Otago University is hoping to get their hands on a chunk of the Government’s $73.5 million budget for research purposes following the announcement of 10 National Science Challenges.
The budget was announced on 1 May by John Key and will be added to last year’s $60 million budget to fund these challenges, three of which are set to be implemented by the end of 2013.
The challenges, which were set by Key and Education Minister Steven Joyce, have been “designed to take a more strategic approach to the government’s science investment by targeting a series of goals, which, if they are achieved, would have major and enduring benefits for New Zealand,” a press release from the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment stated.
Deputy Vice Chancellor of Otago University, Professor Richard Blaikie, likened the challenges as equivalent to some of history’s biggest moments. “It’s a bit like the moon-landings in the 1960s. Everyone’s aware that Kennedy said that ‘by the end of the decade we will have an American on the moon.’ He set the challenge and this is a bit the same,” Blaikie stated. “We set goals and we achieve them and it’s a better place for that.”
While Otago will be competing against other universities and organisations for the funding, co-operation between organisations will be required to achieve good results. “None of these challenges will be funded to a single organisation,” Blaikie stated.
The challenges range from “Ageing well” to “Resilience to nature’s challenges,” covering a wide range of areas and research demands which will require resources from not only universities, but also government organisations and other specialist groups.
Bailkie believes that research is important in order to be “educated with current knowledge that comes out of research, rather than just out of textbooks that are out of date, so it’s really important to have that research for discipline-based research and scholarship.”
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