Abstract

This article assesses the performance of the Social Sciences Korea (SSK) program over the last seven years and proposes potential future developments. In particular, this research carefully analyzes the program’s effects on Korean social scientists, the landscape of social science research, the vitalization of Korean social sciences, and the impact of research results on society. In order to do so, the general characteristics of the SSK program are surveyed. Then, the sequential development of the SSK is examined. Next, a comparison is made between the SSK program and other major Korean research support programs in the humanities and social sciences to reveal the SSK’s salient features. The SSK program places emphasis on the growth of research teams through inter-competition and cooperation, which leads to the formation of research groups and eventually large research centers. The SSK program actively encourages networking activities and interdisciplinary research as ways to break through the walls of sectionalism and egoism within major subject of study as well as regional barriers so as to create a more innovative research culture. By taking a top-down as well as a bottom-up approach with regard to selection of research agendas, the SSK program effectively creates opportunities for researchers to proactively respond to social needs. Finally, some suggestions are made as to how the SSK program can develop more in the future.