Marsden Fund Council Rejects Media Criticism
27 Sep 2006
The Council believes that recent unfounded criticism in the media of the ethics and the research some of New Zealand's
leading academics is highly regrettable. The research of these brilliant individuals is one of the most important
sources of the future competitive advantage of the New Zealand economy, and critical to the knowledge we need to achieve
positive environmental and social outcomes. They should be more highly valued.
The Marsden Fund Council is unwavering in its opinion that the research it selected for funding in 2007 was uniformly of
the highest academic standard and of international best quality. Our brief is to select ideas-based research which
pushes the boundaries.
In selecting projects to fund we seek advice both internationally from more than 700 of the world's leading academics as
well as drawing on a pool of 70 New Zealand researchers who are operating at an international level of excellence. Our
instruction from the Government is to fund across the full range of research disciplines.
This currently includes both the Social Sciences and the Humanities. Approximately 85% of funds go to the physical
sciences, engineering, biological sciences and mathematics. Approximately 10% goes to the social sciences such as
psychology economics and anthropology, whilst about 5% goes to the Humanities to cover subjects ranging from journalism
through linguistics to gender studies.
Typically we fund researchers for a three year period. It costs about $150,000 per year to free up academics from their
teaching duties, support them with a research assistant and pay for their research materials and facilities for this
time. There is no duplication with their salaries as their institutions are obliged to replace them for teaching
purposes. All budgets are carefully scrutinised to guard against largesse and double dipping.
It is also our opinion that the fund is hopelessly under-resourced to cover such a wide span of intellectual effort.
Much of the controversy surrounding the fund has its origins in the desperately low success rate, and the despair of the
many rejected applicants, most of whom operate at professorial level or hold lead scientist positions in the Crown
Research Institutes.
The successes of projects funded in the past are legendary and some of these projects are already creating economic
returns to New Zealand which exceed the total cost of the fund. Humanities research is not necessarily any less likely
to create economic benefits than discovery science as it can fuel the creative industries leveraged by information
technology.
From the Marsden Fund Council:
Professor Peter Bergquist Associate Professor Richard Blaikie Dr Garth Carnaby Professor Sally Casswell Professor
Charles Daugherty Professor Harlene Hayne Professor Peter Hunter Dr Rupert Sutherland Associate Professor Lydia Wevers
Professor Christine Winterbourn
ENDS