Existing programmes moving to Research Funding NZ, as government publishes Science System Advisory Group report

New Zealand’s major research funds are to be managed by a new national board.

On 14 October, science minister Shane Reti said the board, to be called Research Funding New Zealand (RFNZ), would “make most funding decisions” on science and research.

This will incorporate the Endeavour Fund, the Marsden Fund and the Strategic Science Investment Fund. Endeavour and the SSIF are currently run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, while Marsden grant allocations are recommended by the Royal Society Te Apārangi. Between them, the funds total approximately NZ$500 million each year.

Reti said it is likely that funds managed by the Health Research Council will also be moved under the new board. Cabinet documents show he will now work with the minister for health to plan the move.

Reti said the decision means “simplifying the way we fund science, so our researchers can spend less time on paperwork and more time on discovery, innovation and results that will grow our economy and benefit New Zealanders”.

“Public investment in science will be focused on the economy, the environment, health and society and technology,” his statement said.

The new system will be phased in over four years, with all current research contracts to continue. Endeavour and Marsden are expected to move under the new board by 2026.

The business ministry is now seeking members for the RFNZ board, with public expressions of interest open.

A ministry statement said RFNZ will be guided by priorities established by the Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council. The board will create “pillar investment plans” for four main areas of research, it said.

Sector concerns

The New Zealand Association of Scientists said the reforms have “great potential” but also carry a danger of oversimplification.

In a statement, the association said the new structure looks like a “more strategic science funding system that better resembles successful systems in successful small nations. It has a high-level structure and a matrix of considerations that will help ground it in achieving what we need as a nation.”

However, the group raised concerns about loss of expertise from the existing managing organisations, and it said the four focus areas might not cover all areas that are needed.

The Public Service Association queried the plan, saying it “raises serious questions about job security and the future independence of research funding decisions”.

“Workers in the science and research system are facing yet another major restructure with no guarantee of job security,” national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said in a statement.

Second advisory group report

At the same time, the government released the second report from the Science System Advisory Group, which was set up to review the system and report back to the government. The report warns of “the fragility of a chronically underfunded science system”, saying there is an “absence of clarity on supporting the ‘intellectual property to initial public offering’” stage of spinning research into public companies.

“Government support for a potentially vibrant innovation system is inchoate and needs to be focused on enterprises with a high potential for rapid export-oriented growth,” the report says.

It also recommends the creation of a specifically mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) research pillar, which was not included in the government announcement on RFNZ. Other recommendations, such as the creation of a Research Infrastructure Advisory Committee, are also yet to be addressed by the government.

The report says the move this year to “having the same minister overseeing both the science and innovation and university sectors now enhances the opportunity for much more synergistic developments”. The group said its report should be taken to include the humanities and creative disciplines.

The Science System Advisory Group was led by former chief scientific adviser Peter Gluckman. Its second report had been with the government since April.