Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding. Photo:
*This article has been updated with MBIE's response that legislation requires the board's independence.
The administrator of a decades-old research fund says a major shake-up to funding raises red flags and the potential for political interference.
The government announced a new body - Research Funding New Zealand (RFNZ) - would take on the Endeavour, Marsden, and Strategic Science Investment funds over the next four years, and would likely also include the Health Research Council.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which would take over fund administration, has pushed back at concerns, saying the board's independence is written into law.
Science Minister Shane Reti said the move was based on recommendations from the Science System Advisory Group's final report and would see an independent board in charge of making most funding decisions, delivering efficiency and ease for researchers seeking grants.
Following the announcement, the Royal Society, which administers the Marsden Fund - dedicated to blue-sky and fundamental research (science for the sake of discovery) - warned such centralisation within the government could undermine the country's capabilities and credibility in science and innovation.
Society president, distinguished professor Jane Harding, said over the past 30 years the organisation had developed rigorous systems to assess and manage research grants, drawing on local and international expertise to review proposals.
She hoped MBIE would engage in the same processes.
"It will also be vital for the new [RFNZ] board to be, and to be seen to be, impartial, and independent of political influence.
"Our concern is that, with both the [RFNZ] board and the administration of funds embedded in a government department, which in turn is responsible to a minister, future funding decisions could be influenced, or perceived to be influenced, by factors beyond the excellence of the research."
Harding said the minister's stated support for fundamental, curiosity-driven research was positive, but said it remained unclear how the new model would fund such research.
"Work will be needed for MBIE to rapidly re-establish this vital stream of investment."
Reti said the Royal Society's concerns were "completely unfounded".
"Research Funding New Zealand board members will be appointment by the government but will be able to draw from a range of expertise to make investment decisions based on scientific merit.
"This is the same process that currently is in place for the Health Research Council, Marsden Fund, and the Science Board - which currently operates within MBIE without any issues."
"The changes the government is making is in response to wider concerns of the research community - that the current funding system is too complex, too bureaucratic, and takes time and energy away from actual research."
A spokesperson for the Royal Society said the shake-up was confirmed the day before it was publicly announced.
They said the society would accept Marsden Fund applications in 2026 but the Marsden Fund Council would make its recommendations to Research Funding NZ for approval, rather than the society.
The following year, research proposals would be submitted to MBIE instead of the society.
They said the organisation's priority was supporting staff - "all of whom are feeling this announcement very personally".
"The society currently has a staff of 47. All of us will feel the impact of the loss of Marsden Fund and inevitably our organisation will be smaller as a result of the transition process."
Independence a legal requirement
MBIE director of science system reforms Iain Cossar said the Research Funding NZ board would be established under the Research, Science and Technology Act 2010.
He said the law required the board to act in an independent, fair and transparent manner, and that the ministry must supply all secretarial and administrative services to support it.
"Therefore, it is stated in legislation that the board will be independent - free from political interference and not embedded in a government department.
"MBIE's involvement is through providing secretariat support [as per the legislation] and the administration of the funding."
Cossar said those processes were yet to be fully determined, but that it was likely to involve "a similar rigorous standard to ensure excellence".
"MBIE currently have robust review processes in place for example for the Endeavour Fund, for which currently decisions are made independently by the Science Board.
"As part of this process, the Endeavour Fund also uses an international peer-review."
He said the new model was underpinned by four pillars which were outcome focused, and it made sense for discovery-led science, inherent in the Marsden scheme, to sit outside that structure.
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