Science ministry sets new rules on overseas research to protect intellectual property

The science ministry said Friday it will standardize how government-funded international joint research is contracted and audited, tightening rules on intellectual property and research spending as overseas institutions take a bigger direct role in national R&D projects.

The plan, approved by the operating committee of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology at its 89th session, covers the full life cycle of such projects, from planning and selection to contracts, spending and follow-up management, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.

Under the plan, the type of international research long described as "general" will be renamed "commissioned," while the "joint institution" model — in which the government signs directly with a foreign partner — will be promoted as the standard form.

To address cases where domestic institutions signed unfavorable contracts because they lacked bargaining power and negotiating time, the ministry will replace the rule requiring a contract within 30 days of selection with a two-stage process: a preliminary stage of up to six months, followed by the main research phase. Dedicated funding will be provided during the first stage for finding overseas partners and negotiating IP terms, and entry into the main phase will be reviewed after an assessment of a pre-agreement.

For joint-institution projects, the government will set clear red lines that cannot be negotiated and green lines open to negotiation to secure legitimate licensing rights. Commissioned projects will be held strictly to domestic ownership of results. In disputes, the ministry will recommend exclusive jurisdiction for Korean courts and designation of a domestic arbitration body, the KCAB, and will link institutions to IP support desks.

Spending rules will also tighten. The ministry will draw up country-specific cost standards for major partners including the United States and the European Union, while granting exceptions to foreign institutions with strong internal controls so they can follow local spending practices. Commissioned projects will be required to report how funds were used, with propriety monitored through project evaluations.

Projects above a certain size will need audit certification from a local accounting firm, and a portion of research funds will be held as a guarantee deposit until settlement is complete.

The ministry will begin revising related regulations, including standards for the use of national R&D funds, in November and will reflect the changes in its international joint research manual by the first half of 2027. The revised guidelines will apply fully to new projects from 2028.

"The plan widens the path to lead cooperation with the world's best researchers while securing the institutional completeness to firmly protect our research results and technological sovereignty," said Park In-kyu, head of the ministry's science and technology innovation office.

The same committee also approved the list of projects exempt from the "three-book, five-project" rule for 2027, which limits researchers to five concurrent state R&D projects, of which at most three may be led as principal investigator. Small projects with average annual funding of 60 million won ($44,934) or less will be exempt, as will projects contracted separately with multiple ministries for the same research. Technology commercialization projects for transfer, commercialization or startups may also be excluded, within a ceiling of less than 15 percent of each ministry's new projects for 2027.

"We will communicate closely with the field and settle the system so that international joint research is carried out more transparently and substantively," Park said.