The Korea Exchange is inviting proposals for academic research in the securities and derivatives sectors to promote the development of the domestic capital market. Selected research projects will receive funding of up to 10 million won, and outstanding papers will be recognized with additional awards.
On July 15, the exchange announced the launch of the '2026 KRX Securities and Derivatives Academic Research Support Program' aimed at discovering innovative and practical research topics related to the advancement of the securities and derivatives markets.
Eligible applicants include members of relevant academic societies, finance professionals, researchers, graduate students in master's and doctoral programs, and other financial experts. Research topics are categorized into designated projects proposed by the exchange and open topics related to the development of the domestic securities and derivatives market.
Designated topics include: analysis of excessive bidding by high-frequency traders in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market and the liquidity provision status of liquidity providers (LPs); establishment of infrastructure for carbon credit certification and registration in South Korea; introduction and utilization of U.S. dollar futures options in the domestic market; and theoretical validity of risk measurement models in the securities market.
Open topics cover various issues related to market development, such as strategies for revitalizing the domestic securities and derivatives market and trends in securities tokenization and real-time settlement in major countries, along with South Korea's response.
The exchange plans to select up to 11 research projects, with a maximum of four designated projects and seven open projects. If there are no qualified applicants for designated projects, the slots will be filled with open projects.
Funding will be provided as follows: 10 million won for designated projects and 5 million won (pre-tax) for open projects. Additionally, outstanding papers will be awarded prizes, including 7 million won for the best paper (one award), 5 million won for excellent papers (two awards), and 3 million won for encouragement awards (two awards), along with plaques.
Applications can be submitted until September 10 on the exchange's Securities and Derivatives Research Center website. The final deadline for paper submissions is November 5 of the following year, based on the date of arrival.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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