53 Billion KRW Invested This Year to Support University-Industry Joint Research
Ulsan Future Mobility and Low-Carbon Green Energy Join Forces
Industry-academic cooperation technology development contest project jointly promoted by Ulsan City and Gyeongnam Province.
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Regional strategic industry-academia cooperation projects, which had been pursued independently by each city and province, are now aiming for synergy effects through 'de-metropolitanization.'
This time, smart and ICT technology research in Gyeongnam and future mobility and green energy technology development in Ulsan are coming together as a joint project.
The Ulsan Metropolitan City and Gyeongnam Province have jointly entered a technology development contest project that achieves regional innovation through cooperation between local governments and universities.
Originally, Gyeongnam Province had been promoting its core projects alone, but Ulsan City added its own core projects to the mix.
On the 19th, Ulsan announced that the innovation platform for Ulsan and Gyeongnam regions, which promotes the 'local government-university cooperation-based regional innovation project,' has been launched.
This platform will implement an industry-academia cooperation-based technology development contest project worth 5.3 billion KRW to support joint research between universities and companies and foster outstanding talent at local universities.
This year, the project has been converted into a Ulsan-Gyeongnam joint project, adding Ulsan's core fields of future mobility and low-carbon green energy to the existing three core fields of Gyeongnam (smart manufacturing engineering, smart manufacturing information and communication technology, and smart community).
Accordingly, technology development in key regional strategic industries such as eco-friendly and autonomous vehicles, smart ships, hydrogen production and storage, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) has been added to the contest.
Moreover, not only universities and government-funded research institutes but also companies can serve as lead institutions for projects, enabling field-customized technology development that reflects corporate demands, thereby promoting regional industrial development and job creation.
The contest scale ranges from 50 million KRW to a maximum of 500 million KRW. It includes short-term projects of about six months and large-scale projects that actively reflect corporate needs.
In particular, for Ulsan's core fields of future mobility and low-carbon green energy, large-scale projects of up to 500 million KRW per year for up to four years are included.
Joint research by regional universities in Ulsan and Gyeongnam is also possible, activating research exchanges between regions and establishing a collaborative system based on excellent technological capabilities.
Ulsan City expects that through this contest, it will not only support the resolution of technical difficulties and core technology development for local companies but also establish a virtuous cycle system of research-employment-growth, linking specialized personnel from participating universities to employment in local companies.
The application period for the contest is until September 30, and detailed information and application methods can be found on the Ulsan-Gyeongnam Regional Innovation Platform website's project contest bulletin board.
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