South Korea's National Science and Technology Council (NST) said on Saturday it carried out an organisational reshuffle to respond to changes in the research environment, including the phased abolition of the project-based system (PBS) and support for research administration reform at government-funded research institutes.

The reshuffle aims to support reform of research administration by concentrating specialised capabilities. Under the reorganisation, NST adjusted its structure from 3 headquarters, 1 division, 11 departments, 1 office and 22 teams to 3 headquarters, 2 divisions, 10 departments, 1 office and 24 teams.

NST will reorganise the Convergence Strategy Headquarters into a Research Strategy Headquarters and set up a Strategic Research Support Division. It will work to build a full-cycle management system for strategic research projects in line with the abolition of PBS. The Convergence Research Projects Department will be reorganised into the Convergence Research Department, and the Technology Commercialisation Promotion Division into the Technology Commercialisation Department.

NST also set up an AI Strategy Team within the Convergence Research Department to pursue AI convergence and cooperation strategies and to build a Science AI hub for government-funded research institutes. To push research administration reform, it created a Research Administration Reform Promotion Division within the Policy Planning Headquarters, comprising a Research Administration Planning Team, a Research Administration Reform Team and a Digital Innovation Team.

In line with the implementation of integrated evaluations, NST will separate its institutional evaluation function to strengthen expertise. It will also establish a Fiscal Strategy Department and transfer it to the Policy Planning Headquarters to identify policy agendas and promote linked projects. The Human Resources and Culture Department will be reorganised into the Human Resources Innovation Department within the Management Support Headquarters.

NST will abolish the Audit Planning and Coordination Team under the Audit Planning Department and set up a Research Audit Team within Audit Department 2 to strengthen audits related to research and development planning, execution management and performance. It abolished the Convergence Planning Department, the Glocal Innovation Department, the Pilot Evaluation Task Force Team and the Research System Team, and transferred existing functions to reorganised departments to improve operational efficiency.

NST Chairman Kim Young-sik (김영식) said NST would fulfil its responsibilities and role so that outcomes from government-funded research institutes can lead to results the public can feel through strengthening strategic research, reforming research administration and building a Science AI hub. He said it would continue to expand the foundation for institutional and policy support so that researchers can lead national science and technology capabilities in a global competitive environment.