• News from the Royal Society of New Zealand –

Today, the Royal Society Te Apārangi is releasing the first of three independent reports prepared by a Working Group of Fellows of the Academy – leading researchers across New Zealand who have been recognised by their peers for their research excellence and leadership.

The Report, Threats to Research Funding in New Zealand: building a stable, forward-looking framework for capability, productivity, and national resilience, analyses the pressures on the public research system and proposes a forward-looking pathway for restoring scale, stability, and cross-party support over the coming decade.

Numerous studies have shown that New Zealand’s future prosperity, resilience, and wellbeing depend directly on a thriving research system.  However, over the past few decades, successive governments have invested less in research and development than most comparable advanced economies.

Adjusted for inflation, government funding of research and development (R&D) has fallen in real terms, putting at risk the capability New Zealand needs to solve the very real challenges facing our country and make the most of the opportunities in front of us.

Importantly, the Report charts a clear pathway forward.  It sets out a blueprint of actions to better support long-term productivity and economic competitiveness, and ensure that the research and science system reforms currently under way can be implemented successfully.

The Report calls for a phased pathway of investment, designed to enhance the country’s overall investment in R&D as a proportion of GDP, and improve long-term economic, social, cultural, and environmental outcomes. Specifically, the Report recommends a three-pronged approach:

• Near-term (1–2 years): halt the erosion of public research funding; stabilise the research and science system and give greater certainty to those working in it; ring-fence and protect key national capability during the reforms; protect early-career researchers; and restore confidence in investigator-led funding.
• Medium-term (3–5 years): establish a multi-year research investment pathway; rebuild real funding levels to previous peak levels; introduce rolling four-year funding commitments; mandate a national research impact framework; and strengthen the pathways that maximise the many public and private benefits of research, including support for the creation and expansion of research-intensive firms.
• Long-term (5–10 years): set and maintain an ambitious, cross-party target for total R&D public and private investment as a proportion of GDP, supported by stable public research institutions and a robust framework for assessing the performance of the R&D system.

The President of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding, welcomed the release of the Report. “The Report highlights that the nation’s prosperity, resilience, and wellbeing depend on a robust, high-quality, adequately funded and stable research system.”

“The Royal Society Te Apārangi has been actively engaging with all political parties ahead of the election to highlight the value of research and science to New Zealand’s future.  Whatever the election result, we are calling for cross-party commitment to investing more in the people and skills that this country needs to thrive.”

Co-Chair of the Working Group, Professor Nancy November, agrees that the research and science system plays a key role in developing the deeply knowledgeable and technically-skilled workforce that the economy needs to grow.

“The Report aims to reorient the conversation from short-term restructuring and reform toward a research investment framework that is strategic, enduring, and focused on sustaining critical capability in New Zealand.”

The Report also signals the importance of research across the system, from advanced technologies through to the humanities and social sciences, mātauranga Māori, environmental science, and primary-sector research.

“A broad research capability is key to successfully navigating global economic and technological disruptions, avoiding unnecessary economic and societal costs, and resolving complex challenges to social cohesion and equity,” says Professor November.

Background on the Working Group:

A Working Group of Fellows was convened in June 2025 to provide advice to the Society’s Academy on safeguarding the integrity, vitality, and public value of research in New Zealand. The need for this advice arose from a combination of ongoing changes to the structure and funding of research locally, together with global trends of increasing threats to researchers, and the undervaluing of R&D.

Link to the Report: Threats to Research Funding in New Zealand: building a stable, forward-looking framework for capability, productivity, and national resilience  [PDF 1.13 MB]

Source: Royal Society of New Zealand