The government suddenly reduced the budget for Research and Development (R&D). This confused the entire basic science research community in Korea. Pusan National University (PNU) will also be affected by this budget reduction.

On August 22nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the “2024 National R&D Budget Allocation and Adjustment Results” and “Innovation Plan for Government R&D System.” According to these reports, next year’s total R&D budget is 25.9152 trillion won, a significant decrease of 5 trillion from this year’s budget of 31.0778 trillion won. This is the first reduction in 33 years, as R&D budgets have steadily increased or remained stable since 1991.

■Budget Cut, a Bolt Out of the Blue in Basic Science

The budget cut is critical for basic science research. Currently, the entire R&D budget is supported by the government and private companies for overall domestic research and development. Private companies, responsible for 76.4% of the total R&D budget as of 2021, mainly focus on development, which means that basic science research is mostly supported by the remaining 23.6% from the government. Therefore, the government’s budget cut has a major influence on basic sciences. In fact, this decision halts new support for research projects with budgets of less than 100 million won. This raises the possibility of disruptions in experiments and research conducted in small-scale laboratories in the basic science fields. As budgets that cover operational and personnel costs in labs are also reduced, the researchers’ activities will be constrained.

In response to the government’s decision, researchers in the domestic basic science fields are concerned about the “collapse of the research nature.” As it is about foundational research supporting other studies, weakening basic sciences can break the overall circulation of domestic research. Jung Ok-Sang (Prof. of Chemistry, PNU), head of Basic Research United, said, “This sudden change will lead to the collapse of the research nature. If basic sciences were a stairway, reducing the budget would be like removing the middle of it.”

The government justifies the reduction, advocating for the cleanup of the practice of “fixing and sharing” in R&D and dismantling the cartel in the science and technology fields. It argues that concentrating research funds on several research institutes is a more effective strategy for basic science development than the original method of supporting many small projects. However, researchers in practice find this explanation difficult to understand. Terms like “fixing and sharing” and “cartel” imply unfair procedures such as collusion. Moreover, the existing process already required a fierce competition rate from 3:1 to 10:1 to receive support for specific research. Prof. Jung commented, “The government’s explanation of “fixing and sharing” or “cartel” doesn’t make sense as researchers are selected through a fair competition process.”

■PNU Is Also in Crisis

With the budget cut, basic science labs in PNU, which conduct small-scale research projects of under 100 million or between 100 to 200 million won, are facing direct and indirect impacts. PNU has 17 research institutes in the College of Natural Sciences, such as Extreme Physics Institute, Chemistry Institute for Functional Materials, and Research Institute for Basic Sciences. When including BK21 project teams, the total number of institutes is 22. There will be a significant impact with the news that the already modest budgets may be cut by around 15-20%. Prof. Jung said, “Especially for PNU as a regional university, the loss will be even greater as PNU proceeds smaller projects compared to major universities in the Seoul metropolitan area.”

If the R&D budget reduction is implemented, the outlook for PNU’s projects and achievements is likely to decrease. Jung Ji-Young (Associate Director, Finance Team of Research and Business Development Foundation), measuring the R&D project incomes in PNU, said, “Support from related departments is expected to be adjusted due to the government’s decision to reduce the R&D budget. Research and Business Development Foundation, supporting research, will have to cut the scale of support provided for researcher costs (costs for project, student researcher support), indirect costs, and researcher support projects.”

The biggest victims of the budget cut are expected to be young researchers, such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. With the current budget cut proposal, assigning a research cost calculation rate under 20%, the new project amount for newly appointed researchers is expected to be reduced, which includes junior research budgets, first-time research budgets, and basic research budgets. Student A (Dept. of Physics, 19) said, “Due to the reduction in research support, I am worried about my career prospects during job preparations. I am even considering studying abroad for better conditions.”

Some comment that this proposal has cut the connection for current PNU students who dream of becoming researchers to nurture their aspirations. The College of Natural Sciences Students’ Association, where the graduate school admission rate is relatively high, stated, “The reason for entering graduate school is to build skills through research, but the reduction in research funding leading to a decrease in student stipends hinders students from fully dedicating themselves to research.”

■Science Field Finding a Way amidst Political Struggles

Some criticize that the current discussions about the R&D budget are merely a political struggle in a precarious situation in the basic science field. Despite a pretext for the advancement of science and technology, the abrupt adjustment is hardly a result of considering basic science research’s core elements, such as sustainability and diversity. Prof. Jung said, “Basic research is a discipline that requires a century. In Korea, with each change of administration, the overall policy direction changes, which is improper as science and politics have a close relationship.”

Researchers emphasize the importance of viewing the development of basic science from an academic perspective. Jung Se-Young (Prof. of Optics and Mechatronics Engineering, PNU) said, “Over time, it becomes clear that pure academic results have a significant impact on technical and social fields. Once passion for pure science diminishes, all engineering and related industries will be critically impacted. So, the government and universities should be well aware of it and fully support pure learning.”  In fact, Japan, recognizing this importance, is consistently raising basic research funding, and Germany legally stipulates that government-supported basic research funding should grow by 4.5% each year.

Facing a critical issue regarding the life and death of basic science, the scientific and technological community, including PNU, is actively exploring countermeasures. In September, a signature campaign demanding a reassessment of the basic research budget was led by Prof. Jung Ok-Sang, who is also the 52nd president of the Korean Chemical Society, and its result was delivered to the National Assembly. Through an interview with “Channel PNU,” prof. Jung said, “There is a strong resistance from the basic science community against the government’s decision. We are making efforts to voice opposition by organizing a parliamentary discussion on “strengthening basic research” and having meetings with the National Science & Technology Commission.”

Reporter Yoon Seo-Young

Translated by Lee Soo-Hyun