Nā Te Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive update
Kia ora koutou.
As I sit to write this update, it is just a few hours since the 2025 budget announcement, so my mind is almost entirely focused on the implications of budgetary changes across the science and research system very broadly.
There are usually winners and losers in any budget, but in a tight, fiscally constrained environment the reprioritisation necessary to achieve anything new is a challenge at both the decision-making and receiving ends of the spectrum.
Certainly, being one part of the ‘receiving end’ in the Science, Innovation and Technology (SI&T) system, the impacts of that reprioritisation are very evident. Much is being written in response to the budget, and the Society’s response can be found on our website.
With the public release of the closing phase of work by the Science System Advisory Group still to come, along with outputs from the University Advisory Group, there is still potential for further significant changes across the system. Remaining focussed on the critical importance and contribution of excellent research endeavour across all subject areas is essential.
One aspect of the Society’s role as defined in our Act is:
to encourage, promote, and recognise excellence in science, technology, and the humanities.
Our most recent opportunity to recognise and celebrate excellence at all levels has been the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes. These were awarded at a ceremony in Parliament in early May – a fabulous occasion to recognise outstanding achievements in agriculture, anxiety, virology, science teaching and phytoremediation. Please do have a look at the winners and their research.
As we make our respective individual and organisational contributions within the science and research system, I look forward to continued and closer collaborative relationships that draw on our unique and complementary strengths to ensure the whole system remains a strong force for good for all people in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Paul Atkins MRSNZ
Chief Executive
Royal Society Te Apārangi