Science Media Centre

The Government has announced it will kick off a publicity campaign to seek ideas on how to tackle the country’s biggest science-related challenges as part of a $60 million research programme. Here’s the official announcement from Science and Innovation Minister, Steven Joyce. Media coverage: Stuff: Science funding up for grabs 3News: Govt launches science ‘challenges’ […]

The Dominion Post‘s  Hawke’s bay reporter, Marty Sharp (winner of the the 2012 Cannon Media Award for the Reporter – Science and Environment  category) is in Gisborne covering the Transit of Venus Forum – Lifting Our Horizons. An excerpt (read in full here): Environmental problems ‘now business problems’ Environmental problems are now also business problems, […]

An open letter signed by 560 researchers is calling on the government to provide better funding to keep young scientists in New Zealand. In the letter, addressed to Wayne Mapp, Minister of Science and Innovation, the authors express concern over the lack of research money available to young scientists beginning their careers. They pointed out […]

Chris Trotter, a political commentator and columnist for the Dominion Post, questions the involvement of science in policy-making. In his column ‘From the Left’,  Trotter writes in response to  Sir Peter Gluckman’s report on adolescent health titled, ‘‘Improving the Transition: Reducing Social and Psychological Morbidity during Adolescence’. The report was launched last week as an […]

A comprehensive government report on adolescent health has highlighted the extent of difficulties faced by New Zealand youth, drawing national media attention. On Wednesday the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, launched the report, ‘Improving the Transition: Reducing Social and Psychological Morbidity during Adolescence‘. The document draws on the expertise of dozens of […]

The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, today released a comprehensive report on the health and social issues faced by New Zealand’s teenagers. The Prime Minister last year asked his Sir Peter Gluckman to explore the factors underlying adolescent behaviour and to indicate where there may be evidence-based opportunities for changes to policy […]

Following the release of Sir Peter Gluckman’s report on evidence in policy making, Tim Watkin from TVNZ’s Q+A show has taken a closer look at how science operates in the political sphere. An excerpt (read in full here): Tim Watkin: Politics needs science Politics is often described as a contest of ideas, and so it […]

New Zealand scientists have helped establish a link between a mother’s diet while pregnant and the probability that her child will be obese. A team of scientists from New Zealand and the UK, including Sir Peter Gluckman of the Liggins Institute (NZ), examined epigentic modification (chemical changes in the DNA structure) in umbilical tissue from […]

Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, today released his much-awaited report on the state of science education in New Zealand, titled: “Looking Ahead: Science Education for the Twenty-First Century“. In addition to a comprehensive review of science education in New Zealand, Sir Peter’s report makes a number of recommendations including: Enhancing […]

Michele Hewitson, writing in the NZ Herald, interviews the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Sir Peter Gluckman. The Professor, known for his tetchiness, discusses his relationship with the media, beards, his background, role and achievements therein, and tall poppy syndrome. An excerpt: (read in full here) “A serious question: How did he measure his […]