New Zealand trails far behind other wealthy countries in research funding and strategy. This inhibits the innovation that could drive a more productive economy.
- Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Science sector reforms are long overdue. But questions remain about implementation and whether there will be enough funding to be effective.
The Marsden Fund was set up to support pure research. Diverting half of it to fund applied research undermines New Zealand’s potential to generate ideas that underpin commercial success.
The $128 million funding boost for the tertiary sector is only a stop-gap measure. But it can buy time for a genuine rethink of the entire system.
The crisis in New Zealand universities is directly traceable to years of sustained underfunding and means they now lack vital research and development capacity.
The government’s 10-year target is to increase research and development funding to 2% of GDP. Investment in science in the latest budget is out of step with that goal.
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