By Sarah McMillan/cvnznews.com
New Zealand’s science community is bracing for a bleak Budget, with senior researchers warning that the country’s research system is “buckling at the knees” just as the government prepares to push more schoolchildren into compulsory science learning.
New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS) Co‑President Troy Baisden says the sector has been hit with “truckloads of bad news” in recent weeks, and confidence is collapsing across both public and private research. “The government keeps pointing to private‑sector R&D as if it’s booming,” he says. “But Stats NZ’s latest survey shows business spending has flatlined and R&D employment has dropped between 5 and 10 percent in a single year. That’s not growth — that’s retreat.”
The picture inside government‑funded research is even starker. Last week, Marsden Fund applicants received letters showing 84 percent failed to make it past the first round — meaning fewer than one in twelve proposals will ultimately be funded. “We’ve crossed into the territory where researchers spend more applying for grants than the system returns in funding,” Baisden says. “That’s unsustainable.”
Early‑career scientists are being hit hardest. Fast‑Start grants, designed to keep young researchers in the system, have seen success rates plunge from 24 percent to 17 percent. “We’re watching the next generation lose hope,” says NZAS Co‑President Lucy Stewart. “The reforms being pushed through show little understanding of long‑term consequences. The strategy is unclear, and the cherry‑picking continues.”
Concerns are also mounting over the new Research Funding New Zealand agency, which scientists fear will centralise control and reduce independence. Advisory groups announced this week include strong expertise, but Stewart notes they are “80 percent insiders,” with critical national areas — such as biodiversity and geological hazards — represented by just one person out of 35.
Confusion deepened after an announcement shifting money into a new Transition Research Fund. Initial figures suggested the fund was only a quarter the size of the programmes it replaces. Officials now say that is not the intention, but updated web pages still point to significant cuts.
Stewart says NZAS has taken the unusual step of issuing a Briefing to the Incoming Minister, warning that without urgent correction, New Zealand risks undermining both its scientific workforce and its future innovation pipeline — even as the government prepares to demand more science learning from the next generation.