Budget 2009
The Government has committed $28 million of new funding through the research science and technology (RS&T) portfolio for 2009/2010.
Including the Budget decisions the Government’s annual operating investment through the RS&T portfolio for 2009/2010 is $743 million.
All figures are GST exclusive.
The government has expanded investment by $40 million over four years in the Crown research institute (CRI) Capability Fund.
The government has expanded investment by $36 million over four years into the Marsden Fund.
The government has expanded investment by $32 million over the next four years to ensure the health and social well-being of New Zealanders.
The government has pledged $4 million over four years to raise the profile of science through the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.
The government has agreed to a $16 million capital injection for the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN).
The government has expanded investment by $40 million over four years in the Crown research institute (CRI) Capability Fund. This investment provides CRIs with a greater level of secure funding and supports their strategic role within the system. CRIs will be expected to maintain and develop their nationally significant research capability in their core areas of science.
The expanded investment will inject $10 million more funding across the CRIs in 2009/2010, raising the entire CRI Capability Fund to $60.6 million.
Increases for 2009/2010 are as follows:
AgResearch $2.2 million
Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR) $1.2 million
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) $1.1 million
Industrial Research Ltd (IRL) $0.7 million
Landcare Research $0.9 million
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) $1.7 million
Plant and Food Research $1.5 million
Scion $0.7 million
The government has expanded investment by $36 million over four years into the Marsden Fund. The Marsden Fund is New Zealand’s premier fund for investing in blue-skies, investigator-initiated research, supporting the advancement of knowledge through excellent research in science, technology, engineering and maths, social sciences and the humanities.
The government has expanded investment in health research by $32 million over the next four years to ensure the health and social well-being of New Zealanders. The new investments will be managed by the Health Research Council (HRC) and will be additional to their current investments of $63 million per year.
$18 million will support research focused on improving New Zealanders health and the health system, including new opportunities for clinicians and health care teams to engage in research. This investment includes funding toward the HRC's new Research for New Zealand Health Delivery portfolio, which will support the development of innovative models of care and improved efficiency and productivity in DHB services.
$14 million will sustain and support New Zealand's excellent health research teams and their contributions to new knowledge, teaching and links with international science teams.
The government has pledged $4 million over four years to raise the profile and prestige of science in New Zealand through awarding Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.
The government will award $1 million each year across a range of award categories.
The government has agreed to a $16 million capital injection in 2010/2011 for the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN), a next generation high-speed telecommunications network for the research and education sectors. KAREN is capable of moving large amounts of data quickly and providing access to computational and data resources throughout the world. A large number of world-leading research programmes have been made possible by KAREN.
The Research and Education Advanced Network of New Zealand (REANNZ) has been given a capital injection of $16 million to ensure that KAREN can continue to deliver ultra high speed broadband to New Zealand research institutions. REANNZ is a Crown-owned company set up to establish, own and operate KAREN.
Research funding going through other Votes
Vote Agriculture and Forestry
Government is investing $190 million over the next four years into the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) initiative through Vote Agriculture and Forestry. More detail on the PGP will be announced on 2 June. Funding of $30 million is allocated for 2009/2010, followed by $40 million in 2010/2011, $50 million in 2011/2012, and $70 million in 2012/13.
Vote Education
New Zealand's investment in research quality and capability has been maintained through continued support for the Performance-Based Research Fund, which will reach $250 million per year in 2010/11.