South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT gathered on-site opinions on a plan to improve administrative rules for national research and development (R&D). It aims to raise the efficiency of national R&D with a reform package reflecting views from the field, including introducing a system that allows research goals to be changed.

The ministry held a briefing on the "2026 national R&D administrative reform plan" on Sept. 22 at the main auditorium of Catholic University. Researchers from universities, companies and research institutes attended.

The event was held to explain to research sites the purpose and main points of the reform package approved on Aug. 26 at a deliberation meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, and to hear opinions.

Key measures include overhauling the staged and final evaluation system to strengthen the selection and support of top-performing projects; introducing a "moving target" system allowing research goals to be changed quickly; raising the cap on negotiated contracts for research facilities and equipment; and improving standards to increase fairness in the distribution of research allowances.

A question-and-answer session and an opinion hearing were held during the briefing. Participants shared views on the purpose and expected effects of each measure, including the improved standards for research allowances.

Hong Soon-jung (홍순정), director general for performance evaluation policy at the ministry, said the reforms are intended to create a research environment where researchers can make bold challenges based on autonomy and where all participating researchers are treated more fairly. He said the ministry will push ahead without setbacks with follow-up steps so the system can take root in the field.