The Government of Republic of Korea (ROK), in support of Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recognize the importance of science, technology and innovation in promoting the economic development of nations. To this effect, an annual award is established to encourage young scientists and engineers to take on research in science, technology and innovation. The ASEAN-ROK Award for Excellence in Science, Technology and Innovation recognizes the academic and professional achievements of promising, early-career scientists and engineers of ASEAN nationality. The Award is open to professionals pursuing careers in any field of natural sciences or engineering. Eligibility This year, the award features two distinctions. 1) Next ASEAN Innovator: an applicant must be a citizen of an ASEAN Member State; and be a professional with less than 5 years of working experience after earning a Ph.D.; have no record in the past two years of receiving an award organized or supported by ASEAN, in the field of science and engineering 2) ASEAN-ROK STI Pioneer: an applicant must be a citizen of an ASEAN Member State; and be currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Korea; or be a professional whose completion of a doctoral program in Korea is less than 5 years; or be a professional whose completion of a doctoral program is less than 5 years and has significant research collaboration experience (e.g. post-doctoral programme, etc.) with Korea; have no record in the past two years of receiving an award organized or supported by ASEAN, in the field of science and engineering Application and Selection Process Applicant must submit the Application Form, Personal Statement, and Recommendation Letter (attached), complete in every respect with the supporting documents, to the corresponding recipient via email the latest by 31st July 2020. For Further Information Please refer to attached files (application guideline, application form, personal statement form and recommendation letter form) for details. Should you have any further inquiry regarding the award, please contact STEPI, aseanrokaward@stepi.re.kr

1. Application Deadline (modified on August 24th, previous deadline for Korea was August 25th) • Korea (NRF): September 9th 2020 (6 pm, local time Korea) • Sweden (VR): September 15th 2020 (2 pm, CET) • Start date for selected projects (December 1st 2020) has not been changed. 2. Focus • Joint research activities that can provide results in a relatively short timeframe such as new methods and products – developing vaccines, medical hardware, drugs, diagnostic tools as well as developing best practices for caring COVID-19 infected individuals • Epidemiology related research such as modeling technology that predicts the spread of COVID-19 infection through mathematical and statistical analysis, as well as research related to infection tracking and quarantine system 3. Grant Amount • Korea: 150 million KRW per project • Sweden: 1.5 million SEK per project 4. Grant Period: 13 months (December 1st 2020 – December 31st 2021) 5. Application Procedure • Korea: NRF operates ERND system (https://ernd.nrf.re.kr) for Korean PIs to apply • Sweden: VR operates Prisma (https://prisma.research.se) for Swedish PIs to apply (https://prisma.research.se/Go/Apply/6872426d-c27c-429b-b4ce-abd400fff889) 6. Please refer to the website and attached call text for details • Link to NRF’s website (in Korean) • Link to VR’s website 7. Contacts • Korea: Eunjeong Yang, American & European Affairs, NRF (+82 2 3460 5618, ejyang@nrf.re.kr) • Sweden: Magnus Friberg, VR (+46 8 546 44 122, magnus.friberg@vr.se)