NRF Global Leader Grants
Provides high-budget individual grant for world-class Korean science and engineering researchers.
NRF Global Leader Grants are the National Research Foundation of Korea's top individual research track for science and engineering. The program sits under the Ministry of Science and ICT's basic research system and supports researchers pursuing novel scientific achievements and new technologies. Awards can reach KRW 800 million per year over nine years, structured as three consecutive three-year phases. Applications are submitted in Korean through NTIS, calls arrive in two annual tranches around November and April, and selection uses a four-stage evaluation process. The FY2026 first tranche was posted on 2025-11-13 under MSIT Notice No. 2025-1005, which confirms the program's annual cadence. Eligibility is academic rather than commercial: the lead applicant must be an individual researcher at a university or research institution in Korea. The route is best suited to established principal investigators with a long research agenda and the institutional backing to manage a multi-year program. Startup teams and industry founders should look elsewhere.
Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.