• The vaccine that saved humanity during the pandemic emerged from 30 years of mRNA research
• Korea needs to move beyond seeking quick results when urgent
• Trust experts and provide long-term support
Aree Moon, President of WISET
These days, it’s not unusual to see people wearing masks on the subway. Each time, it brings back the heavy memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over three long years, the world endured, and lost, so much. Daily interactions vanished, global supply chains collapsed, and, most tragically, countless lives were lost. It was an unprecedented crisis.
In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, I was serving as Director-General of National R&D at the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). I urgently looked for coronavirus experts for a response, but it was difficult to find the right person. One professor shared, “I completed my PhD in the United States specializing in coronaviruses, but once I returned to Korea, there was no research funding available, so I had no choice but to shift to another field.” The reason was that coronaviruses were considered less fatal than other viruses at the time. I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of regret, thinking, "If only there had been support for the professor to continue that research."
Scientific breakthroughs are born from long, patient work. Katalin Karikó, a 2023 Nobel laureate, stuck with mRNA research for over 30 years when no one else paid attention. This eventually led to the breakthrough of the COVID-19 vaccine that saved humanity. The same is true for the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It took 30 years from the initial concept to industrial application. Most scientific progress consists of what appears to be “unproductive time”, years of accumulation and repeated failure.
Korea has achieved success by responding quickly to emerging trends and turning them into results. This agility helped a country with a small population become a science and technology powerhouse in a short time. It is certainly necessary to focus funding on national strategic fields like AI semiconductors, advanced biotechnology, and quantum technology. However, we must also take care of basic research where results are not immediately visible. In an evaluation system that constantly demands “clear differentiation from previous work,” it is difficult for research that spans 10, 20, or 30 years to take root. Researchers must frequently change topics to survive, and knowledge becomes scattered rather than built.
Fortunately, the NRF launched the "Digging One Well (Long-term Basic Research)" project in 2023. This program supports researchers within 15 years of their PhD with 200 million KRW annually for up to 10 years. Creating an environment where researchers can pursue a single question for a long period is a welcome step forward. However, we also need to discuss follow-up support, such as a "Track 2 (Digging One Well Plus)" program to ensure they can continue digging deeper even after 10 years.
☞ Please refer to the link below for the full article. (Maeil Business Newspaper: https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/009/0005583820?sid=110)