Science Media Centre

The Government has released this year’s Budget, with $250 million earmarked for science and innovation initiatives. This page will be updated with any new announcements and expert reaction. Finance Minister Steven Joyce delivered his first budget today: the National-led Government’s ninth budget. The Science and Innovation sector will receive $255.6 million of investments over the […]

Science was ignited as the fuel of economic growth, but the fame has gone out, writes Professor Jeff Tallon, physicist with The MacDiarmid Institute, in the NZ Herald. An excerpt (read in full): And it is inescapable, the Government needs to invest here much more heavily. We need to fund strategies, not projects. Where is […]

The ‘Entrepreneurial Universities’ initiative will aim to bring 15 – 20 world-leading researchers to New Zealand, with our universities bidding for the opportunity to host them and their research teams. The $35 million investment is funded out of Budget 2016’s $761.4 million ‘Innovative New Zealand’ package and will involve 50/50 partnerships with individual universities. Full […]

Sir Peter Gluckman, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, discuses the history and future of government research funding in latest blog post. An excerpt (read in full here): Why do governments support research? The evolving role of the State Recently, the New Zealand Government published the National Statement of Science Investment (NSSI). This statement heralds […]

Does throwing more money into business R&D always create innovative new products and services? New research suggests the picture is more complex. Two separate papers, launched this week by economic and public policy institute Motu and the New Zealand Productivity Commission, examine the links between research and development (R&D) spending and the creation of new […]

Rocket Lab, the Auckland-based aerospace company, unveiled its latest innovation at the US Space Symposium this week: a 3D-printed, battery-powered rocket engine. Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Peter Beck says that the Rutherford engine – named after New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford – is the world’s first battery-powered rocket engine and the first new rocket propulsion system created in 50 years, according […]

Two different research-based approaches to boost New Zealand’s fishing sustainability have recently been covered in the media, both of which involve using nets designed with wider holes so that young fish can escape. Ngāti Kahungunu, in partnership with Hawke’s Bay Seafoods, are now planning on using a more sustainably-designed net on all their trawlers, reports Aroha Treacher at Māori TV. […]

The Science Media Centre put questions on key science-related issues to the political parties ahead of the General Election scheduled to be held on September 20.  This page has now been updated to include responses from the Maori Party. Please click on the links below to find the answers from responding political parties (or download […]

Writing for Idealog, Profs John Boys and Grant Covic from the University of Auckland discuss their commercialised energy transfer research which earned them the 2013 Prime Minister’s Science Prize. An excerpt (read in full here): In scientific research, patience is a virtue Professors John Boys and Grant Covic pioneered work in inductive power transfer tech. They […]

New Zealand should strive to become a green economy – low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive – according to an ’emerging issues’ paper from the Royal Society of New Zealand. The paper, released last week, outlines research on the resource and consumption challenges facing New Zealand and the rest of the world, and the […]