Marsden Fund dewoked

Judith Collins announced:

The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand.  The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50 per cent of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand.

“The Marsden Fund will continue to support blue-skies research, the type that advances new ideas and encourages innovation and creativity and where the benefit may not be immediately apparent. It is important that we support new ideas which lead to developing new technologies and products, boosting economic growth, and enhancing New Zealand’s quality of life,” Ms Collins says. 

“The focus of the Fund will shift to core science, with the humanities and social sciences panels disbanded and no longer supported. Real impact on our economy will come from areas such as physics, chemistry, maths, engineering and biomedical sciences.

This is a great and badly needed decision. I have covered many times how a growing proportion of the Marsden Fund was going on identity politics research, wokeism and social sciences.

A focus on core science is desperately needed. Now we just need to make sure that those deciding on the applications are not the usual suspects.

The Government is also focusing the Catalyst Fund on “clear growth areas of quantum technology, health, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, space, and Antarctic research”

Sadly critical research such as disabled indigenous stories about climate change and decolonising ocean worlds from imperial borders will no longer get taxpayer funding – well not until the next Labour Government!