Ministry of Environment Selects Graduate Schools to Foster 'Entrepreneurial Convergence Talent'... 2.7 Billion KRW Support Over 3 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment is promoting the 'Sustainable Development Convergence Talent Specialized Graduate School' support project to nurture entrepreneurial convergence talents equipped with management capabilities fused with environmental technology.

This project accepts business plans from universities capable of operating and establishing departments (programs) related to sustainable development and conducting startup support specialized programs, through the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute website from the 6th of this month until the 4th of next month.

The Ministry of Environment will select one university through the evaluation committee's review and plans to open and operate the specialized graduate school starting from September this year.

The specialized graduate school must be a university capable of nurturing more than 20 talents annually for three years and meet the following conditions.

It must conduct multidisciplinary education related to sustainable development, such as courses linking management (policy) and environmental technology, and develop and support startup support specialized curricula that can create new businesses in environmental fields such as climate change and resource circulation. It must also secure faculty related to sustainable development convergence subjects and startups.

The selected specialized graduate school will receive approximately 900 million KRW in government support annually for three years. The government funds can be used for student support such as scholarships, research expenses, and labor costs for project participation, or for university support such as developing startup specialized curricula.

Ahn Se-chang, Director of Climate Change Policy at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "Through the specialized graduate school, we will not only nurture talents who can lead the establishment of domestic and international sustainable development policies and strategies but also contribute to job creation by revitalizing startups in the startup company sector."