Local governments pledge support for Glocal University 30 winners

K-campus

Published: 22 Feb. 2024, 17:21

Local governments pledge support for Glocal University 30 winners

Representatives of universities selected for the Glocal University 30 project and the local governments that host the universities pose for a photo during a memorandum of understanding-signing ceremony held on Wednesday. [SOUTH GYEONGSANG PROVINCIAL OFFICE]

Local governments have promised to back universities selected for the Glocal University 30 project, with institutions outlining plans for mergers.

The 10 winners selected for the Glocal University 30 project and local governments that host the universities attended a memorandum of understanding (MOU)-signing ceremony on Wednesday.

The project offers government funding of 100 billion won ($75.2 million) to each university, to be split over five years. The government hopes regional universities will use the funding to enhance their competitiveness amid most students preferring schools in greater Seoul.

Busan was one of the attendees, signing a MOU with Pusan National University and Busan National University of Education, which were selected for the project as a coalition.

The city will help the two institutions merge, with the universities announcing they will submit a merger plan to the Ministry of Education within the first half of this year.

Universities that are selected as a coalition need to submit a merger plan within a year of selection, which would be by November.

Busan will also help the two universities build partnerships with companies in industries the city specializes in, which are the semiconductor, health care, ICT, quantum technology, digital finance and education technology industries.

The two universities will be creating new interdisciplinary majors, mainly focusing on biomedical sciences.

"We hope the 'glocal' university that's created from the merger between Pusan National University and Busan National University of Education will become a new hub for Busan's innovative ecosystem," said Kim Kwang-hee, Busan's vice mayor for economic affairs. "We will do our best to foster talent in the fields that Busan specializes in and offer support to local businesses."

Gyeongsang National University signed the MOU with South Gyeongsang, announcing that the province will provide additional funding of 145.4 billion won on top of the 100 billion won promised by the government.

Funding will be pitched in by cities in the South Gyeongsang region, such as Jinju, Sacheon and Tongyeong.

The university plans to focus on aerospace education, increasing the annual student quota of its School of Aerospace Engineering from the current 107 to 250 by 2027.

"South Gyeongsang already has aerospace infrastructure such as the National Aerospace Industrial Complex, but we need more students that will be willing to go into those fields," said Choi Man-lim, South Gyeongsang's vice governor for administrative affairs. “By supporting Gyeongsang National University, which was selected for the Glocal University 30 project, we will help Korea become a leader in the space race."

The importance of partnerships between universities and government institutes was emphasized by Kim Woo-seung, vice chairman of the Glocal University 30 project committee, during a forum hosted after the ceremony.

"We need human resources and infrastructure at universities and government-funded research centers to come together," said Kim. "There's cases like Jeonbuk National University creating a 'joint campus' with research institutions and Pusan National University creating the biomedical research cluster."

Pusan National University's biomedical cluster, known as the Research Triangle Park, will be created at its Yangsan campus in South Gyeongsang.

Jeonbuk National University will push for more joint research opportunities through the so-called joint campus project. The university announced on Feb. 16 that it will be working on more research projects with the Korea Food Research Institute, and is looking into expanding the partnership with Jeonbuk Technopark, Jeonbuk State Institute and Korea Institute of Toxicology.

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