Korea Foundation for Women i n Science, Engineering and Technology

This is a program aimed at establishing a work-family balance support system in STEM fields. The program matches substitute manpower, interns, postdoctoral researchers, etc. with organizations that are short-staffed due to their employees taking maternity or parental leave (regardless of whether they are male or female) or working part time to care for their child. This also provides a valuable opportunity for substitute manpower to acquire practical skills and gain actual R&D experience while working in place of those on a leave.

Track 1. Support for Recruiting Substitute Manpower

Target

• Participants : Those who have at least a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering or an equivalent educational background
• Participating institutions : Research institutes in the field of science and technology with R&D employees who are on a leave (or planning to take a leave) for more than 3 months or are working part-time (or planning to work part-time) due to childbirth, childcare, etc.

Support details

• Research competency or career development training for substitute workers
• Financial assistance for the labor cost of newly hired substitute workers (KRW 21 million/year for a master’s degree researcher and KRW 23 million/year for a Ph.D. degree researcher)

Support period

• Support period : up to 15 months

Track 2. Support for Recruiting Interns or Postdoctoral Researchers

Target

• Participants - Intern researchers : Women who have obtained a bachelor's degree or higher in science or engineering less than 5 years ago
• Participants - Postdoctoral researchers : Female postdoctoral researcher in science or engineering (Ph.D. degree holder)
• Participating institutions : Research institutes in the field of science and technology that require additional research manpower to allow flexible work hours for researchers rearing children

Support details

• Financial assistance for the labor cost of newly hired interns or postdoctoral researchers for research teams with researchers who are raising children (KRW 10 million/year for an intern and KRW 30 million/year for a postdoctoral researcher)공
• Research competency or career development training for participating personnel

Support period

• Intern researchers : 6 months (6 months of additional support for continued employment after the end of the internship contract period)
• Postdoctoral researchers : up to 2 years (Annual evaluation is conducted every 12 months to evaluate whether to continue providing support.)