R&D big winner in $154m top-up
The Government has tipped about another $154 million into research and development spending, just three weeks after a $247m boost in the Budget.
A spokesman for Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said the new funding announced yesterday included an extra $117m for Crown Research Institutes (CRIs). That is on top of the $79m granted to them over four years in the Budget.
AgResearch appears one of the big winners. A statement released by Woods said it would receive money from the Covid Response and Recovery Fund to develop a ‘‘fit-for-future scientific research facility and corporate headquarters’’ at Lincoln University. ‘‘The facility will encourage more collaboration in food and fibres research and innovation, to help farmers and growers manage challenges, and seize opportunities for getting more economic value out of products,’’ it said.
A spokesman for Woods said the funding would allow AgResearch to redevelop its existing campus at the university.
Lincoln University and AgResearch had originally intended to build a $206m joint facility by last December, which they were billing as the largest agricultural research centre in the southern hemisphere.
Waikato University professor Troy Baisden, president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, said ‘‘repeated business-case rethinks of the AgResearch building on the Lincoln University campus’’ had left a ‘‘shovel-ready’’ crater that deserved to progress.
‘‘Some researchers may question whether the support for
‘‘Few can argue that our agriculture and health research institutions shouldn’t have adequate modern accommodation.’’
Professor Troy Baisden, New Zealand Association of Scientists
institutions with fragile finances is fair, but few can argue that our agriculture and health research institutions shouldn’t have adequate modern accommodation,’’ he said.
Woods also announced that funding for a Budget initiative to promote Ma¯ ori research and development opportunities had been increased from $6.5m to $33m.
Government grants agency Callaghan Innovation will get another $10m, in part to ensure it can provide more help to earlystage research-intensive companies that are disproportionately affected by Covid-19.