Home > Business > Industry

Korea’s Eureka membership renewed by European Union

Published: 20 May. 2015, 20:54

The European Union decided to renew Korea’s membership in the EU-backed Eureka science and technology R&D programs for the next three years. The renewal means Korean research institutes and companies will have more opportunities to push joint R&D projects with 43 member countries, including Switzerland, Germany and France. The membership renewal ceremony was held at the 2015 Korea Eureka Day, which kicked off on Wednesday in central Seoul. More than 200 European engineers from 22 countries visited Seoul to find joint research partners. Established in 1985 with only 18 members, Eureka aims to foster R&D capabilities and new technologies for small and midsize enterprises. When a team from more than two countries pitches a joint industrial technology R&D project, each team member’s government injects funding. Each year, there are nearly 300 ongoing research projects, sized up to 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion). Korea was the first non-European country to join in 2009, as an associate member, and has invested about 37.5 billion won on 55 projects so far. Most research has taken place in IT, new materials, electricity and biomedicine.