New opportunities for collaboration with South Korea

Three calls are now opening in the three-year internationalisation project Sweden–Korea Education, Research and Innovation Collaboration (SKERIC). The three calls are open to researchers in all disciplines and are addressed to three target groups: early career researchers, future academic leaders and research-based start-ups.

“Along with other current calls, this project offers our researchers good opportunities. The Sweden–Korea Education, Research and Innovation Collaboration project focuses particularly on early career researchers across a broad spectrum of fields that match up with large parts of Uppsala University,” says Charlotte Platzer Björkman, Uppsala University’s board member in the project and Vice-Rector of the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology.

The project, which involves five Swedish and three South Korean universities, is funded by the participating institutions and the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT).

“South Korea is a leading research nation that is making vigorous efforts in areas that are relevant to Uppsala University. There is also a lot of interest from the South Korean universities,” Platzer Björkman says.

This collaboration project with South Korea is a step towards South Korea’s planned inclusion in the next framework programme for research and innovation in the EU, which will replace the current Horizon Europe after 2027.

Support for early career researchers

In the early career researchers group, the collaboration will consist of research on challenges facing society in interdisciplinary groups based on five topics:

• climate change and green transition
• precision health
• innovative energy solutions
• dynamic, secure and sustainable society
• artificial intelligence.

“The idea is for the researchers to jointly come up with specific research proposals, write research applications, carry out research and hopefully publish together,” says Fanny Lagerberg, project manager at the University Administration.

The programme will involve approximately 50 researchers, 25 from Sweden and 25 from South Korea, and the call will be handled internally at each university. Five researchers will be selected from Uppsala University.

In parallel with this call, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) has also announced funding for research collaborations with South Korea; read more in the fact box below.

Support for future academic leaders

The second part of the programme is addressed to established researchers who are expected to be in leading positions in the near future. The programme is designed to give them the opportunity to develop their knowledge of leadership and academic diplomacy.

“This programme will focus on how to understand and manage the complexity of international collaborations. A lead researcher needs the courage and the ability to navigate among cultural differences, legal frameworks and an environment that can sometimes feel uncertain,” Lagerberg says.

Approximately 30 researchers will be accepted to the programme for future academic leaders and calls will be handled internally at each university. Three researchers will be selected from Uppsala University.

Support for research-based companies

The third track is intended for people who are in the process of commercialising their research results. The collaboration is designed to give them the opportunity to meet investors, research institutes and opinion-formers in research and innovation.

“Here the point is to obtain support in the start-up phase when preparing to establish yourself in a new market,” Lagerberg says.

Companies will be selected for the programme by a process of nominations, and Uppsala University will be represented by 1–2 start-ups.

Anders Berndt