The Ministry of Education has slimmed down its funding program for graduate students, concentrating support on promising researchers.

The ministry said on Thursday it finalized the recipients of the Brain Korea 21 grants aimed at enhancing graduate schools.

Over the next seven years, it will provide financial support totaling 252.6 billion won ($226 million) per year to more than 18,000 students in 64 graduate schools.

Graduate students from the schools will receive research scholarships of 600,000 won per month for master’s and 900,000 won for doctoral students from 2013-2019. Also, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows will receive 2.5 million won per month during the period, the ministry said.

The program was introduced in 1999 to foster world-class, research-oriented graduate school programs.

From 2006-2012, in the second phase of the program, the ministry provided research scholarships of 290 billion won a year to 74 universities.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)