Europlanet – Korean Distinguished Scholar Invitation Programme  

1. Call information

Call Opens: 12 November 2025
This is a rolling call, with applications reviewed on receipt
Results Announced: Within 2 months of receipt of application

2. Background: Europlanet – Korean Distinguished Scholar Invitation Programme

The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) possesses over 170 state-of-the-art research instruments and is leading innovation in the national research facility and equipment ecosystem by continuously building and operating advanced large-scale research equipment with world-class or first-in-Korea specifications and performance. Several of the KBSI facilities have relevance to planetary science and, since 2020, KBSI has built international collaborations through participation in the Europlanet Transnational Access programme, which enables international researchers to visit KBSI facilities and Korean researchers to visit facilities in Europe.

KBSI has now received funding from NRF (National Research Foundation of Korea) for the Korean Distinguished Scholar Invitation Programme, whereby researchers can spend an extended period (10-15 months) in Korea to carry out a research project. KBSI is offering three of these positions to Europlanet Members (individual members or researchers working for an organisational member of Europlanet).

In order to qualify for the Europlanet – Korean Distinguished Scholar Invitation Programme, applicants should have a permanent position or be recently retired.

Applications will be evaluated through an independent peer review process. While the programme is designed to primarily support planetary science (and Earth sciences), applications from other research disciplines may also be considered based on innovation and potential scientific and technological impact.

This call will support visits starting in mid-2026. Depending on whether the opportunities are filled in the first round, a further call may be announced in the summer of 2026 for visits to take place in 2027.

Participating Facilities

The Europlanet – Korean Distinguished Scholar Invitation Programme offers access to a variety of facilities in KBSI such as NanoSIMS, SHRIMP, CAMECA IMS-1300, STEM-EELS, and femto-second Laser-ablation MC-ICP-MS for the characterisation of planetary conditions and materials. The facilities support studies of a range of planetary targets, including Mercury, Venus, early Earth environments, the Moon, Mars, icy moons, rocky exoplanets, comets and asteroids. Access to these laboratory analytical facilities will enable the validation of instrument design and performance, the study of physical and geological processes that form specific planetary environments, and the evaluation of biogeochemical processes that control whether life could evolve or survive.  

3. Rules for participation

The stipend and expenses (travel, insurance, living, relocation and family support) of one researcher will be covered to spend between 10 and 15 months in Korea.

Additional funding from other sources can be used to extend the duration of a visit or to arrange a follow up visit for data interpretation and preparation of a publication (subject to approval from the concerned facility). Upon agreement with the host facility, additional researchers may be allowed to visit the facility to work for shorter periods with the successful applicant, but their expenses will not be covered.

Projects’ duration

The visits should last between 10 and 15 months.

Funding principles

KBSI will cover all costs related to the visit, including travel and KBSI will provide advice or help in booking or finding accommodation.

To participate in this programme, it is mandatory for the visitor to have an official employment contract with their home institution and a working visa for Korea.

4. Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible and considered:

• You are required to discuss the implementation plan with KBSI before submitting your application.
• Applications should be made through the submission form below and written in English.
• You may upload one pdf document of 3 pages maximum all included, i.e. figures, tables, charts, etc. in support of your application. All word limits in the form are mandatory.
• You should be directly involved in the visit (i.e. application on behalf of another person is not allowed).

Applications that do not respect any of the points above will be considered ineligible and will not go through the scientific assessment.

5. Technical feasibility

All applications must be discussed and checked with KBSI, who should give confirmation of the operational and technical feasibility of the investigations proposed.

If an application has not been pre-checked for technical feasibility with the facility, it will not go through the scientific assessment.

6. Confidentiality and evaluation process

Confidentiality

All information submitted in the application process, including the personal data of all the persons involved as well as the content of the project, will not be used for any other purpose than assessment. Europlanet acknowledges that all information relating to submitted applications is of a confidential nature and will be treated as such.

The external experts performing the evaluation activity will be expressly required to treat all information as strictly confidential and will be asked to sign a code of conduct before having full access to applications and peer review documents.

Evaluation process

Applications will be assessed by an independent peer-review panel. Each application will be assessed by two review panel members with relevant scientific expertise. The review panels will not assess the technical feasibility of the applications.

During the review panel meetings (held virtually), each application will be presented in detail by the two assigned reviewers and discussed by the full review panel. The review panel will then agree on an overall mark for each application and produce a ranked list of applications. The two reviewers will then produce a consensus report for each application, which will consist of a joint assessment of the application taking into account the panel discussions. This report will be communicated to the applicants.

7. Evaluation Criteria

Each application will be assessed on four criteria:

• Criterion 1 – Innovative nature of the application (originality of the research proposed and/or of the methodology to be applied);
• Criterion 2 – Science and Technology excellence (overall scientific or technical merit of the application, soundness of concept, and quality of the objectives);
• Criterion 3 – Implementation (quality and effectiveness of the methodology and associated work, relevance of the facility/site, strategy for the utilisation and publication of new data);
• Criterion 4 – Scientific impact (how do the objectives and expected results contribute to advancing the state of the art; relevance for planetary science and Earth science communities, past or future missions, and/or industry; overall scientific and societal impact for applications dealing with other research disciplines aside from planetary science and Earth science).

Each criterion will be rated on a 0 to 5 scale with an equal weight (total score on 20). The table below provides a guideline illustrating the value and meaning of individual marks.

Numeric Score	Corresponding Wording	Definition
5	Excellent	The application successfully addresses all relevant aspects of the criterion in question. Any shortcomings are minor.
4	Very good	The application addresses the criterion very well, although certain improvements are still possible.
3	Good	The application addresses the criterion well, although improvements would be necessary.
2	Fair	While the application broadly addresses the criterion, there are significant weaknesses.
1	Poor	The criterion is addressed in an inadequate manner, or there are serious inherent weaknesses.
0	–	The application fails to address the criterion under examination or cannot be judged due to missing or incomplete information.

8. Reporting Requirements

Successful applicants are required to prepare a short (approx. 5 A4 pages) report on their visit and findings. This report should also include plans of how they will disseminate their findings to the scientific community and to actively engage wider society (the media, general public, schools etc). Successful applicants are encouraged to present their results at a future Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC). 

Europlanet and KBSI must be acknowledged in any publications or presentations that include data produced during the TA visit.

Data obtained during the visit will be stored at KBSI. These data will made available in open access a year after the agreed completion of the visit, except for commercially sensitive information.

9. Contact

For more details on the programme and to discuss any technical aspects, contact Dr Keewook Yi: kyi[at]kbsi.re.kr

10. Apply

Submit your application through the form below. Note that you must be either an individual member of Europlanet or work for an organisation that is a member to apply.