A Proposal for Promotion of Research Activities by Analysis of KOSEF's Basic Research Supports in Animal Resources Science Field

This research was conducted to make suggestions for the promotion of research activities in the field of animal resources sciences, and we evaluated the research funding trend and the present status of research funding offered by KOSEF in this field. Comparative portion of the number of research projects and grants in this field to other fields has a tendency to be decreased year by year except recent few years. Researchers in this field have received more research funding from the group-based program than from the individual-based program. Also, they have received less money(per project) than did researchers in the fields of general agricultural sciences and other science and technology. Researchers in this field ranges from 43 to 51 years of age and showed 48 years of average age. It was found that researchers who has been funded in the field of animal resources sciences have showed tendency of publication of more articles to SCI journals in recent 5 years. The strong points of the animal resources of agricultural sciences field in South Korea include: lots of researchers, the establishment of research infra-structure, the excellence in research competitiveness and technology level. However, its weaknesses are: a lack of leadership in relevant societies and institutes, a predicted shortfall of researchers in the next generation and insufficient research productivity. The opportunities include: increasing the importance of the biotechnology industry, activating international cooperation researches and exploring the multitude of possible research areas to be studied. However, some concerns still exist, such as threats from developed countries for the government to open the agricultural market, the reduction of the number of full-time farms and intensification of needs for economic and social effects. The diverse actions and systems based upon the strongpoint, weakness, opportunity and threats above-mentioned are required to encourage research activities in the field of animal resources of agricultural sciences in Korea In addition, researchers in this fields would make an effort to keep pace with international society as well as domestic demands.