Funding Process :: National Research Foundation of Korea

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Funding Process

Establishment of Program Plan

Establish a program plan for the current year

Identify changes of strategies and improvements

Announcement of Programs

Inform the description of types of projects to be funded on the MSIT, MOE, NRF, and NTIS websites.

Call for Proposals

Begin accepting proposal submissions

Establishment of Selection Plan

Establish a plan for each review phase, including information about the review methods, budget allocation, and selection quota

Completion of Reviews and Selection of Projects

Review proposals(preliminary, expert, & comprehensive types)

Based on review outcomes, deliberate and come to a decision on proposal selection

Notification of Selection and Finalization of Agreements

Notify applicants whose proposals were selected

Finalize agreements and distribute research grants

Follow-up Management

Manage the progress of research

Conduct reviews for each stage and final product

Analyze results, performance, etc.

Relevant Regulations

Regulations on Management of National Research and Development Projects (Presidential Decree)

Regulations on Management of Research and Development for Science and Technology Projects under the MSIT (Ordinance of the MSIT)

Regulations on Management of Research and Development for Science and Engineering Projects under the MOE (Ordinance of the MOE)

Regulations on Management of Academic Support for Humanities and Social Sciences Projects (Ordinance of the MOE), etc.

Key Review Procedures for Research Support Programs

01

Preliminary Review

Review of qualifications, etc.

NRF
02

Expert Review *

Online Review

Panel Review

Presentation-based Review

NRF (Expert review panel)
03

PM Consultative Group

Allocation of grants in each field; review of proposals

NRF
04

Program Committee, etc

Selection of proposals; Final confirmation

MSIT, MOE

*

Review methods may vary depending on the characteristics of each program.

Detailed Review System

Selection Screening

Qualifications Review

·
Review qualifications of the principle investigator, including application eligibility

-
Exclude projects with reasons for disqualification
Expert Review

·
Conduct Review with expert reviewers from industry-academia-research backgrounds or by a separate review panel

-
Utilize the NRF’s PM (CRB and RB) and review pool

-
Utilize the NRF’s researcher information DB (recommendation and selection of reviewers)

-
Conduct selection screening based on online/panel/discussion Review in each field

·
Conduct Review on creativity, spirit of challenge, and researcher capability and achievements according to Review indicators and criteria
Review by specialist organizations

·
Compilation, coordination and review of selection (proposal) regarding outcomes of expert review by PM consultative group

·
Prepare the allocation (proposal) of the number of selected projects while adjusting research grants.
Committee Review

·
Final confirmation by the Program Implementation Committee (including comprehensive review group)

-
Validity of Review outcomes, selected projects, policy considerations, etc.
Notification of Selection

·
NRF/MSIT and MOE (→ specialist organizations) → competent research institution

·
Notification of selection: Details of research grant adjustments, etc.

-
Request for conclusion of agreement, access to project management system, and guidelines on required documents

Interim Review

Process of Filing Objections

·
Organizations - objections filed → NRF

·
File an objection within seven days after notification of selection

·
Outcome (report) of the objection process is deliberated and notified by the NRF.
Submission of Annual Performance Plan

·
Submission of Annual Performance Plan (competent research institution)

-
One or two months before the termination of research period in the pertinent year
Annual review

·
Conduct a PM-led annual review in each field

·
Discontinue or reduce research grants for the following year with regards to supported projects that produce inadequate research performance

·
Review research contents (results of the previous year and research plan for the following year) and the appropriateness of research grant allocation for the following year

Final(Phase) Review

Determine continuation of support

·
Deciding progress-management results and the scale of research grants.

·
Notifying research institutions of progress-management results
Submission of the Final (Phase) Report

·
Submission of the Final (Phase) Report for Review Purposes and the Self-Review Report

-
Phase report is submitted one month before the termination of research period and the final report before the end of research period in the pertinent year.
Expert Review

·
Conduct Review with evaluators from industry-academia-research backgrounds

-
Utilize the NRF’s PM (CRB and RB) and pool of evaluators

-
Utilize the NRF’s researcher information DB (recommendation and selection of reviewers)

-
Utilize evaluators who participated in selection screening
Review by Specialist Organizations

·
Determine project ranking and research grants based on scores and opinions from the Review

·
Establish grade (proposal) according to expert Review outcomes

·
Maintain statistics on Review outcomes, incentives, and penalties
Process of Filing Objections

·
Organization - objection filed → NRF

·
File an objection within seven days after notification of selection

·
Outcome (report) of the objection process is deliberated and notified by the NRF.