Expert perspective: Professor Richard Blaikie FRSNZ

"We shouldn't fear debate—scepticism and challenge are fundamental to research. However, targeted funding cuts to specific disciplines in the USA and recently also in New Zealand undermine the fundamental principles of academic inquiry and threaten our economic prosperity and cultural identity.

Public scrutiny of research funding is also legitimate – taxpayers have a right to question investments. But the recent ministerial decision to defund and delegitimise entire disciplines was politically motivated and short-sighted. Yes, government can set objectives, but implementation shouldn't be micromanaged.

We must protect the independence of the mechanisms proven to select original ideas, outstanding talent, and high-quality research, rather than predetermining the selection based on disciplines that are perceived to have commercial potential.

Knowledge from diverse disciplines enriches our ecosystem and drives innovation. Humanities graduates like Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens reinterpreted Tolkien for the screen, leading to films that continue to deliver immense cultural and economic value for our country. Social platforms like YouTube arose from both technology and insights into human behaviour. This is well understood at places like MIT, one of the world's premier technical institutions, which has an exceptionally strong School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences so they can produce research and well-rounded graduates who can translate innovation into useful products.

If the USA continues to retrench, New Zealand can strengthen research partnerships with regions like Europe or Asia that are showing leadership in addressing important global issues. Our membership in Horizons Europe offers excellent opportunities to maximise our contributions for example. Science has also long served as a diplomatic tool, to enable collaboration despite nationalism or political tensions.

In constrained economic times, research funding also has to compete with priorities like health and education as an election issue; but if we shift our approach to an appropriate investment framework we can avoid such zero-sum-game trade-offs.  What is the opportunity cost of not investing in research now to achieve future economic, social and environmental benefits?

Delays in system reform and the appointment of a Prime Minister's Science Advisor have left a critical gap that will require accelerated effort to address. We must have the right advocacy within government to continue to protect academic freedom and to champion diversity in research, gathering data and sharing compelling stories about how all disciplines – from the sciences to humanities and mātauraka Māori – contribute to New Zealand's cultural richness and economic prosperity. Our research ecosystem will then be able to recover, as protecting it is vital to securing our future capacity for innovation and cultural wellbeing."

Published May 2025.

Professor Richard Blaikie FRSNZ is the recently retired Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Otago. After stints at the University of Cambridge and as a Fulbright Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he continued his research on semiconductor nanostructures at the University of Canterbury. Professor Blaikie has been Director at the MacDiarmid Institute, and has received the Society’s Thomas Sidey Medal, Hector Medal, and Thomson Medal for research excellence and leadership.