The government is revising administrative regulations on research funding. It aims to ease unnecessary administrative burdens by expanding individual researchers’ room to spend research funds autonomously.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on April 28 that a Cabinet meeting approved an amendment to the enforcement decree of the National Research and Development Innovation Act to strengthen autonomy over research funds.

The amendment is a follow-up measure to the “R&D ecosystem innovation plan to lead the future through science and technology,” aimed at creating an environment where researchers can focus only on research and eliminating unnecessary administrative regulation.

A new direct-cost budget category called “research innovation expenses” will be created, greatly strengthening autonomous spending by individual researchers. Researchers can use routine expenses needed to conduct research, such as purchases of research materials, travel expenses and meeting expenses, without having to separate each item into detailed categories.

Research innovation expenses can be used up to 10 percent of direct costs, capped at 50 million won. The ministry will minimize supporting documents required for use of the category to reduce administrative burdens at research sites.

Permitted uses of overheads to support researchers at research institutions will be shifted to a negative list. Until now, even if a cost was related to and necessary for conducting research, overheads could not be used unless the item was specified as an allowable use. Under the negative-list approach, if a new research-related cost arises and it is not on the disallowed list, institutions can use overheads for it freely and flexibly.

Even if new types of costs needed for research arise, such as fees for using artificial intelligence services, research institutions will be able to pay them from overheads without revising regulations. Costs such as research response funds that could not be used despite being related to conducting research will also become eligible for overhead funding.

The ministry will also improve minor but unnecessary regulations to create a culture of creative research. Research sites had complained of inconvenience about a rule requiring prior approval when using meeting expenses (meal costs) to discuss research-related ideas. The ministry will completely abolish the prior approval requirement for meeting expenses to support researchers’ free discussion of research-related ideas and networking.

Park In-kyu (박인규), head of the science and technology innovation headquarters at the ministry, said, “The ministry is working to reduce researchers’ administrative burdens and resolve inconveniences.” He added, “We will actively identify and improve unnecessary regulations, even in minor matters.”