Pursuant to the Research, Science, and Technology Act 2010, this notice should be read in conjunction with the Establishment of Innovation Board and Science Board and Other Related Notices Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette, 31 January 2011, No. 9, page 177.
1. Notice to the Science Board
In this notice, I set the criteria for the assessment
by the Science Board ("the Board") of proposals for Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding.
2. Investment Tool
2.1 The Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding tool sits within the Long-term Non-contestable funding tool.
2.2 However, the criteria for Long-term Non-contestable funding set out in the Supplement at page 195, do not apply in respect of proposals for Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding.
3. Policy Objective
The policy objective of the Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding tool is to fund research, science and technology and related activities, and to support capability in the non-Crown Research Institute and non-Tertiary Education Institute sector that has the potential to:
(a) contribute to major economic, environmental, or social benefits for New Zealand; or
(b) contribute to the mitigation of major risks to
New Zealand’s economy, environment, or society that the Government has a role in mitigating.
4. Eligibility Criteria
4.1 The Board must assess all proposals for Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding against the following eligibility criteria:
(a) The proposal must be made by an Independent Research Organisation, which for the purposes of this notice is an organisation that:
(i) is not funded by a commodity or industry levy; and
(ii) operates as an independent legal entity and is not owned, recently established, or primarily funded by a Crown Research Institute, a Tertiary Education Institute, or a business; and
(iii) primarily carries out scientific research, development, or technology transfer activities that are not for the development of its own products and services; and
(iv) has a unique R&D capability that is not duplicated elsewhere; and
(v) has staff and equipment of a sufficient scale and capacity to carry out the proposal; and
(vi) has demonstrated that it has linkages with end users of its research, which may include industry users and the public sector:
(b) the organisation must be currently receiving Vote Science and Innovation funding, and have been receiving that funding for more than one contestable funding cycle. This can include funding that an organisation receives via a sub-contract that it has with an organisation that receives Vote Science and Innovation funding.
4.2 If an organisation does not meet the criteria in clause 4.1(a)(i), the Board may nevertheless determine that the organisation is eligible if the organisation has a unique R&D capability of national importance, but is unable to be supported adequately by the income generated by the levy.
5. Judgement Criteria
The Board must assess all proposals that meet the eligibility criteria against the following judgement criteria:
(a) The proposal must benefit New Zealand by contributing to the achievement of beneficial economic, social, or environmental outcomes;
(b) the proposal must demonstrate a pathway to application, which means that the proposal must demonstrate that the organisation will engage with users and that it is likely that the research will be taken up by research users;
(c) the persons involved in the proposal must have the ability to deliver research results (outputs), taking into account the track record of those persons and the involvement of appropriate collaborators;
(d) the proposal must be of high research quality, which means that the proposed team must be of sufficient size and capacity, and the proposal must support building or maintaining capability to achieve strategic outcomes that would be difficult to replace if lost.
6. Weightings
The Board must apply the following weightings to the judgment criteria:
Judgement Criteria For First Cycle Funding Weighting
Economic, social, or environmental benefits to New Zealand 25%
Pathway to application 25%
Ability to deliver research results (outputs) 20%
High research quality 30%
7. Other Criteria
7.1 In assessing proposals for Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding, the Science Board must:
(a) make funding decisions that are consistent with
the Public Finance Act 1989 and the relevant vote administered by the Ministry of Science and Innovation; and
(b) take into account the relevant Sector Investment Plans (if any).
7.2 The Board may allocate funding for proposals for Capability in Independent Research Organisations funding from any one of the following output expenses:
(a) Biological Industries Research
(b) High Value Manufacturing and Services Research
(c) Energy and Minerals Research
(d) Environmental Research
(e) Hazards and Infrastructure Research
(f) Health and Society Research (except that funding that is administered by the Health Research Council may not be allocated to such proposals).
7.3 The Board may approve proposals for funding for up to seven years, at which time the contracts will be reviewed and renegotiated, subject to a successful review and subject to the organisation meeting the eligibility criteria in this notice.
Dated at Wellington this 16th day of November 2011.
HON WAYNE MAPP, Minister of Science and Innovation.