Second Australia-Korea Joint Committee on Science & Technology, co-chaired by Jason Coutts (General Manager, Scholarships & North Asia) and Byung Sam Kang (Division Director, Science and Technology Cooperation Division)
In May 2013 representatives from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP) and Ministry of Education (MoE) travelled to Canberra to participate in the Australia-Korea Joint Committee Meetings on Science & Technology and Education respectively.
The committee meetings, co-chaired with the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE), marked the next stage of bilateral collaboration in Science and Education between our two countries.
The Joint Committee on Science & Technology was the first bilateral meeting undertaken by MSIP since its creation by President Park Geun-hye earlier this year to drive her vision of a ‘creative economy’. Accordingly, the JCST focused on strategic information sharing and mechanisms to invigorate the emerging research partnership between Australia and South Korea. Sessions were also held on Research-Industry Linkages, Commercialisation and Intellectual Property, and Researcher Mobility and Funding.
Accompanying the Ministry of Science were the Korean National Research Foundation; Science and Technology Policy Institute; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. Australian agencies represented were CSIRO; Australian Research Council; National Health and Medical Research Council; Australian Academy of Science; Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australia-Korea Foundation.
The third Joint Committee Meeting on Education (JCE) provided an opportunity to discuss recent developments in each country, highlight shared achievements since the second JCE in Seoul in 2011, and drive collaboration in higher education and Vocational Education and Training. Additional sessions discussed ongoing efforts to increase two-way student mobility and the internationalisation of higher education.
Korean organisations partaking in the meeting included the Korean Educational Development Institute; Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. DIICCSRTE also welcomed the participation on the Australian side by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; Universities Australia; Australian Technology Network of Universities; Regional Universities Network; Innovative Research Universities and the Group of Eight.
At the conclusion of each committee meeting the parties agreed to adopt a joint work plan for future collaboration in areas of mutual interest, continuing the natural partnership that has developed between Australia and the Republic of Korea.
Australian departmental participants at the Joint Committee on Science and Technology. (From Left: Deputy Secretary Patricia Kelly, General Manager Scholarships & North Asia Jason Coutts, Assistant Manager North East Asia & Pacific Andrew Ford)
Third Australia-Korea Joint Committee Meeting on Education, co-chaired by Anne Baly (Head, International Education and Science Division) and Dr Young Soon Kang (Director General, International Cooperation Bureau).