based Foundation Type.

For the Demand-Customized Growth Type, 44 colleges were selected that have established systems for nurturing practical talents aligned with industry demands and can strengthen support for creating corporate value. Each school will receive an average support of around 2 billion KRW.

The colleges selected as Demand-Customized Growth Type include Gyeonggi Science and Technology University, Kyungmin University, Daejeon Science and Technology University, Suncheon Jeil University, Gyeongbuk Junior College, and Gyeongnam Provincial Geochang College, among others, totaling 44 schools.

The Cooperation-Based Foundation Type selected 15 colleges that promote strengthening university industry-academia cooperation capabilities by establishing industry-academia cooperation-friendly systems and foundations.

Myongji Junior College, Catholic Sangji University, Gangneung Yeongdong University, and Gangwon Provincial University were selected, with each school receiving an average support of around 1.1 billion KRW.

The Ministry of Education expanded qualitative evaluations in this project to assess the appropriateness, concreteness, and systematic nature of performance goals and plans for realizing the industry-academia-research cooperation model.

In the Junior College Link 3.0 project, support will be provided to establish a foundation that strengthens industry-academia-research cooperation capabilities by linking universities’ mid- to long-term development plans for industry-academia cooperation with internal organizational and financial support. It will also support the advancement of industry demand-customized curricula to nurture practical talents. The project actively encourages industry participation in education through systems such as the ‘Industry-Academia Cooperation Mileage’.

In particular, junior colleges are encouraged to form and operate Industry Collaboration Centers (ICC) focused on each university’s strengths. Support will be provided to concretize corporate value creation and continuously strengthen the revenue base. The Industry Collaboration Center refers to a center that facilitates cooperation among industry-academia-research stakeholders to achieve university branding and industrial innovation.

Not only sharing and collaboration among junior colleges but also exchanges and cooperation between junior colleges and four-year universities, as well as between universities and local industries, will be strengthened.

Universities that participated in the evaluation can submit objections from the 4th to the 13th. The Ministry of Education will finalize the selection of project-performing universities by mid-month after review by the Objection Review Committee. Full-scale project implementation will begin at the end of this month.

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