[Digital Today, reporter Jin-ho Lee] The Ministry of Science and ICT is launching a support programme to strengthen research security capabilities on university campuses.

MSIT held a briefing on June 5 on the "Research Security Capability Enhancement Support Programme" and released detailed implementation plans.

Research security is a system to manage risks that may arise during open international research cooperation and to protect the research ecosystem. As international research cooperation expands, universities have been criticised for lacking organisations and staff to manage and provide guidance on it.

MSIT is pursuing the programme so universities can build their own research security management systems and establish a sustainable operational foundation. Eligible applicants are universities that run graduate schools in science and engineering. Applicants will be divided into 2 categories, including the Seoul metropolitan area and the 4 institutes of science and technology, and regional universities, with 4 projects selected for each category. The programme will run from July 2026 to December 2028. A total of 8 universities will be selected, with support of up to about 500 million won per university per year. Support this year is up to about 250 million won per university.

Selected universities will secure dedicated organisations and staff for research security and build systems to review and manage the reliability and stability of international cooperation in advance. They will also work to spread awareness by updating guidance materials and manuals related to research security and providing counselling and advice to members of the university community. They will also deploy specialised personnel in legal and intellectual property fields to strengthen protection of research assets and legal and administrative support related to international cooperation.

To improve understanding of the programme, MSIT held guidance and a question-and-answer session at 2 p.m. on June 5 at Seoul Biz Center Branch No. 3. Details can be found on the programme notice boards on the MSIT and National Research Foundation of Korea websites. Universities seeking to participate must apply by 6 p.m. on June 24.

Hwang Sung-hoon (황성훈), MSIT director-general for international cooperation, said, "I hope this programme will provide practical support that the research field actually needs and serve as an opportunity to build a sustainable research security management system."