Ministry of Education's 'BK21' Midterm Evaluation: 67 Research Teams Fail, 5.7 Billion Won Awarded to Top Groups

BK21 Midterm Evaluation Preliminary Results Announcement
Support Confirmed for 205 Research Groups
Support Planned from March Next Year to 2027

The Ministry of Education has eliminated 67 lower-ranked education and research groups in the mid-term evaluation of the government-funded research and development (R&D) project 'Brain Korea (BK) 21,' which supports graduate student training. The remaining 134 research groups passed the evaluation, and among them, 42 groups were awarded performance bonuses totaling over 5.7 billion KRW. Through this mid-term evaluation, support for 205 research groups has been confirmed.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced the "Preliminary Results of the 4th Phase Brain Korea (BK) 21 Innovative Talent Training Project Mid-term Evaluation."

Started in 1999, BK21 is a government-funded R&D project supporting graduate student training. The 4th phase, which began in 2020, will continue until August 2027. This mid-term evaluation was conducted to decide whether to continue supporting the 201 education and research groups currently carrying out the project and to discover new education and research groups. The government invested approximately 524.7 billion KRW in the BK21 project this year.

University campus. Photo and article content are unrelated. Asia Economy DB.

The mid-term evaluation proceeds in two stages. First, through the first-stage performance evaluation of all education and research groups, the bottom 33.3%, i.e., 67 groups, were eliminated. The remaining approximately top 70%, 134 education and research groups, passed the evaluation. Among them, 42 groups, accounting for 20.9%, received performance bonuses totaling over 5.7 billion KRW.

Subsequently, education and research groups that failed the performance evaluation but applied for re-entry, as well as newly applying education and research groups, underwent a second-stage re-selection evaluation, through which 71 groups were preliminarily selected. A total of 215 education and research groups applied, and among them, 71 were preliminarily selected. Through this mid-term evaluation, support for a total of 205 education and research groups is expected to be confirmed.

The 134 education and research groups that passed the performance evaluation and the 71 groups expected to be finally selected through the re-selection evaluation will receive operational funding from March next year until August 2027. Universities can use this funding for graduate student research scholarships, salaries for early-career researchers, curriculum development costs, research activity support expenses, internationalization expenses, and more.

The final results of the re-selection evaluation will be confirmed and announced in February next year after reviewing appeals and verifying supporting documents. However, there is a possibility of elimination during the verification process of supporting documents for newly selected education and research groups. Based on the results, project funds will be adjusted and allocated, and project agreements will be signed.

Choi Eun-hee, Director of Talent Policy at the Ministry of Education, stated, "The BK21 project, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is Korea’s representative graduate support project and has greatly contributed to the growth of young researchers and the quantitative and qualitative improvement of research. We will provide unwavering support so that the newly selected education and research groups that have passed the rigorous evaluation can serve as a driving force leading the nation’s research competitiveness."