대학신문방송국

RCL

By Jeong Sun-Woo Cub Reporter, Sophomore of Industrial Engineering

Daejeon is recognized as the leading science city of the Republic of Korea. For example, there are the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). However, their success has not been fully extended to universities or local companies. Actually, the number of companies that receive technology support from Daedeok Innopolis research institutes is 6.2 percent. It is of low value. The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) points out that institutional constraints prevent research achievements from being translated into business outcomes. Also, current policies and institutional support are insufficient. To solve the situation, HBNU operates the Regional Collaboration Lab(RCL), a program conducted by RISE.

Running structure

RCL is conducting joint research and development in collaboration with companies at designated sites. As a result, it serves as a platform for producing papers, patents, technology transfer, startups, and commercialization outcomes. Unlike a simple research grant, RCL is a platform designed to support a program. The platform plans to generate industrial results by combining the company's idea research with the organization of technology, and the company. The operating structure consists of 3 steps. The first step is to replicate that basic experience, analyzing technical tasks. The second step is expanded from tasks of common R&D (Research and Development) with Government-funded Research Institutes (GRIs), the final step to create deliverables to include paper, patents, technology transfer, and startups. The RCL program runs from August 2025 to January 2026. Each team received about three million won, plus up to two million won for publication fees. The supplement list includes expenses such as research material costs, meeting expenses, consulting fees, seminar hosting expenses. The research topic is National twelve technology strategy (semiconductors, secondary batteries, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum) and Daejeon 6th strategy industry (space and aerospace, bio-health, nano and semiconductors, defense, quantum, robotics). The eligibility should be a researcher to join the HBNU family company, an HBNU student, teaching staff, GRI researcher. Also, participants should apply results to patent at least one and at least one during run time. The research team that wants to participate should write as per the principal form. The application needs to write a research team, participating institution, and collaboration structure. In addition, university faculty and researchers at government-funded research institutes have at least five people. 

To the mandatory list of research consisting

Additionally, there are four writing lists to join the program. First, the research plan must include a concentrate output plan, clearly stating the research objectives, strategic relevance, roles of each institution, plans for basic experiments and technical analysis, and expected outcomes. Second, the team leader must obtain consent from all participants and submit a Personal Information Consent Form together with the research proposal. Third, upon completion of the project, a final report must be submitted. The report should include a summary of the research process, outcomes such as publications and patents, a record of collaboration activities, and plans for follow-up R&D. Finally, meeting minutes must be maintained throughout the research. The minutes should record the date and time, attendees, discussion points, and follow-up actions, serving as a mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability. 

Long-Term Goals and Research Themes 

The long-term goal of RCL is to ensure that research does not stop at academic outputs but connects directly to industry. RCL’s research themes align with the 12 National Strategic Technologies and Daejeon’s six strategic industries. As a case in the space and aerospace domain, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in Daejeon successfully launched the Nuri (KSLV-II), making Korea the world’s seventh nation to place a satellite into orbit, and is now pursuing lunar exploration and next-generation launch vehicles. In the United States, the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois is notable for advancing research outcomes beyond academic papers into forms applicable to policy and industry, integrating economics, mathematics, urban studies, and computer science to solve regional problems with data.

If RCL produces results across the 12 strategic technologies and Daejeon’s six strategic industries and builds a framework that connects outputs not only to publications and patents but also to industry and markets, the program can strengthen individual capabilities and have a significant impact on both Daejeon and the nation. The cases of REAL and KARI illustrate the potential industrial impact when RCL sets the right goals and sustains its research.
Previously, RISE operated the “Village-Problem Living Lab,” a program designed to solve local issues. Building on that experience, RCL is expected to evolve beyond a simple research-support initiative into a program that makes a tangible contribution to region-based projects.