About KASRA
Founding Statement
Science and technology have entered an era where innovation is difficult to achieve without convergence and collaboration. However, the reality of research environments remains confined within the boundaries of institutional affiliations. Behind massive research budgets and impressive achievements lie countless researchers struggling with disconnected communication and insufficient infrastructure.
In response, we seek to establish the "Korea Applied Science Research Association (KASRA)" as a platform where researchers can freely communicate across institutional boundaries and share practical research resources.
Our association will prioritize four core initiatives that provide tangible benefits to researchers.
First, we will create venues for in-depth exchange.
While various academic societies exist in Korea, most aim to become large, growing organizations, leaving graduate students and early-career researchers with insufficient mid-to-small scale seminars and conferences where they can take the lead. To foster dense communication and practical convergence among researchers, we will organize numerous neutral, mid-to-small scale conference series not dominated by specific societies. We particularly aim to establish a dedicated "Conference Center" for our association, making it a hub for exchange and contributing to the advancement of domestic science.
Second, we will develop collaborative education models.
Current graduate education lacks clear guidelines for student supervision, and opportunities for students to interact with peers from other institutions after enrollment are severely limited. We will develop standardized graduate degree programs at the association level to benefit both advisors and students. To this end, we will develop joint curricula and compile textbooks, establish dissertation examination committees, set standard stipends, create student-led exchange systems such as association student councils, and organize regular research presentation sessions, fostering an environment where future scholars can systematically interact and grow beyond their primary institutional affiliations.
Third, we will build shared research infrastructure.
Many researchers affiliated with research institutions face challenges due to space shortages and suffer under varying regulations and procedures for equipment procurement and utilization across different ministries and projects. To address this reality, we will establish a "Core Facility" that jointly procures and owns essential equipment. By operating cores customized to each researcher's and institution's circumstances, we will enable everyone to conveniently access the best research environment, transcending complex administrative procedures and regulatory barriers. Through this, we will strive to realize a research environment where researchers can focus solely on their core research.
Fourth, we will lead scientific publishing culture.
We will spearhead the standardization of scientific terminology, correct erroneous academic terms, and publish textbooks and books reflecting the latest research trends to guide educational curricula at domestic institutions, ensuring living knowledge flows into the field. To this end, we will form a publishing committee and establish a specialized publishing house as one of our main objectives. Furthermore, building on this foundation, we will develop our own online academic journal publishing system to overcome the tyranny of large international publishers, and collaborate with other societies to create a healthy academic publishing ecosystem where researchers are the owners.
Finally, we will establish independent research institutes.
Based on these four core initiatives, we ultimately aim to establish research institutes under our association where researchers can collaborate across institutional boundaries, following advanced models such as Max Planck Institutes, EMBL, and Fraunhofer Institutes. As a first step, we will launch a "network-type virtual institute" where excellent researchers from various institutions participate as concurrent researchers, enabling the operation of research groups. Through this, we will create a foundation for convergent research where institutional barriers are broken down with shared identity. Furthermore, once the association's foundation is stable and independent revenue generation and budget operation become possible, we will construct dedicated buildings for each institute and directly employ graduate students and full-time researchers, developing them into truly representative domestic research institutions with independent research capabilities. This will become more than mere research space—it will be the center of a research ecosystem where the four core initiatives organically integrate and operate.
KASRA will steadily realize each of these core initiatives, ultimately creating a healthy scientific ecosystem where researchers are the owners. We sincerely request the warm interest and participation of fellow researchers in this meaningful journey.
December 30, 2025
KASRA Founding Preparatory Committee