KORANET - Korean Scientific Cooperation Network with the European Research Area

KORANET was a network funded by the European Commission under the 7th Research Framework Programme. The four-year-project started in January 2009; its objective was the promotion of R&D cooperation between Europe and Korea. Research and funding institutions as well as ministries from 9 European countries and Korea participated in this network.

KORANET aims at enhancing the research partnership between the countries of the European Research Area and Korea. This will be achieved with the help of several analytical exercises (mappings, foresight studies and other reports), the establishment of a Pilot Funding Scheme and a Joint Funding Programme as well as several joint activities (conferences, workshops and brokerage events). The preparation of a project website, a newsletter and an extensive database with information on relevant research institutions and existing R&D cooperation activities is also planned.

Project objectives

The main aims of KORANET are:

Improving information exchange and cooperation between Korean and European research communities
Exchanging best practices as regards the planning and implementation of S&T policies and international S&T cooperation
Promoting the cooperation between Korean and European research communities,
Analysing and further developing of existing cooperation instruments,
Coordinating bilateral approaches of EU Member States/Associated Countries and Korea
Specifying priority thematic areas for cooperation
Establishing an appropriate framework for strategic cooperation
Developing a one-stop agency for Korean S&T interests
Learning from completed and ongoing ERA-NETs (good practice)
Developing and implementing a full concept for a joint funding programme in a thematic area (based on a pilot joint funding scheme)
Increasing Korean participation in the EU Research Framework Programme

Project structure

The work of KORANET is divided into five work packages; all of them run through the whole four-year duration of the project. Each work package has a work package leader who is responsible for the implementation of the work package’s tasks:

WP 1: Analyses, monitoring and review activities (WP leader: National Research Foundation of Korea and British Council)
WP 2: Strategy and foresight (WP leader: Zentrum für soziale Innovation)
WP 3: Development of a pilot joint funding scheme to be implemented by interested programme owners or managers in a thematic area still to be defined (WP leader: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique)
WP 4: Joint activities for researchers and science stakeholder from the EU and Korea (e.g. trainings, conferences, workshops, etc.) (WP leader: Technical Research Center of Finland)
WP 5: Organisation and management (WP leader: Internationales Büro des BMBF)