Donga Science series on government-funded research institutes wins 2026 First-Half Science Reporting Award

The Donga Science Daily News Team’s particular series “Government-Funded Research Institutes in Chaos (혼돈의 출연연)” has been chosen for the “2026 First-Half Science Reporting Award” introduced by the Korea Science Journalists Association.

The Korea Science Journalists Association introduced on the twenty first that it had chosen a complete of 5 function and investigative articles for the “2026 First-Half Science Reporting Awards,” comprising three “Science Article Awards” and two “Merck Medical Article Awards (머크 의학기사상).”

The Science Article Awards went to “Government-Funded Research Institutes in Chaos (혼돈의 출연연)” by Donga Science Daily News Team reporters Cho Ga-hyeon and Lee Byung-gu; “The Korea Forest Service Plants Climate-Vulnerable Species Despite the Climate Crisis (기후위기라는데 기후 취약종 심는 산림청)” by Hwang Deok-hyeon of the Economy News Department at News1; and “One Year After the Wildfire, Wounds That Won’t Heal (산불 1년, 꺼지지 않은 상처)” by Kim Pan, Kim Ji-hoon, and Lee Kang-min of the Investigative Issues Team at Kukmin Ilbo.

“Government-Funded Research Institutes in Chaos (혼돈의 출연연)” is a multi-part series that focuses on the abolition of the Project-Based System (PBS) and covers, by means of steady reporting, coverage modifications surrounding government-funded research institutes—such because the overhaul of institutional analysis frameworks, the introduction of strategic research packages, and the professionalization of shared administrative providers—together with the responses rising from research websites.

The series interviewed not solely policymakers on the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST), but additionally a variety of stakeholders, together with researchers and administrative employees at government-funded research institutes and labor unions, to shed gentle on the hole between coverage intentions and the way these insurance policies are literally skilled on the bottom. By inspecting concrete instances and information—corresponding to a three-year performance-based pay dispute on the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the various diploma of reliance on authorities contributions throughout institutes, and the repeated revisions to plans for professionalizing shared administrative providers—it carefully analyzed how institutional modifications are affecting research settings.

The affiliation acknowledged, “The series provides a multidimensional view of the structural problems facing government-funded research institutes through on-site reporting and testimonies from researchers,” including, “It brings long-standing issues within the scientific research community into the public discourse and prompts policy alternatives by calling attention to accountability and transparency in the research and development system.”
 

“The Korea Forest Service Plants Climate-Vulnerable Species Despite the Climate Crisis (기후위기라는데 기후 취약종 심는 산림청)” tracks the disconnect between the federal government’s tree species choice coverage for reforestation and its assessments of local weather adaptability. By deeply analyzing loopholes in authorities coverage and their social impacts, the piece helped drive substantive modifications in public administration.

“One Year After the Wildfire, Wounds That Won’t Heal (산불 1년, 꺼지지 않은 상처)” investigates oblique deaths that had been overlooked of official statistics, in addition to respiratory and psychological aftereffects following a significant wildfire, bringing to gentle blind spots in how catastrophe harm is assessed and prompting a stronger response.

In the pharmaceutical and biotechnology class, the Merck Medical Article Awards (머크 의학기사상) went to “The Mystery of Pharmaceutical Distribution (의약품 유통 미스터리)” by medical and biotechnology workforce reporters Heo Ji-yoon and Park Soo-hyun at Chosun Biz, and “Overseas Stem Cell Treatment Trips (줄기세포 해외 원정 치료)” by Park Jung-yeon of the Bio SMEs and Ventures Department at Asia Economy.

The series “The Mystery of Pharmaceutical Distribution (의약품 유통 미스터리)” analyzes unlawful distribution, shortages, and so-called “ghost inventory” of prescribed drugs from the attitude of the complete provide chain, and presents abroad case research and coverage alternate options.

The follow-up studies titled “Overseas Stem Cell Treatment Trips (줄기세포 해외 원정 치료)” take a deep take a look at regulatory loopholes and insufficient oversight within the superior biotechnology sector. They had been the primary within the Korean press to disclose that abroad stem cell remedy journeys focusing on Korean sufferers had been happening with out being topic to regulation by any establishment chargeable for affected person security.

This 12 months’s awards reviewed a complete of 24 home articles within the fields of science, drugs, prescribed drugs and biotechnology, and atmosphere and meteorology, revealed between December 2025 and May of this 12 months. Final winners had been chosen by means of a two-stage course of involving a advice committee composed of present and former journalists and a judging committee made up of consultants in journalism and science.

One choose commented, “Overall, the shortlisted entries were excellent articles that offered in-depth analyses of timely topics,” including, “We chose reports that tackled socially important medical and scientific issues through vivid on-site coverage and a diversity of perspectives.”

The award-winning science reporting articles will be discovered within the “Outstanding Medical and Science Articles” part on the affiliation’s web site. The award ceremony will happen on the opening session of the “2026 Science Journalists Conference,” to be held at 1 p.m. on the twenty eighth on the Korea Science and Technology Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.