5 December 2024
The New Zealand Government’s decision to restructure the Marsden Fund and Catalyst Fund is more than a simple budgetary adjustment – it is a pivotal moment.
This decision comes in the context of international pressure on research funding, and lack of understanding of the value that researchers bring to our society. This rift partly explains why we have reached this moment. We have an opportunity to engage in a productive national dialogue to highlight the fundamental role of research and researchers in our society.
By narrowing research funding to a prescriptive economic lens, we risk undermining the complex ecosystem of knowledge production. Researchers are critical independent advisors who generate insights that transcend immediate fiscal calculations. Their work generates systemic value through innovative problem-solving, policy development, and societal understanding that often yields unpredictable yet profound economic and social benefits over the long term.
The most pressing challenges of our time – climate change, technological disruption, social inequalities – defy simplistic disciplinary boundaries. They require nuanced, interdisciplinary approaches that integrate quantitative and qualitative perspectives. An example close to home is that both modelling flood risk and understanding social resilience is crucial to the recovery and flourishing of communities affected by recent natural disasters.
Leading research institutions globally, including the International Science Council, emphasise the necessity of diverse scholarly engagement that centres human complexity across multiple scales. To create true innovation, our research infrastructure and funding needs to support intellectual diversity, collaborative thinking and a commitment to understanding our world’s complex challenges.
- Marsden Fund refocused for science with a purpose – New Zealand Government
- Catalyst Fund updated for global impact – New Zealand Government