AI Co-Scientist Challenge Korea — Track 2

AI Co-Scientist Challenge Korea — Track 2

Funds teams worldwide developing AI agents for science and technology research through MSIT's annual AI Co-Scientist Challenge, with up to USD 1.9 million in follow-on startup support for winners.

Eligibility · Global — open to participants worldwide

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The AI Co-Scientist Challenge Korea is an annual competition hosted by Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and organized by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). Track 2 — the AI Agent Development track — requires participants to build an AI agent capable of conducting science and technology research, and is the track through which winners can receive substantial follow-on R&D support. The competition runs under MSIT's broader initiative to explore AI as an active partner in scientific discovery.

Track 2 Grand Prize winners receive up to USD 1.9 million in follow-on support. For companies, this takes the form of Deep Science Startup Support at approximately USD 380,000 per year for three to five years — a non-dilutive award with no equity taken. For researchers rather than companies, the equivalent benefit is a Public Research Verification Project at the same annual rate for two years. Additionally, Track 2 finalists (~10 teams selected at the preliminary stage) receive GPU resources (4-8 A100-level units) and LLM/API access worth approximately USD 23,000 per team during the development period. Cash prizes are also awarded: Grand Prize 5 million KRW, Excellence Award 3 million KRW, Outstanding Award 1.5 million KRW.

Participation is open to anyone worldwide — individual or team — with no stated restriction on company registration country or organizational type. For-profit companies are explicitly acknowledged as a recipient category. There are no minimum TRL or prototype requirements stated; teams submit a preliminary proposal to qualify for the development phase, where ~10 teams are selected for GPU support before the final AI Agent and technical report submission.

The 2026 cycle ran from December 2025 through April 2026 (now closed). MSIT has run this competition as an annual event, so a 2027 cycle is expected but no announcement dates have been published. Applications flow through the official AI Factory website (aifactory.space). The two-step process — preliminary proposal screening, then full AI Agent submission — means only shortlisted teams advance to the full development phase. Past submission dates: preliminary proposal Dec 10, 2025 – Jan 2, 2026; AI Agent submission Jan 19 – Apr 3, 2026.

Key caveat: the primary "grant" outcome is the follow-on startup support, not the cash prize (which is minor). The follow-on support is awarded after the competition and requires the winner to qualify as either a company (startup support path) or a researcher (public research verification path). No details on how "company" vs. "researcher" is adjudicated at award time are published on the competition site.