KIAT International Joint Technology Development Program

KIAT Korea-France Industrial Technology International Cooperation Call

Funds Korean-French teams developing industrial technologies through bilateral cooperation and joint projects.

The 2026 Korea-France Industrial Technology International Cooperation Call is a bilateral government-to-government R&D funding mechanism administered by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) under Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. KIAT issued the 2026 announcement on 13 May 2026, with a submission window running through 9 July 2026. The program funds joint industrial technology development projects between Korean lead enterprises and French industrial or research partners, with the French side securing parallel funding through France's own national agency. Eligible sectors span advanced manufacturing, materials, AI infrastructure, energy, and biotech, reflecting Korea's strategic priority industries under its industrial technology cooperation portfolio.

Korean award values range from KRW 200 million to KRW 3 billion per project, calibrated to project scope and the technology readiness level of the proposed work (TRL 4–8). The Korean lead applicant must be an enterprise — SMEs, mid-caps, universities, and government research institutes may participate as consortium members — and the Korean lead is expected to hold the underlying IP or have an explicit licence-back arrangement with the foreign partner. KIAT does not fund the French partner directly; French participants secure matching support through their own national funding bodies.

Successful proposals demonstrate a concrete cross-border work-share split, a joint deliverable schedule, and a clear rationale for why the bilateral collaboration produces value that neither side could achieve domestically. Applications are submitted through the KIAT portal in Korean. The program repeats annually, with call timing typically announced in the first half of each calendar year.