Royal Society Te Apārangi 2025 Fellows' receptions - addressing threats to research

Reception details:  

Tuesday 28 October 2025 - Te Pae, Christchurch
Tuesday 4 November 2025 - Hilton Auckland, Auckland
Tuesday 11 November 2025 - Whisky and Wood, Wellington

Update from the Academy and Society

Geoff Chase outlined the work of the Academy to select recipients for Awards and Medal and to elect Fellows. Jane Harding highlighted the completion of the Society’s governance changes, including inclusion on reports of the Council’s main decisions in members’ newsletters to improve engagement, and the appointment of membership group contact points is almost completed. It was noted that Paul Atkins had resigned as Chief Executive, with Justine Daw appointed as his replacement, and James Henry standing in until Justine’s start in January.

The changes to the research sector were highlighted, with the reports of the Science System Advisory Group and University Advisory Group now published.  The changes to the Marsden Fund include disestablishing the social science and humanities panels, requiring all applications to have potential for economic, environmental, or health benefits, and an overall cut of 30%, with similar cuts to the Health Research Council. Funding had been used to create the NZ Institute for Advanced Technology, and for the merger of the Crown Research Institutes into Public Research Organisations. A new funding committee will be created, Research Funding New Zealand, and the administration of all research funding will be undertaken by MBIE. These changes have implications for the whole research sector and for the Society. Jane had written to the Minister to express her concerns about reduction in funding for undirected blue skies research, and the importance of research in the social sciences and humanities.

The loss of the Government contract to administer the Marsden Fund has implications for the Society, but details are still to be worked out. On a more positive note, the Society is still promoting and recognising excellence, providing expert advice to the Government, supporting international research commitments, and advancing education in science and technology and public understanding of science.

During the discussion, the following points were made:

• Although the Society has a mandate to provide advice to Government under its Act of Parliament, it didn’t mean that advice was welcome, and there is work to do to educate officials over how the research system works  – underpinned by blue skies research.
• The changes are likely to be hard to undo without more disruption to the research system. Support will be given to the Society’s staff during the transition of the Marsden Fund, and it was hoped that some could make the move to MBIE to retain institutional knowledge around the operation of the fund. At the same time, the Society will want to retain some of this institutional knowledge to continue to monitor the Marsden contracts already awarded.
• The Society has a great reservoir of stories around the importance of curiosity-driven research, which are being shared to demonstrate the benefits of public spend on research. We need to do better at selling the value of basic research, and research in the social sciences and humanities, to the country as a whole.
• It would be useful to engage the support of Academies from other countries to emphasise the importance and value of blue skies research in catalysing ideas.
• The internet has become the new source of truth, and as a result, researchers and experts have become less trusted and relevant.
• There is concern over whether international peer review of applications for Marsden Fund will continue after MBIE takes over administration of the fund, to maintain the reputation of the Fund.

Workshop sessions on safeguarding the integrity, vitality, and public value of research in Aotearoa

The workshops were led by the Co-Chairs of the Academy Advisory Group on ‘Addressing threats to research’, which was established in June 2025 to provide advice to the Academy Executive Committee on safeguarding the integrity, vitality, and public value of research in Aotearoa.

Neil Boister and Nancy November outlined the work of the new Advisory Group on ‘Addressing threats to research’, across the three events.

The three questions asked of Fellows were:

• what are the consequences of funding reductions (nationally/internationally)?
• who will be affected, and how?
• what actions should be taken to help mitigate the threats, and by who?

The Advisory Group had Fellows working on reports on how to combat a range of threats in three main areas:

1. knowledge integrity (mis- and disinformation, and fraudulent science)
2. health of the research system (research funding, and anything relating to the research system itself)
3. research autonomy (threats to individual researchers).

The level of research funding in Aotearoa New Zealand has remained at around 1.5% of GDP, below that of other OECD countries. Private-sector expenditure in R&D is increasing, but from relatively few companies, and New Zealand’s largest company, Fonterra, does comparatively little research. It was noted that few parliamentarians or parliamentary researchers have science degrees, and Parliament has no Chief Science Advisor. In addition, all the changes to the organisation of the research sector will require financial costs and waste. The sector needs more stability, and less political interference in research funding.

Participating Fellows were invited to write down their thoughts on the consequences of threats to research funding, who they will most affect, and what actions could be taken.

Key points during the discussion: 

• Potential consequences include:
  • reduced capability
  • a narrowing of understanding
  • difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff from overseas
  • a lack of opportunity for young people
  • a need to become more efficient with the funding available
  • a loss of knowledge, innovation, capability, capacity, productivity, and quality of life
  • reduced ability to generate New Zealand-focused new knowledge 
  • a loss of gatekeepers who can distinguish good from weak research.
• Those affected would be:
  • Māori scholars
  • social science and humanities researchers
  • early-career researchers
  • the wider public
  • international collaborators 
  • those relying on research – including the primary-production sector.
• Actions that could be taken include:
  • increasing the visibility of the Society and its voice
  • keeping the message simple (focused on the opportunities of increased funding, rather than complaining about the loss of funding)
  • telling and selling the story of our research, including return on investment, tax benefits, and other benefits and values that attach to research, especially fundamental research
  • finding ways for scholars and the tertiary sector to regain social licence
  • partnering with industry to generate economic growth
  • regaining control of the narrative (despite social media, popularism, and mis- and disinformation)
  • focusing on schools to encourage future generations of researchers
  • sharing New Zealand research stories in schools.