Humanities Council Chair Defends Marsden Fund

Chair Of Humanities Council Endorses Defence Of Marsden Fund

27 Sep 2006

Professor Ken Strongman, Chair of the Council for Humanities and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Arts at Canterbury University, has endorsed a statement by the Marsden Council, hitting back at criticism of its funding process.

"It is unfortunate that a fund which represents less than 5 percent of all research, and which is so critical to New Zealand's research community has been attacked in this way," Professor Strongman said.

"Marsden is New Zealand's pre-eminent research fund and critical to enabling leading researchers to advance their academic field.

"The fund is unique in that it is untargeted and not simply tied to science and supports research in Humanities. It enables our leading researchers to put forward proposals that will lead to new discoveries and push the boundaries in all academic disciplines.

"It is vital to New Zealand that we have such a fund. Without it we could not make comparisons between ourselves and other OECD countries, which have long provided these opportunities to their academic communities.

ENDS

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