Twenty nine projects benefit from Innovation fund

Twenty nine projects benefit from Innovation fund

Twenty-nine projects have been awarded a total of $18.8 million in funding over three years through the Encouraging and Supporting Innovation fund, Tertiary Education Commission Chief Executive Janice Shiner announced today.

“Supporting and encouraging innovation is vital for New Zealand’s economic transformation and ongoing social and cultural development,” she said.

“We need to find more advanced and sustainable ways of doing things to ensure New Zealand continues to prosper in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.

“Our tertiary sector has a key role to play in this. The Encouraging and Supporting Innovation fund supports tertiary education organisations to undertake new projects that will improve the transfer of knowledge between the tertiary sector and industry, and encourage students to study at higher levels.”

The fund has a strong focus on collaborative projects that will yield the greatest gains for industry, students and the wider community.

To be awarded funding, projects must be new initiatives and have strong innovative elements.  Some examples of the projects that have been awarded funding include:

A joint application from Otago Polytechnic and Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology for a project that will address the shortage of midwives in New Zealand.

Manukau Institute of Technology has been awarded funding to work closely with secondary schools to better understand the personal pathways Maori and Pasifika students take into tertiary education. 

Massey University will collaborate with Auckland University of Technology and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to establish a knowledge hub that will better connect the manufacturing industry and universities.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Waikato Institute of Technology have been funded for a collaborative project to develop a four year carpentry qualification targeting Māori youth. It will increase the number of young Māori entering the building and construction industry.

The Tertiary Education Commission administers the Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund on behalf of the government. This is the first round of the fund.

A list of the projects can be found on the tec website.

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