Updated : 24th Feb. 2017
Please Contact me for next application (2nd for Setp.)
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Public Notice No. 2017-0005
Announcement of Korea Research Fellowship (KRF) for Postdoctoral Researchers – (1st round in 2017)
The MSIP (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning) and NRF (National Research Foundation of Korea) welcome applications from prospective overseas Ph.D. researchers to join the Korea Research Fellowship (KRF) program. This program is designed to help overseas post-doc researchers produce outstanding achievements and pursue mutual growth in South Korea. Interested candidates are requested to file an application in accordance with the relevant procedures.
Eligibility: Overseas post-doc researchers who have obtained their doctoral degree within the past five years starting from December 31, 2016.
Fields of Research: All fields in science and technology
* Preference fields: high correlation fields related to 10 major category investment strategies such as ICT/SW, biotechnology, energy resources, nano-materials, machinery, agriculture/fishery and food, aerospace/aviation and marine, construction and transportation, meteorological environment, and basic research field of science.
Duration of Fellowship: Up to five years
(Less than a 2 year research period will be not be acceptable)
Level of Funding:
-Type 1: Up to KRW 70 million per annum (personnel costs, living expenses, etc. for KRF fellow)
- Type 2: Around KRW 40 million per annum (personnel costs for KRF fellow)
*Type 2: Personnel costs of KRF fellows- 20% or more needs to be set by the matching funds from host institutions (including host researcher’s projects)
Quota for the First round of 2017: Around 20 fellows
Type 1: Fellows who will enter Korea from overseas: about 15 fellows,
Type 2: Fellows who are currently residing in Korea: about 5 fellows
Qualifications:
- Host institution: Government supported research institutes, national and public research institutes, universities and university-affiliated research institutes, corporate research institutes*.
* Corporate research institutes are those established as SMEs and venture businesses under Article 14 (1) of the Basic Research Promotion and Technology Development Support Act and Article 16 (1) of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act.
- Overseas post-doc researchers(KRF Candidates)
(Type 1) Foreign national or *Korean national post-doc researchers currently residing overseas that have received their doctoral degree within the past five years (as of December 31, 2016)
*Korean nationals - limited to those who are residing overseas and have earned their doctoral degrees abroad.
(Type 2) Foreign national post-doc researchers currently residing in Korea that have received their doctoral degree within the past five years (as of December 31, 2016)
* Please note that KRF candidates need to have obtained their physical doctoral degree certificate or diploma as of the date of December 31st, 2016.As a rule, provisional certificates are not accepted. Proof of work as a postdoctoral fellow without submitting the copy of actual degree certificate is not accepted.
How to apply:
1)Application submission period: January 4th to February 6th, 2017 (6 p.m.)
* Approval from their host institutions on ERND: by February 7th, 2017(6 p.m.)
(Date/Time is based on Korea Local Time (UTC/GMT +9 hours)
2)Application from a Korean Host Researcher
Applications for the KRF program must be submitted to ERND system of NRF by the host researchers in Korea through the head of his/her institution. Overseas researchers wishing to participate in the KRF program are advised to establish contact with a Korean researcher in their field and to ask him/her to submit an application.
3)For overseas researchers wishing to participate in the KRF program but currently do not have host researcher in Korea
- For the first round of 2017 of the KRF announcement, interested overseas
postdoc researchers who have not secured the host institutions in Korea(hereafter applicants) may submit their full CVs with a proposed research
plan for KRF program according to the [form 3 appendix] via email to:
-Upon submitted documents, successful applicants screened will be recommended to the appropriate institutions and prospective host researchers in Korea.
※Only successful applicants will be recommended to the prospective host institutions in Korea after screening by the review board and advisory committee.
※ For the first round of KRF 2017, documents must be submitted by Jan. 18th (Wed.), 2017 to be considered for screening in order to recommend to the Korean institutions, and the host researcher must submit the KRF application (form 1 appendix) by February 6th, 2017. An official decision is made to host the applicant after confirmation with their respective host institution and the applicant.
4) Submission of KRF Application: Online submission via the research support system (ERND) of the National Research Foundation of Korea (http://ernd.nrf.re.kr) by host researcher.
※ Applications will be accepted only for projects that obtain approval from their host institutions within the application period.
5) Necessary documents to be submitted: Refer to [Note 1] < Materials to be Submitted> and Appendix documents.
6) Contact Information
- KRF program: Academic Infrastructure Support Team, NRF
(+82 42-869-6577/6378(for English)/ 6374,6411)
-Online application: NRF researcher help system (1544-6118, Help Desk)
Evaluation Procedures
※ Presentation (interview) will be scheduled for both host researchers and overseas postdoc researchers (candidates) that have passed documents examination screening.
Assessment Criteria
∙ The quality of the proposed research project and necessity of support.
∙ Candidates’ capacity, potential, and willingness to participate in the KRF program.
∙ Plans for supporting the growth (settlement) of candidates; infrastructure of host institutions.
∙ Suitability of proposal to the KRF program/objectives and appropriate amount of research grants.
<Schedule>
Restrictions to Application or Participation
- KRF fellows are required to enter the Republic of Korea and commence research within three months from the date of final selection.
- Host researchers subject to restrictions for participation in national R&D projects are allowed to apply and participate only if the period of such restriction terminates before the deadline for application submission.
- This program is excluded from the projects subject to the restrictions (The number of R&D projects that can be simultaneously conducted by a host researcher shall not exceed five, among which the number of R&D projects that can be simultaneously conducted as a principal investigator (PI) shall not exceed three) referred to in Article 32 of the Regulations on Management, etc. of National Research and Development Projects.
Note 1. < Documents to be submitted>
Appendix 1. (Type 1) KRF application form
(Type 2) KRF application form
2. KRF guideline
3. Application form for KRF individual candidate
[Note 1]
< Documents to be submitted >
※ If any documents required are written in a language other than Korean or English, please submit certified translations for all foreign language documents into Korean or English.
※ KRF candidate’s physical doctoral degree certificate or diploma (copy). As a rule, provisional certificates are not accepted. Proof of work as a postdoctoral fellow without submitting the actual degree certificate is not accepted.
※ Any false information in documents submitted may lead to withdrawal of selection even after the final evaluation.
※ These guidelines have been translated from original Korean documents with regards to Korean research.
Therefore, this translation has focused on providing the main contents and points to overseas post-doc researchers for better understanding. If you have any further comments or questions, please contact your host researcher or email on tmkim/sl0527/pat@nrf.re.kr