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The “National Science Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institute” supporting science and technology innovation will open in the first half of this year. This marks a starting signal for government-funded research institutes (government research institutes) in the science and technology field to begin a full-scale transformation of their research structure centered on AI.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced such plans at work reports from 28 subordinate institutions, including science and technology government research institutes and public institutions, on Jan. 12. The ministry will sequentially receive work reports from a total of 55 institutions, including the Korea AeroSpace Administration and affiliated public institutions and related organizations, from Jan. 12-14.
On Jan. 12, the first day of work reports, 21 government research institutes, including the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), and 28 public institutions, including the Korea Research Foundation and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, announced their research and management plans.
In the institutional reports, NST disclosed the establishment plan for the National Science AI Research Institute as a core hub to promote the convergence of science and technology with AI. KIST has already secured a related budget of 40 billion won last year and is currently building AI infrastructure, operational systems, and support functions. The research institute aims to open in June.
The National Science AI Research Institute will first pilot the AI co-researcher model targeting government research institutes. This is a method where AI participates as a scientist’s research partner to support experimental design, data collection and analysis, hypothesis verification, and other activities. The plan is to increase research productivity and speed of performance creation through this approach.
The research planning and operational systems of government research institutes will also be reorganized together. KIST plans to establish an organization dedicated to supporting strategic research projects in February and strengthen strategic technology R&D planning and coordination centered on strategic research groups that will fill the gap after the abolition of the project-based system (PBS).
The evaluation system will also change drastically. Starting this month, a one-year integrated evaluation system that examines both research and management together will be applied by integrating the existing three-year management evaluation and six-year research evaluation. The purpose is to move away from short-term performance-focused evaluation and enhance the connectivity between research strategy and organizational operations.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to continue work reports targeting science museums, Korea Post headquarters, and public institutions in the postal service field on Jan 13, and the Korea AeroSpace Administration and the four major institutes of science and technology on Jan 14. Through this, the plan is to specify AI-based innovation strategies across research and public institutions under the ministry.
