Full-scale Support for AI Convergence Research Centered on Government-Funded Research Institutes as Hubs
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- 2026-09-29 09:10:10
- Updated
- 2026-09-29 09:10:10
[Financial News] The National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST)'s National AI for Science Research Center (NAIS) is inviting proposals for new Seed-type projects under the 2026 NAIS AI Convergence Research Project. The initiative will combine the domain-specific research capabilities of government-funded research institutes under NST with artificial intelligence (AI) expertise.
On the 29th, NST said that the National AI for Science Research Center (NAIS) was established to promote the use of AI in science and technology and foster a collaborative ecosystem among research institutions. It is building an integrated AI-for-science platform and serving as a hub for research collaboration and exchange.
The AI convergence research project was newly established to expand the foundation of an AI-based research ecosystem by promoting the use of AI in research across science and technology fields. It will also create and disseminate domain-specific AI-ready research assets by combining research data, infrastructure, and expertise accumulated by government-funded research institutes with the AI development capabilities of industry, academia, and research institutions.
Domain-specific AI-ready research assets include domain-specific AI agents, datasets refined, structured, and standardized for AI training, and operating protocols for physical AI and autonomous laboratories. These research outputs are built in forms that can be reused by other researchers.
The lead research and development institution must be a government-funded research institute, including an affiliated institute. At least one industry, academic, or research institution must participate as a joint research and development institution. The project will be carried out through a 1+1 staged structure consisting of Seed and demonstration phases.
For selected projects, NAIS will provide AI expert mentoring, AI research resources such as graphics processing units (GPUs), and an environment for using common AI models, large language models (LLMs), and application programming interfaces (APIs). AI-ready research assets created through the research will be registered on NAIS's integrated AI-for-science platform, AI-OS, to support the registration, sharing, and use of research outputs. Publicly releasable outcomes will be disseminated throughout the science and technology research community.
The announcement and application period runs from September 29 to 6 p.m. on October 20. Researchers wishing to participate can apply through the research management department of their affiliated government-funded research institute. Detailed eligibility requirements and submission procedures are available in the announcement posted on the NST website.
[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter