Current Status of Korea's Industry-Academia Cooperation in Materials and Future Policy Directions

The current status and policy directions of Republic of Korea's industry-academia cooperation in materials research are introduced. Industry-academia cooperation has various forms, such as contract research, joint research, technology transfer, technology assistance, as well as talent development between universities and industry. The actual characteristics of industry-academia cooperation are differentiated, depending on research models such as curiosity-driven research, market-driven research, and scenario-driven research. In addition, there are diverse forms of cooperation, ranging from attaining one-off cooperation goals, to implementing a series of cooperation, to forging sustainable partnership through sharing of values. The efforts and tasks supporting industry-academia cooperation, and the diverse industry-academia cooperative activities, are considered herein from the perspective of the Korean government's policy. Policy recommendations for the industry-academia cooperation, based on the current state and tasks of materials field, are also suggested.