한국연구재단

What 한국연구재단 does

The National Research Foundation of Korea (한국연구재단, NRF) is a government research foundation established in 1977 under South Korea's Ministry of Education. It operates the Foreign Doctorate Degree Integrated System (외국박사학위 통합시스템) at dr.nrf.re.kr, a web-based platform that serves as the official Korean government channel for registering and archiving foreign doctoral degrees obtained by Korean nationals and naturalized citizens. The system provides online degree registration with document submission, a searchable database of 49,400 dissertations with filtering by country, university, and academic field, and statistical reporting. It was redesigned and relaunched in November 2013 and had its regulatory framework simplified in January 2023, when reporting certificate issuance was abolished and submission requirements reduced. The platform is integrated with the Korea Research Integrity (KRI) authentication system and shares data with the National Assembly Electronic Library, KERIS, the National Library of Korea, and the Supreme Court Library. International cooperation is maintained through the ENIC-NARIC network.

The foundation operates from two offices: headquarters in Daejeon (유성구 가정로 165) and a Seoul office in Seocho-gu (헌릉로 25). The service is provided free of charge to users, with processing times averaging 2-3 days. The underlying technology is a web-based portal with standard authentication, document upload, and database search functionality. Revenue comes entirely from government funding through the Ministry of Education, making this a public service rather than a commercial venture. The customer base is limited to Korean nationals and naturalized citizens with foreign doctoral degrees, with the largest concentration of degrees from the United States (28,158 / 59.4%), Japan (7,552), Germany (3,334), the United Kingdom (2,547), and China (1,861). Top source universities include the University of Tokyo (1,205), the University of Texas at Austin (1,027), and Peking University (381).

Name

한국연구재단

Legal name

한국연구재단 (National Research Foundation of Korea)

Website

https://dr.nrf.re.kr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

한국연구재단 (National Research Foundation of Korea) operates the Foreign Doctorate Degree Integrated System, a free government web portal that registers and archives foreign doctoral degrees obtained by Korean nationals, with 49,400 dissertations searchable across 60+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Education Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Foreign Governments (8888), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International/Transnational Education Authorities (e.g., cross-border recognition) (EDADAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Study Abroad Credit Transfer, Transcript & Academic Advising Services (EDAIAAAI)

Keywords

• Foreign doctoral degree registration
• Academic credential verification
• Government research foundation
• Dissertation database services
• Higher education administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by the Korean government through the Ministry of Education as a public service for academic credential verification and research archiving

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

한국연구재단 operates the Foreign Doctorate Degree Integrated System, a government web portal that enables Korean nationals to register foreign doctoral degrees for official recognition, submit supporting documents (diploma, dissertation), and search a 49,400-record dissertation database. The service is mandated under the Higher Education Act and provided free of charge as a regulatory credentialing and archival service.

Product overview

한국연구재단 operates the 외국박사학위 종합시스템 (Foreign Doctorate Degree Integrated System) as its primary single unified web-based platform. This integrated system encompasses all core functionalities including online degree registration, thesis/paper search services, statistical reporting by country/university/field of study, and an information center providing research support guidance and overseas higher education resources. The system serves as the official channel for Korean nationals to report foreign doctorate degrees in compliance with Korean higher education law.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 외국박사학위 통합시스템 (Foreign Doctorate Degree Integrated System) A web-based government portal system for registering and managing foreign doctoral degrees obtained by Korean nationals, providing thesis search, statistics by country/university/field of study, and information services for academic recognition purposes. The system is mandated under the Higher Education Act and serves as the official channel for Korean nationals to report foreign doctoral degrees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 49,400+ dissertations registered and searchable
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ENIC-NARIC NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network for academic recognition information centers. NRF provides links to ENIC-NARIC centers from various countries on its overseas higher education information page, enabling verification of foreign academic credentials through international cooperation.
• Korea Research Integrity (KRI / 국가연구업적 통합정보)coreTechnology or IntegrationIntegrated authentication system. Users must register through KRI system to obtain researcher ID before accessing the foreign doctoral degree registration system. KRI provides the user authentication layer for the registration platform.
• National Assembly Electronic Library, Korea Education & Research Information Service (KERIS), National Library of Korea, Supreme Court LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic institutions that receive dissertation data for scholarly purposes. Personal information including degree and dissertation information is shared with these institutions for academic research purposes.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%97%B0%EA%B5%AC%EC%9E%AC%EB%8B%A8

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 한국연구재단