The government will invest 19.51 billion won in humanities and social science research to find solutions for AI, aging and the climate crisis

[Financial News] The government will invest 19.51 billion won in humanities and social science group research aimed at finding solutions to social and economic issues such as labor and social policy changes driven by the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), care in a super-aged society, social isolation and the climate crisis.
The Ministry of Education said on the 26th that it had selected 94 new projects for the '2026 Academic Support Group Research Program in the Humanities and Social Sciences' and will begin research on Sept. 1. The number of new projects rose by 10 from 84 last year.
By program, the largest allocation went to Support for Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institutes, which received 7.04 billion won. A total of 44 projects were selected. This was followed by 6.51 billion won for Global Humanities and Social Sciences Convergence Research, 5.2 billion won for Humanities Korea 3.0, and 760 million won for Social Science Research Support. The number of selected projects was 33, 10 and 7, respectively.
This year's selected projects include interdisciplinary research on major social issues such as AI, demographic change, social isolation and the climate crisis.
One example is a consortium led by Professor Lee Cheol-seung of Sogang University’s Institute of Social Sciences, with researchers from Seoul National University, Hanshin University and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) participating. The team will launch a study titled 'A Fair State in the Era of AI Transition.' The research will integrate the effects of AI expansion on the labor market, care, local communities and social inclusion, and will seek a policy framework for a fair AI transition.
Research will also be carried out to address social isolation and restore social connections. Professor Choi Ki-hong’s team at Korea University’s KU Mind Health Research Institute will work with Kyung Hee University and Musashino University in Japan to identify the pathways through which social isolation emerges, persists and recovers across the life cycle, while studying sustainable policy and practical foundations.
New research categories were also added this year. Under the Support for Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institutes program, five education-linked projects and four arts and sports specialized projects were newly created. In the education-linked category, Yonsei University’s study on developing a liberal arts education model for the AI era was selected, while the arts and sports category included Inje University’s research on an ecological care design model for a super-aged society. Under the Social Science Research Support program, climate crisis response studies such as Sogang University’s design of a mutually beneficial energy transition system and Seoul National University’s design of sustainable climate policy were also selected.
Minister of Education Choi Kyo-jin said, "I hope that convergence research based on the humanities and social sciences will present mid- to long-term alternatives and practical solutions to the complex issues facing the world, including the AI transformation, social isolation and the climate crisis." He added, "We will strengthen a stable support system so that collective intelligence from universities and academia can produce world-leading research results and contribute to solving social problems."

[email protected] Kim Man-ki Reporter