Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is connecting academic research more directly with its future aerospace programs through the 24th Aerospace Paper Awards. This year’s competition goes beyond a larger prize pool by adding policy and management as a new category and awarding additional points to research with potential commercial or industrial applications.
KAI is accepting submissions from August 24 through September 24. The competition is supported by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, the Korea Aerospace Industries Association and the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences.
Launched in 2003, the Aerospace Paper Awards is one of South Korea’s longest-running privately organized academic competitions dedicated to aerospace research. Its 2026 topics are closely aligned with KAI’s future growth areas, including manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), future software, next-generation platforms, space solutions and advanced air vehicles (AAVs).
The next-generation platform category covers fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, unmanned aircraft and commercial aviation. Submissions are divided into five research disciplines: mechanical engineering, materials and manufacturing processes, electrical and electronic engineering, software, and policy and management.
Policy and management added to a technology-led competition
Last year’s competition was organized around four technical areas—mechanical engineering, materials and processes, electrical and electronic engineering, and software. The addition of policy and management in 2026 reflects a broader recognition that aerospace competitiveness is no longer determined by aircraft design and manufacturing technology alone.
MUM-T, AAVs and space systems require more than engineering performance. Certification, operational concepts, supply-chain resilience, export controls, civil-military cooperation and commercialization strategies must develop alongside the technology before these systems can enter the market.
By opening the competition to policy and management research, KAI is broadening its potential talent pool beyond engineering specialists. It also signals that future aerospace programs will require researchers capable of connecting technology with institutions, markets and national strategy.
Previous winning papers illustrate the competition’s industrial orientation. The 2025 awards recognized Seoul National University research on a “glocal” integrated navigation system designed to robustly preserve global and local consistency, as well as POSTECH research examining pores in Al-7075 structures produced through directed energy deposition.
Both topics address practical challenges in aerospace development—reliable navigation and additive manufacturing using aircraft-grade materials. KAI maintains an archive of award-winning papers from previous competitions on its official website, allowing the research to remain accessible beyond the annual awards.
Prize pool rises to 38 million won as research connects with recruitment
The total prize pool has increased by 10 million won from last year to 38 million won. Two grand-prize winners—the Korea AeroSpace Administration Administrator’s Award and the KAI CEO Award—will each receive 10 million won.
Two excellence-award recipients will receive 5 million won each, two encouragement-award recipients will receive 3 million won each, and two special-award recipients will receive 1 million won each. Up to eight papers will therefore be selected.
The lead authors of winning papers will be exempted from the initial document screening if they apply through KAI’s open recruitment process for new employees. This provision connects the competition with the company’s recruitment pipeline instead of allowing it to end as a one-time academic award.
According to the detailed competition guidelines, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at universities in Korea or overseas may apply regardless of their major. Postdoctoral researchers are also eligible, except those employed by companies, and papers may be submitted by teams of up to four people.
Academic advisers cannot be listed as co-authors. Submissions must also remain unpublished in domestic or international publications as of the application deadline. Applicants are required to submit an application form, an abstract, a paper prepared using the designated template, a personal-data consent form and proof of enrollment.
Authors retain copyright to winning papers, while KAI holds publication rights for the collected volume of award-winning research. Papers considered commercially or operationally applicable may be subject to separate discussions with the company, and practical business potential will receive additional weight during evaluation.
KAI and the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences will jointly conduct the review. Winners are scheduled to be announced in early November, with the grand-prize recipients presenting their papers at the awards ceremony later that month.
The competition’s longer-term value will depend less on the number of submissions than on whether winning research advances into joint projects, technology development or recruitment. If KAI systematically connects its accumulated body of award-winning research with future programs, the Aerospace Paper Awards could evolve from a talent competition into an early-stage research and development pipeline linking universities with the aerospace industry.
