내년 R&D 예산 삭감이 확정된 가운데 국내 공공 R&D 기관들의 하반기 예산도 줄어들어 연구현장이 어려움을 겪고 있는 것으로 나타났다.
Some public research institutes also cut their budgets in the second half of this year
Equipment purchase costs have decreased, but “fit the target equipment”
More difficult in the mid-term due to personnel reduction and reduction in participating companies
“The budget cuts for science and technology R&D will begin in the second half of this year. The equipment purchase cost has been reduced by 50%, but they are telling us to meet the target equipment. If this continues, all research institutes will die.”
Recently, a storm of budget cuts has been sweeping domestic research institutes.
The 2024 science and technology R&D budget, decided at the 4th deliberation meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council on the 22nd of last month, was cut by 3.5 trillion won compared to this year.
The government stated that this was to eliminate inefficient operations and wasteful factors. He also said that he would make more investments in cutting-edge key industries such as semiconductors and secondary batteries.
After this announcement, domestic research institutes announced that budget cuts were already underway.
Some organizations complained that their equipment purchase costs for R&D this year have decreased by 50%, but they were told that they must meet their target equipment purchase targets, and asked how they could secure the funds.
In the end, they are discussing reducing labor costs, negotiating prices with equipment suppliers, and reducing the scale, but the equipment suppliers are throwing up their hands, saying that if they don't do it, they won't do it, and it would be a loss to supply it at a reduced price.
He mentioned that he requested adjustments from the R&D-related organizations, such as the Evaluation Institute, but was only told that there was nothing they could do.
He said that this year is like this and next year, when budget cuts are in full swing, it will get even worse, and that this will not only cause a decline in public R&D institutions but also have a negative impact on the development of domestic science and technology.
Also, in the past, in relation to R&D planning, researchers could submit plans and the evaluation institute would allocate the budget, but now, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT have already finished allocating the budget, so there is no R&D that researchers can plan. They said that they doubt that R&D institutions will be able to endure in this situation.
Meanwhile, researchers are also worried that no one knows how the budget will be allocated in areas that the government is pushing as next-generation growth engines, such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and bio.
According to one researcher, the aftereffects of budget cuts are felt on the skin. He said that although he is aware of the situation, he cannot predict the distribution of the R&D budget for next year at all, and that this could lead to a decline in research extension and safety threats.
Some laboratories are reducing the number of personnel involved in purchasing essential equipment to meet R&D goals due to budget cuts and cutting safety costs, which is increasing safety risks during the R&D process and increasing the possibility of accidents.
It was also reported that the number of participating companies will decrease, which could cause serious financial problems for research-related startups and companies moving in.
For participating companies, R&D project costs account for a large portion of their finances, so if it becomes difficult to participate in R&D as a result of budget cuts, the company will ultimately have to close its doors due to financial difficulties.
In such cases, all related research results will be lost, making it difficult to advance science and technology domestically, he said.
It is also pointed out that since related research is centered on large corporations, the R&D capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises may decline and the technological gap between large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises may widen further.
Researchers pointed out that the current global science and technology competition is fierce and unpredictable, and if the research field shrinks due to budget cuts, our country's science and technology competitiveness may be overtaken by other major countries in a few years, not ten, and it may not be possible to catch up even if we invest more money. They pointed out that only by executing the budget unwaveringly with a long-term vision of more than ten years can our country's science and technology and industry survive in the global market.