Ministry of Education Selects 24 Universities to Receive Support for Commercializing Excellent Technologies

Announcement of 'Bridge 3.0' Basic Plan... 16.8 Billion KRW Support This Year

The Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 23rd that they will select 24 participating universities and unveiled the 'University Creative Asset Commercialization Support Project (Bridge) 3.0 Basic Plan.'

Started in 2015, the Bridge project is a program that discovers universities' creative assets such as excellent technologies and patents, advances them to the level desired by companies, and supports technology transfer or technology startups.

The technology transfer revenue of the 24 universities participating in the Bridge Phase 2 project increased from 37 billion KRW in 2018 to 83.6 billion KRW in 2022, and the number of medium-to-large technology transfer cases receiving more than 100 million KRW also rose from 77 to 215.

The upcoming Bridge Phase 3 project (Bridge 3.0) will divide participating universities into technology hub type and regional hub type, providing 16.8 billion KRW in support this year.

The technology hub type aims to activate medium-to-large technology transfers through national strategic technology commercialization, while the regional hub type plays a role in fostering region-specific industries by linking with other universities, research institutes, companies, and local governments within the region.

University-industry cooperation foundations of universities wishing to participate can select the project type (duplicate applications are not allowed) and apply by May 26. Selected universities must invest at least 30% of the government subsidy in cash as matching investment.

Detailed information can be found on the websites of the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

Choi Eun-hee, Director of Talent Policy at the Ministry of Education, explained, "We will support universities with excellent research achievements and foundations to lead national strategic technologies and regional specialized industry development, and to establish a self-reliant foundation through technology commercialization."