Samsung Electronics Co. which pledged 130 trillion won ($116 billion) spending plans at home over the next three years last week said it has earmarked 960 billion won until 2022 to help hone national science and ICT R&D capabilities.

Samsung has already channeled 538.9 billion won to back national ICT and science projects through Samsung Science & Technology Foundation and Samsung Research Funding Center for Future Technology since 2013. The spending will nearly double over the next five years, it said.

Funding so far went to 428 projects - 149 in basic science, 132 in materials science, and 147 in information communication technology - to benefit nearly 7,300 researchers.

Among the beneficiaries were Seoul National University’s bioengineering professor Yoon Tae-young and a research team led by Pohang University of Science and Technology’s chemistry professor Park Moon-jung working to develop devices for people with arm and leg impairments.

In announcing ambitious spending plan for the next three years, Samsung Electronics said it will budget 25 trillion won in new growth engines of artificial intelligence, internet of things, and 5G chipsets, biopharmaceutical, and automotive electronics.

By Hwang Hyung-gyu and Cho Jeehyun

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