Korea revamps graduate scholarships in science and technology

President Yoon Suk Yeol discusses about new scholarships for graduate students in the science and technology sectors during a goverment-public debate held in Daejeon on Friday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol has announced various scholarships and support programs for graduate students in science and technology.

The support measures are part of the government's plans to enhance Korea's competitiveness in the science and technology sectors, according to President Yoon during a government-public debate held in Daejeon on Friday.

Part of the plan, the Presidential Science Scholarship, which used to be only available for undergraduates in science and technology, will now also be offered to graduate students.

However, only Korean nationals can apply for the scholarship.

"The Presidential Science Scholarship only used to be available for undergraduates, but we expanded it to cover graduate students, with students each getting an average of 25 million won [$18,750] a year," said President Yoon.

"We will also officially create a scholarship that will fund graduate students doing research, which has been a pending plan in the science world for around 20 years."

A total of 120 graduate students will receive the Presidential Science Scholarship this year, with a quota of 70 given for Ph.D students and 50 for master's students.

Ph.D students will receive stipends of 2 million won per month, for up to eight semesters. Master's students will receive 1.5 million won per month, for up to four semesters.

Students applying for the scholarship should have a cumulative grade-point average that's higher than 4.0 out of 4.5 during their previous degree program. For Ph.D students, that would be their master's program, and bachelor's program for master's students.

Applications are currently open on the Korea Student Aid Foundation website, with the first batch of scholars to be selected around the end of March.

The government also promised to create another research-funding scholarship, also for graduate students in science and technology.

The scholarship will be created around next year and offered to students participating in government-funded research projects.

Master's students will receive 800,000 won per month, with Ph.D students receiving 1.1 million won.

The Ministry of Science and ICT didn't specify whether the to-be-created scholarship would also be available only for Korean nationals or not.

Another support package that will be created in the future is the so-called Young Researcher Support Program.

The program will cover graduate students and postgraduate researchers but offer different benefits.

Graduate students will be offered funding to use for their studies and research. Postgraduates will be offered the opportunity to work on projects at universities and labs both in Korea and abroad.

Apart from scholarships, the government will also ease restrictions that government-funded research institutes face and encourage collaborations.

Referred to as the one-team plan, the government plans to encourage various research institutes to work with each other. Government funding of 100 billion won will be offered to government-funded research institutes this year, and the government plans to keep increasing the funding every year.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]