A path has opened for government-funded research institutes to attract excellent research personnel from outside. The government has decided to expand the autonomy in securing talent and budget management to enhance the research competitiveness of these institutes.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on 4th that it will implement regulations regarding the operation of government-funded research institutes in the field of science and technology. This is a follow-up measure to the innovation plan for government-funded research institutes announced last June.
The Ministry of Science and ICT cited the establishment of 'national special research institutes' as the most notable change in the newly implemented regulations. These institutes allow government-funded research institutes to freely select experts who are highly reputable academically, possess excellent research performance, and are necessary for pioneering new research fields.
Previously, due to hiring principles and a limited salary system, it was practically impossible for government-funded research institutes to quickly recruit excellent researchers. In the future, these institutes can hire national special researchers for a fixed term of up to three years, regardless of age, and select them without a public recruitment process. Additionally, they can autonomously set salaries through a separate compensation standard different from the existing salary system.
The government plans to enable government-funded research institutes to autonomously secure research personnel free from various regulations through the national special research institute system. It is also creating detailed procedures and regulations to prevent side effects such as personnel corruption or financial transactions.
The establishment of this regulation has also expanded the autonomy in organizing research personnel. If research institutes cover personnel costs through their own revenues, such as research project-based operations, in addition to government grants, they can create their own separate staffing levels. These independent positions are operated regardless of the government budget and are not subject to direct intervention by the fiscal authorities during the budget review process. Research institutes can autonomously manage their personnel as long as they secure stable and purposeful revenues.
Additionally, regulations have been established to allow hiring substitute personnel when researchers are on leave. Previously, without relevant regulations, it was difficult to fill vacancies when research personnel took leave.
The budget management of government-funded research institutes has also been flexibly adjusted. Previously, research institutes had to apply both the labor cost limits set in project plans and the total labor cost increase rate set by the government simultaneously, making budget management rigid. In the future, labor costs will be managed focusing on the total labor cost increase rate, and adjustments to execution labor costs can be made throughout the year if necessary.
Essential operating expenses, such as electricity and gas bills, that research institutions must incur will also not be applied uniformly like before, allowing them to flexibly allocate budgets based on actual rate changes.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to review and improve these operational regulations annually to reflect the needs of the research field. An official from the Ministry noted, 'We plan to continue making amendments annually based on the collection of opinions through forums and other means, to continuously improve in a direction suitable for the research field.'