Sector-specific research funds to merge

THE Government is hoping to attract more private money into science and improve how public science grants are spent.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce made public the Government’s National Statement of Science Investment, its first national science strategy, in Wellington yesterday.

Joyce said the strategy would include redesigning sector-specific research funds run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment into a single, ‘‘more agile’’ fund.

The Government would now produce three-yearly investment plans to signal how, when and why it will make investments.

Scrutiny of what investment is and is not working was also expected, with annual system performance reports introduced.

Royal Society president Professor Richard Bedford said the strategy was a ‘‘very different document’’ from a draft statement made public last year, and had addressed concerns about a lack of focus on ‘‘discovery-led research’’.

Joyce said the changes would make the Government’s priorities clearer, while collecting better data on the benefits of science and research.

‘‘All this is about driving better use of the resources we’ve got, getting better performance measures, then being able to take to Cabinet and the Government a strong, empirical argument for an increase to what’s already been strong investment.’’

The Government wanted to ‘‘scale up’’ its funding for public research from $1.5 billion, about 0.65 per cent of GDP, to the OECD average of 0.8 per cent.

However, it also wanted private sector investment in research and development to grow to 1 per cent of GDP by 2025.

As part of the strategy, the International Relationships Fund, use to connect New Zealand scientists with their overseas counterparts, will be redesigned and renamed the Catalyst Fund.

While its annual funding of $9.3m will not rise, changes to the fund would allow it to respond better to ‘‘emerging opportunities’’.

Joyce said the Government also wanted to review core funding of Crown research institutes, as it was ‘‘probably the funding that has the least strings attached’’.

‘‘We effectively write a cheque about once a year to each of the CRIs and say, ‘Do your best, come back and tell us what you’ve spent the money on’.’’

Plans to establish new regional research institutes specialising in certain sectors, as well as a ‘‘strategic refresh’’ of the Health Research Council, also formed part of the strategy.

Labour science and innovation spokesman David Cunliffe criticised the strategy’s lack of ambition. ‘‘There’s not enough meat in the sandwich.’’

While the Government’s rhetoric around increasing private R&D investment was welcome, the strategy lacked anything ‘‘that would either incentivise or force a change’’ to the status quo.

Scientists and others in the sector had told Cunliffe they did not feel listened to during the consultation process.