'Preliminary Feasibility Study System' That 'Hinders Nobel Prize' Will Be Overhauled Significantly

Ministry of Science and ICT to Apply Flexible Measures Including Reduction of Scope and Duration for Autonomous, Creative, and Efficient R&D

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The national research and development (R&D) preliminary feasibility study, which has been criticized for hindering free, creative, and efficient scientific and technological development, will be completely revamped. The target budget scale will be reduced to projects over 100 billion KRW, and the duration will be shortened. Additionally, if the initial plan is reasonable, the project can commence flexibly.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced on the 18th that at the recently held 7th National R&D Project Evaluation General Committee meeting, it deliberated and approved the improvement plan for the national R&D preliminary feasibility study system with these contents. Seven improvements were decided in four directions: 'expanding flexibility,' 'strengthening timeliness,' 'securing investment soundness,' and 'improving investigation reliability,' which will be applied starting December.

First, if the initial stage project composition is reasonable, the project can begin. For 'technology non-designated projects,' where specific technologies cannot be identified, such as in new technology fields, customized investigation indicators will be prepared. Also, even after passing the preliminary feasibility study, project plans can be changed to reflect the technological environment. In particular, as the economy grows and project scales expand, the threshold for projects exempt from the preliminary feasibility study will be raised from the current 50 billion KRW to 100 billion KRW to increase autonomy. However, the pre-review process for large projects with a total budget of 1 trillion KRW or more and a duration of six years or longer will be strengthened. This aims to simultaneously secure flexibility and investment soundness in national R&D.

Along with this, a fast-track investigation method will be introduced to shorten the preliminary feasibility study period from the current seven months to four and a half months. However, this will only apply when urgency is recognized through deliberation and for projects with a total budget of 300 billion KRW or less and a duration of five years or less. It must also be a case where each ministry has submitted reliable internal feasibility evaluation results.

To establish objective criteria, evaluation items will also be reorganized. To advance economic analysis, regular feedback on cost-benefit analysis (B/C analysis) will be institutionalized. The number of members of the comprehensive evaluation committee will increase from the current 12 to 14, and a finance subcommittee will be newly established to strengthen the review of investment necessity. To expand channels for collecting opinions from related field workers, technical subcommittees will be mandatorily operated in mission-oriented projects, including related professionals from academic societies, associations, and companies. Peer review will also be expanded to enhance objectivity and reliability of research papers and other materials.