Inje University in Gimhae to try again for Glocal University 30 funding

The university held a press conference Monday, announcing it will make a second attempt to win the Glocal University 30 project this year.

From left: Gimhae Vice Mayor Ahn Gyeong-won, Inje University President Jeon Min-hyon, Kaya University President Ahn Sang-keun, Gimhae College President Pyeon Geum-sik and Gimhae Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Noh Eun-sik pose for a photo at a press conference announcing Inje University will give a second attempt to make the Glocal University 30, on Monday. [GIMHAE CITY GOVERNMENT]

Inje University will take another shot at the multibillion-won Glocal University 30 project, backed by local organizations and universities.

The university held a press conference Monday, announcing it will make a second attempt to win the Glocal University 30 project this year.

The university was one of 15 universities and coalitions that passed the first-round of the selection process in June last year. However, it failed to make it to the final round in November, which selected 10 winners.

The Glocal University 30 project offers funding of 100 billion won ($74.7 million) each to selected university outside the greater Seoul region, to be split over five years. The government hopes the funding will help these schools gain a competitive edge as many students prefer to enroll in universities in the greater Seoul region.

The Ministry of Education aims to select another 10 universities for the same project this year, and five more each in 2025 and 2026.

"We will continue with the overall idea of the past action plan, but we will make up for the areas we were weak in and add some new ideas," Jeon Min-hyon, president of Inje University, said. "In last year's plans, we lacked plans of partnering with local companies, so we will focus more on that."

Gimhae, the South Gyeongsang city in which Inje University is based, created a new team under its talent development office that will help draft new action plans for the university. Gimhae Chamber of Commerce and Industry will also help attract more industry-academia partnerships.

Inje University will continue to work with other universities in the area such as Kaya University and Gimhae College to create the so-called All-City Campus, if it wins the funding.

The campus was part of Inje University's plan submitted last year, which aims to create a campus with a research and development hub and shared curricula that all the three university students can access.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]