The government grants government-funded research institutes the authority to autonomously adjust their budgets.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 20th, an administrative notice of the draft regulations regarding the operation of government-funded research institutes was disclosed on the 18th. This operational guideline is a follow-up measure after the designation of government-funded research institutes as public institutions was lifted last year.
According to the new regulations, if significant changes occur during the research project or if urgent response is necessary, and if it is deemed effective for achieving research goals, the research institutes can adjust and execute budgets between major projects or sub-projects within the same budget category.
The existing budgets for government-funded research institutes are divided into major projects, medium projects, and detailed projects, making it virtually impossible to transfer budgets between projects. As a result, concerns were raised about the difficulty of responding swiftly to unforeseen changes during the research process. Accordingly, there have been requests in the research field to allow budget adjustments between detailed projects, and this has been expanded to the level of major projects after discussions with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and others.
A Ministry of Science and ICT official noted, "Although government grants are intended to ensure research autonomy, they have not been operated in that manner until now," and added, "We have adequately reflected the opinions of the research field to prepare the regulations in line with the original intention."
The new operating regulations also include provisions for the self-organization of human resources utilizing the institutes' own funds, allowing for the operation of separate staffing in addition to budgeted positions.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to continuously improve the research environment by revising the operating regulations of government-funded research institutes every year, starting with this amendment. A Ministry of Science and ICT official stated, "As related authorities have been transferred to the ministry since the lifting of the public institution designation, we will continuously discuss to reflect the necessary matters in the field."