Mastodawn

for over three decades NZ #MarsdenFund supported investigator-led research. It enabled ideas to flourish AND motivate applied results in a way that I don't think you see in bigger systems. And certainly in ways that I don't think decision-makers understood.

Well not anymore... I guess we'll see how it actually plays out. It certainly has all the words - bold, towards, ambitious, long-term, and of course.... "focus on delivering impact for New Zealand". This stuff is so great I should think we'd invest more rather than less?

#research #knowledge #nzpol

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/funding-information-and-opportunities/investment-funds/transition-research-fund-2027

Transition Research Fund 2027 | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

The 2027 Transition Research Fund ensures we continue to support great ideas from inception all the way through to the benefits they deliver for New Zealand. The fund supports high quality foundational and applied research across all disciplines that deliver impact aligned with national priorities.

Oceans Craig Dec 16, 2024

Maybe you've heard that the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology #NZpol has seen fit to de-fund social science and humanities from the #MarsdenFund - well here's the Prez of the Royal Society Te Apārangi #RSTA responding.

The #RSTA is necessarily pretty conservative so for their Prez Prof Jane Harding to go this hard speaks to just how bad the decision is.

Plus we are talking about a pittance in govt terms.

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/open-letter-on-importance-of-the-social-sciences-and-humanities/

Open letter on importance of research in the social sciences and humanities

Open letter on importance of research in the social sciences and humanities Tēnā koe Prime Minister, The role of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, as set out in the Royal Society of New Zealand Act, is to advance and promote science, technology, and the humanities, and to provide expert advice on important...

Royal Society Te Apārangi

Karl Voit

Dec 13, 2024

Amid cuts to basic research, #NewZealand scraps all support for #socialsciences https://www.science.org/content/article/amid-cuts-basic-research-new-zealand-scraps-all-support-social-sciences

"[...] the country’s center-right coalition government said it would divert half of the NZ$75 million #MarsdenFund, the nation’s sole funding source for #fundamentalscience, to “research with #economic benefits.” Moreover, the fund would no longer support any social sciences and #humanities #research, and the expert panels considering these proposals would be disbanded." 🤦‍♂️

#capitalism #politics #education

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Marsden Dec 6, 2024

"If we could know the outcomes of a research project in advance, we could undoubtedly be more efficient ... . But if we knew the outcomes, it wouldn't be research, and any knowledge produced would not be new.

... the ideas that underpin real value in commercially viable science are often first prompted by discoveries in fundamental science. If it were something everyone already knew, it wouldn't be intellectual property."

#NZPol #science #MarsdenFund

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/535870/funding-research-for-economic-return-sounds-good-but-that-s-not-how-science-really-works

Funding research for economic return sounds good – but that's not how science really works

The announcement that half of New Zealand's sole fund for fundamental science won't cover social sciences and the humanities came as a shock to many, writes Nicola Gaston.

RNZ

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A-Dub 🥝Dec 5, 2024

a former Marsden Fund Chair and former Prime Minister's Science Advisor is scathing about the politically motivated dropping of the humanities and social sciences from subject areas Marsden covers: https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-12-2024/juliet-gerrard-funding-the-whole-pie #NZPSE #MarsdenFund #Research

Juliet Gerrard: Funding the whole pie

It's a tiny portion of our overall funding, yet social sciences and humanities research makes a massive impact. Without it, the pie starts to crumble.

The Spinoff

Hilário de Sousa (ɦ)Dec 4, 2024

This current government of #NewZealand #Aotearoa has no understanding of what science, human, and economics mean. Without human science you cannot understand what results from core science research are actually beneficial to people, and how to maximise this benefit. #MarsdenFund

Oceans Craig Dec 4, 2024

I wrote this about the #MarsdenFund 8 years ago…

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/craig-stevens-crazy-science-but-is-it-crazy-enough/MA6QJF5T2YJTOEMOVSXUSY62TQ/