South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT will expand the number of universities participating in its science and engineering researcher living allowance support programme to 48.

The ministry said on Wednesday it selected five universities as new participants for the second half of 2026: Korea National University of Transportation, Dongguk University, Sangmyung University, Soongsil University and Hannam University.

The programme links government support to student stipends paid by universities’ industry-academic cooperation foundations through government research and development (R&D) projects and other sources. It guarantees minimum monthly standard amounts of at least 800,000 won for master’s students and 1.1 million won for doctoral students. It also supports universities in building systems to pay and manage student stipends.

With the addition of the five universities, the number of participating schools will rise to 48 from 43. The number of students guaranteed the monthly standard amounts will also increase to about 55,000 from about 52,000.

Student stipend payment levels at participating universities also appear to have increased. An analysis by the ministry of 35 universities that participated in the programme last year showed the average monthly student stipend for master’s students rose to 1.64 million won from 1.41 million won, while the average for doctoral students increased to 2.31 million won from 2.00 million won. Compared with 2024, overall payment levels last year rose by about 15.9 percent.

The ministry said it will support an early settlement of the programme by providing tailored consulting for the five newly selected universities and monitoring their initial implementation status.

It also said it will review programme operations in 2025 to 2027, the first-stage introduction period, and universities’ demand for participation to expand the participation base. In 2028 to 2030, the second-stage development period, it plans to pursue higher support levels, stronger payment stability and greater university autonomy and accountability.