Marsden Fund preliminary proposals for 2026

This year the Marsden Fund received a total of 1021 Expression of Interests (EOIs) - 671 Standard and 350 Fast-Starts. This is a slight increase on last year's 978 EOIs. In total, 161 applicants have been invited to submit full proposals – 103 Standards and 54 Fast-Starts.

We anticipate approximately 76 proposals will eventually be contracted. The projected amount of funding available is approximately $55.9 million (excl. GST).

Submitted and invited to full round by panel

EOIs received				Invited to full round
Panel	Standard	Fast-Start	Total	Standard	Fast-Start	Total
BMS	118	30	148	19	5	24
CMP	81	28	109	13	4	17
EEB	74	61	135	10	10	20
EHB	107	77	184	17	13	30
EIS	99	67	166	14	11	25
ESA	67	40	107	10	7	17
MIS	72	34	106	12	5	17
PCB	53	13	66	8	3	11
Totals	671	350	1021	103	58	161

Organisational Statistics

Total proposals submitted by organisation

Organisation	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Bioeconomy Science Institute (AgResearch)	7	5	4	4	10	7
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research)	9	9	11	15	18	18
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Plant and Food Research)	7	2	14	16	15	20
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Scion)	1	5	2	6	7	4
GNS Science	13	11	18	21	25
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd	32	27	23	39	13
Earth Sciences New Zealand						43
PHF Science (formerly Institute of Environmental Science and Research)	7		2	6	11	3
PRO Total	76	65	74	107	99	95

Auckland University of Technology	32	19	14	23	28	38
Eastern Institute of Technology				1	1	2
Ara Institute of Canterbury	1
Lincoln University	18	11	8	12	10	20
Massey University	127	99	96	78	52	46
New Zealand College of Chiropractic				4	2	1
Otago Polytechnic						1
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa	1			3		2
Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi	1			2
Unitec - Institute of Technology	1	2	5	3	3	4
The University of Auckland	268	211	218	237	260	272
University of Canterbury	103	91	100	125	129	153
University of Otago	217	200	184	180	167	159
University of Waikato	82	47	52	54	47	61
Universal College of Learning (UCOL)			1
Victoria University of Wellington	176	138	129	132	115	113
Waikato Institute of Technology			1	2
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology					1
TEO Total	1027	818	808	856	815	872

*Other Total**	49	18	40	50	64	54

Grand Total	1152	901	922	1013	978	1021

*Other applicants include: private individuals, health boards, museums and independent research organisations

Total invited to submit a full proposal

Organisation	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Bioeconomy Science Institute (AgResearch)
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research)	1		1	2	1	3
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Plant and Food Research)	1	2	3	1	6	1
Bioeconomy Science Institute (Scion)				2		1
GNS Science	2	4	4	6	4
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd	8	6	5	3	3
Earth Sciences New Zealand						3
PHF Science (formerly Institute of Environmental Science and Research)			1	1
PRO Total	12	12	14	15	14	8

Auckland University of Technology	8	7	5	4	5	4
Eastern Institute of Technology
Ara Institute of Canterbury
Lincoln University	2				2	3
Massey University	23	29	18	14	9	8
New Zealand College of Chiropractic
Otago Polytechnic
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi				2
Unitec - Institute of Technology				1
The University of Auckland	65	68	53	59	65	49
University of Canterbury	20	29	31	16	27	22
University of Otago	51	50	51	52	45	35
University of Waikato	15	6	16	14	11	8
Universal College of Learning (UCOL)
Victoria University of Wellington	33	21	32	34	25	16
Waikato Institute of Technology
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
TEO Total	217	210	206	196	189	145

*Other Total**	6	5	6	9	10	8

Grand Total	235	227	226	220	213	161