South Korea to Fully Adopt 'Moving Target' R&D System to Boost Risky Research
Creatrip Team
19 days ago
The government will fully introduce a 'Moving Target' policy next year allowing researchers to flexibly change project goals during national R&D programs. Evaluation will shift from strict goal achievement to rewarding excellent outcomes and valuable learning from failed attempts; so-called 'excellent-challenging projects' that produce superior data or knowledge despite missing original targets will get incentives like follow-up funding and government awards. Stricter penalties will apply for misconduct. Other reforms include relaxed timing rules for buying research equipment, automatic rollover of unused direct costs between project phases, standardized grant accounting guidance across ministries, caps on individual research allowances, and stronger oversight of international collaborations including protection of institutional intellectual property (IP). The measures aim to create an autonomous, risk-tolerant research environment and take effect next year after related rule changes.
