(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seunghan Cho = DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, USA on the 11th (local time). Korean researchers in the Los Angeles area gathered one by one to explore opportunities to work as researchers at Korean government-funded research institutes.
About 50 people, ranging from undergraduate students at American universities to post-doctoral researchers, participated and asked in detail what kind of research institutes are funded, how they are different from universities or companies, and what kind of research they could do if they returned to Korea.
◇ The cast returns to LA for the first time in 7 years… About 50 people gathered, from undergraduate students to postdocs.
On this day, the National Science and Technology Research Council (NST) held a joint recruitment briefing session in which NST, the National Science, Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Center (NAIS), and 13 NST-affiliated research institutes participated.
It has been 7 years since 2019 that a joint recruitment information session hosted by NST was held overseas.
This briefing session focused on expanding contacts with local researchers by having on-site working staff, including personnel managers from each funded institute and researchers from funded institutes from American universities, participate in the event.
Senior researcher Paul Salvagit, who participated in this event as the first foreign researcher at the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, said, “When people come to a research institute from abroad, we try to explain things like culture.”
Participants walked around the booths of each participating organization and asked questions about recruitment procedures, research areas, and working environments.
Min Jeong-yoon, a doctoral student at the University of Southern California (USC), said, "It's true that I came to the United States because I wanted to do research, but I was vaguely wondering how I could go back, but a good opportunity opened up and I participated."
Heo Soo-man, a visiting researcher at USC, also said, "I don't think the situation in the US is good, with many assignment cuts and few opportunities to remain as postdocs," and said that he applied for interviews at several places.
Researchers who have not yet prepared for recruitment also participated and showed interest in the research institute.
Participants reported that they showed a variety of interests, including obtaining information about research institutes that are relatively difficult to access in the U.S. and consulting on future career paths and research directions.
Sangjae Seo, team leader at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), who is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), said, "In addition to recruitment, students often asked about the characteristics of funded research institutes and were curious about their career paths."
At the event, a 'Conversation with Seniors' was also held where researchers who returned to Korea after conducting research in the United States explained their cases and answered questions.
Senior researchers introduced that although government-funded research institutes are often in charge of projects desired by the government, they also have an open environment where research can be done relatively freely.
Lee Byeong-cheol, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), explained, “At a company, you can do only what the company wants, and at a university, you are free, but at a government-funded research institute, it falls somewhere in between. You can either work as an adjunct professor or have the opportunity to conduct research.”
◇ 10% of new recruits with overseas education → 3%… Attracting talent with postdoc and professional institute cards
NST introduced support programs such as the 'National Postdoc Fellowship' (NPF), which provides annual labor costs of 90 million won and research expenses of 100 million won for three years to postdoctoral researchers in the field of strategic technology.
In addition, he announced that he had applied for 75 professional research staff for the government-funded research institute that will be piloted next year and plans to select them starting next year.
This event was prepared to secure excellent research personnel for funded research institutes and raise awareness of funded research institutes overseas amid the government's recent policy of attracting top talent from overseas.
Among new researchers at government-funded research institutes, the proportion of researchers with foreign academic background has decreased from 10% 10 years ago to 3% last year.
NST and research institutes plan to use this event as an opportunity to expand contacts with overseas researchers and continue regular talent attraction activities.
NST and the research institute will visit the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on the 12th local time and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) on the 14th to hold follow-up recruitment information sessions.
