The government has expanded support for fostering master's and doctoral-level talent to lead the ultra-gap in the intelligent semiconductor field.

The Ministry of Education (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (Chairman Lee Kwang-bok) announced on the 13th that three educational research groups were selected as preliminary results for additional selection in the intelligent semiconductor (including system semiconductor) field of the 4th Brain Korea 21 (BK21) innovation talent development project.

The education and research groups provisionally selected this time are: △Gachon University’s Integrated Semiconductor Talent Training Project Group covering materials, devices, circuits, and applications △Sejong University’s Intelligent Semiconductor Talent Training Project Group based on new devices △Inha University’s Next-Generation Semiconductor Implementation Talent Training Project Group based on Chiplets.

The education and research group was selected from among the six education and research groups that participated in the open call last April, following an expert evaluation of their educational and research capabilities and industry-academia cooperation systems.

The Ministry of Education will receive and review appeals from universities that were rejected, and will make the final decision in July following an inspection of the universities provisionally selected this time.

With this, the number of education and research groups in the intelligent semiconductor (including system semiconductor) field of the 4th Brain Korea 21 Innovation Talent Development Project will increase from the current 10 to a total of 13, and a total of approximately 10 billion won will be provided to the 13 education and research groups every year until 2027, when the project is in operation.

The education finally selected this timeThe research team receives project funding averaging about 800 million won annually until 2027.

The Education and Research Group plans to utilize project funds to support research scholarships for graduate students and personnel costs for emerging researchers, as well as to develop and organize semiconductor-related curricula and industry-academia cooperation programs, invite renowned overseas scholars, conduct international joint research, and provide career support for graduate students.

Choi Eun-hee, Head of the Talent Policy Office, stated, “Global competition surrounding the semiconductor industry and technology is taking on the nature of a race against time,” adding, “I look forward to strengthening the foundation for cultivating master’s and doctoral-level talent to lead the ‘super-gap’ of Korea’s semiconductor industry through the Phase 4 Brain Korea 21 Innovation Talent Development Project.”