NST to hire 100 shared-services staff to cut admin burden on researchers

Common administrative functions at government-funded research institutes — including recruitment, public relations and auditing — will be consolidated under the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST), which plans to hire 100 new specialists to support the overhaul. The move is intended to reduce the administrative burden on researchers and sharpen their focus on research, coming alongside a broader restructuring of the research and development system at government-funded institutes following the abolition of the project-based salary system.

NST announced Monday it will conduct a phased open recruitment of 100 entry-level and experienced staff across five fields — hiring, public relations, grievance handling, auditing and information security — as part of a full-scale push to professionalize shared administrative services at government-funded institutes.

The first round will fill 64 positions: 24 in recruitment, 10 in public relations, 10 in grievance handling and 20 in auditing. Applications will be accepted from Monday through Sept. 29. A second round, scheduled for October or later, will add 36 more hires — 20 in auditing and 16 in information security.

The central aim of the recruitment drive is to consolidate and professionalize administrative functions that individual institutes have until now handled on their own, bringing them under NST's umbrella.

The recruitment team will take over the full hiring pipeline for non-regular and trainee positions at government-funded institutes, covering everything from job postings and screening to appointment. The public relations team will handle cross-institute communications, including global outreach, joint exhibitions and content production.

The grievance handling team will manage the entire process for workplace complaints — including harassment, sexual harassment and sexual violence — from intake through investigation, deliberation and follow-up. The auditing team will centralize conduct audits previously delegated to individual institutes under NST's audit committee, covering comprehensive, targeted and conduct audits. The information security team will be responsible for protecting the information assets of government-funded institutes and building a shared cybersecurity framework, including joint use of secure networks.

NST plans to develop entry-level hires into administrative specialists at government-funded institutes over time, while also bringing in experienced professionals who can contribute immediately.

NST finalized its basic plan for professionalizing shared administrative services at a board meeting in May, after which it held 26 rounds of consultations with individual institutes, labor unions and the Federation of Korean Science and Technology Organizations to define the scope of duties and operational procedures for each role.

Particularly as the abolition of the project-based salary system shifts government-funded institutes toward mission-oriented research and development, NST said it intends to reform the research administration framework in tandem. The plan is to professionalize shared functions under NST to improve the quality and speed of administrative services, freeing researchers to focus on national missions and research rather than paperwork.

"The essence of professionalizing shared administration is to specialize in the administrative demands common across government-funded institutes, so we can deliver more expert and stable administrative services," NST Chairman Kim Young-sik said. "We will work to reduce the administrative burden on these institutes and create an environment where researchers can immerse themselves more fully in their work."