Also available as a PDF: 2023 Council Award Guidelines for Applicants

See also, information on the application portal

On this page: 

Introduction

The Marsden Fund operates a yearly funding cycle and makes an annual call for proposals in November/December.

Marsden Fund Council

The Marsden Fund Council (the Council), appointed by the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, makes decisions on Marsden Funding. The Council consists of eleven eminent researchers spanning a range of disciplines.

Marsden Fund Council mission statement

“To drive world-class research in New Zealand by supporting and incentivising excellent researchers to work on their best and boldest ideas and to connect internationally, leading to new knowledge and skills with the potential for significant downstream impact for New Zealand”.

Statement of support for early career researchers (2020):

“Given the constraints imposed by Covid-19 on the New Zealand research community and the particular effects on the trajectories of early career researchers, the Marsden Fund Council will give strategic attention to the criterion of building research capacity in New Zealand when assessing proposals”.

Award categories

There are three categories of proposals available for the Marsden Fund:

Fast-Start: For emerging researchers, capped at a maximum amount of $360,000 over 3 years. Two–stage process, with an Expression of Interest (EOI) to be submitted by the February deadline. The EOI consists of a one-page abstract of proposed research, CVs plus supporting information. Assessed by discipline-based panels.

Standard: Open to all eligible researchers, amount of funding is flexible and is capped. These are larger than Fast-Start proposals. Funding can be sought for up to three years. Two-stage process, with an Expression of Interest to be submitted by the February deadline. The EOI consists of a one-page abstract of proposed research, CVs plus supporting information. Assessed by discipline-based panels.

Marsden Fund Council Award: Open to all eligible researchers. Larger than Standard grants, , capped at a maximum amount of $3 million over 3 years. One-stage proposal process, with a full proposal to be submitted by the February deadline. Assessed in a two-stage process by the Council.

These guidelines pertain to Marsden Fund Council Award proposals ONLY. Applicants wishing to submit a Fast-Start or Standard proposal should consult the separate Expression of Interest Guidelines for Applicants.

Funding deadlines

The deadline for all Marsden Fund Council Award proposals is 12 noon (NZDT) Thursday, 16 February 2023. Research Offices and private applicants will be advised by 9 May 2023 of the outcome of Marsden Fund Council Award proposals that have been recommended to go forward to Stage 2.

Proposal portal

All Marsden Fund proposals should be submitted on the web-based portal.

Researchers should write their proposals directly into this portal using the forms and templates provided.

Researchers who submit proposals through an institutional co-ordinator should contact their Research Office for log-in details for the portal. Independent researchers and researchers from small institutions should contact the Marsden Fund (marsden@royalsociety.org.nz or 04-470 5799) to obtain their log-in details.

Separate instructions for using the portal are available there. However, the guidelines provided here should also be referred to as they contain background information about the Marsden Fund and what information is expected in each section of the proposal.

Changes for 2023 – relating to Marsden Fund Council Award proposals

• Vision Mātauranga section moved forward in the proposal (now section 2)
• Vision Mātauranga text box increased to 200 words in section 2
• Proposed research, Methodologies, Assessment criteria, References, Timetable, Ethics and Roles and Resources are now Section 3
• NEW: Proposals must not benefit a Russian state institution (including but not limited to support for Russian military or security activity) or an organisation outside government that may be perceived as contributing to the war effort
• Trusted Research guidance has been updated
• COVID-19: The guidelines and timetable have been written as if the 2023 round will proceed as normal. However, assessment processes may need to change at short notice in order to respond quickly to a rapidly evolving situation. Research offices and applicants will be notified if there are any changes to the assessment round.

Any changes will also be posted on our website:

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/mf-research-funding-covid-19-updates/

Information on applying

Information on applying is available:

• From your research coordinator if you are at a university, Crown Research Institute (CRI), or Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO).
• On the Marsden Fund web site: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/marsden-fund-application-process/
• From the Marsden Fund office (phone 04-470 5799).

Timetable  

Marsden Fund objectives

The Marsden Fund invests in excellent, investigator-led research aimed at generating new knowledge, with long-term benefit to New Zealand. It supports excellent research projects that advance and expand the knowledge base and contributes to the development of people with advanced skills in New Zealand. The research is not subject to government’s socio-economic priorities.

The Marsden Fund encourages New Zealand’s leading researchers to explore new ideas that may not be funded through other funding streams and fosters creativity and innovation within the research, science and technology system.

The primary objectives of the Marsden Fund are to:

• Enhance the quality of research in New Zealand by creating increased opportunity to undertake excellent investigator-initiated research; and
• Support the advancement of knowledge in New Zealand, and contribute to the global knowledge base.

The secondary objectives of the Marsden Fund are to:

• Contribute to the development of advanced skills in New Zealand including support for continuing training of post-doctoral level researchers, and support for the establishment of early careers of new and emerging researchers.
• Contribute in the long-term to economic, social, cultural, environmental, health or other impacts for New Zealand.

Note: Impact will be monitored at the level of the whole Fund over a long timeframe.

The full Terms of Reference, last updated in 2017, are on the Marsden Fund website: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/about/tor

Eligibility criteria (Updated)

The Marsden Fund is fully contestable and is open to applicants who meet the Marsden Fund’s eligibility criteria. The criteria are determined by the Council. Eligibility to apply for funding as a contact Principal Investigator (PI) is restricted to New Zealand-based researchers. The research should be carried out in New Zealand, except in cases where its nature demands that it be carried out elsewhere.

For Marsden Fund Council Award proposals, “New Zealand-based,” for researchers who have overseas appointments, has been defined by the Council as being employed at a New Zealand host institution, and present, in New Zealand for 0.5 FTE (or more) per year.

Please note that the requirement to be “New Zealand-based” for the duration of the grant applies to contact PIs only. It does not apply to co-PIs or AIs.

NEW FOR 2023: For a proposal to be eligible for funding, it must not benefit a Russian state institution (including but not limited to support for Russian military or security activity) or an organisation outside government that may be perceived as contributing to the war effort.

More information is available at https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/news/new-eligibility-criteria-restricts-science-research-funding-that-could-contribute-to-russias-war-effort/ 

Definition of Principal and Associate Investigators

Principal Investigators (PIs) lead the research, contribute the main ideas and are responsible for the achievements of the objectives and the management of the contract.

Associate Investigators (AIs) play a lesser role than PIs and may only be involved with limited aspects of the work. These can include, for example, cultural advisors.

Collaborators providing a service may be named in the Roles and Resources section; no CV is required for them.

Number of proposals per person

For each annual funding cycle, eligible applicants must:

• Be involved in no more than ONE proposal as a PI per funding round (assuming no exclusion – see below).
• Be involved in no more than TWO proposals in total per funding round; either as a PI on one and an AI on another, or as an AI on two proposals.

This applies across all categories of grants; for example, if an applicant is a PI on a Marsden Fund Council Award proposal, they cannot be a PI on a Standard proposal in the same funding round.

Principal Investigator exclusion rule

If successful as a PI in a particular funding year, a researcher will be excluded from applying for another Marsden Fund grant as a PI for the next two funding years. The exclusion period is not affected by any approved contract time extensions. This applies across all grant categories, and applies to all PIs, whether they are contact PIs or co‑PIs.

For example:

• A PI who was awarded a Marsden Fund grant in the 2021 round will not be permitted to apply as a PI to the Marsden Fund in 2023 but will be permitted to apply in the 2024 round.
• A PI who was awarded a Marsden Fund grant in the 2022 round will not be eligible to apply as a PI in 2023 or 2024 but will be permitted to apply in the 2025 round.
• A PI who was awarded a Marsden Fund grant in the 2020 round is eligible to apply in the 2023 round, even if the 2020 contract has been extended past its original completion date.
• Any PI who is excluded by this rule in any particular funding round may still apply as an AI on a maximum of two proposals. For Fast-Start and Standard proposals, the maximum FTE is 0.05 per year; for Marsden Fund Council Award proposals, this restriction on AI FTE time does not apply.
• On the very rare occasions where a new PI is appointed on an existing grant (for example if the original contact PI moves overseas), new PIs are not subject to the PI exclusion rule.

Assessment criteria

The key assessment criteria are:

• Proposals must use an interdisciplinary approach to significantly expand research possibilities and ambition through new researcher and institutional links.
• Proposals must have the potential for significant scholarly impact* because of the proposal’s novelty, originality, insight and ambition.
• Proposals must be rigorous, and should have a basis in prior research and use a sound research method.
• The research team must have the ability and capacity to deliver.
• Proposals should develop research skills in New Zealand, particularly those at the post-doctoral level and emerging researchers.

Where relevant to the proposal:

• Proposals must consider the relation of the research to the themes of Vision Mātauranga and, where relevant, how the project will engage with Māori.

*Scholarly impact is a demonstrable contribution to shifting understanding and advancing methods, theory and application across and within disciplines.

The cost of the project is not considered until the second assessment stage. Once the overall grades and rankings have been determined, the cost of each proposal is then considered with a view to the Council funding the top ranked proposals up to the overall level of funds available.

All proposals funded must:

• Comply with the terms and process of any government policy or directive; and
• Be consistent with the nature and objectives of the Marsden Fund and the criteria set out above.

How the criteria will be assessed

Proposals to the Marsden Fund must meet each individual criterion to the satisfaction of the Council to be considered for funding.

Once Council members are satisfied that a proposal meets each criterion individually, they will score the proposal based on a holistic assessment across all relevant criteria and relative to other proposals being considered. Proposals with an inspirational, exciting and compelling research goal that transcends the sum of the individual assessment criteria are likely to score more highly in this process.

The ‘ability and capacity to deliver’ criterion will be judged relative to opportunity, with career achievements assessed in the context of career history, allowing for breaks for family or other responsibilities. Where applicants already hold a Marsden Fund contract in a related area, performance on this will also be considered as evidence of ability, but existing award holders will not be privileged versus new applicants because of this.

Marsden Fund Council Award

The Marsden Fund Council Award category was introduced by the Council in 2018. The expectation is that these Awards will enable teams of researchers to come together to engage in collaborative projects that might have difficulty being assessed by a single panel due to their interdisciplinary nature. This will expand the opportunities for interdisciplinary researcher-led projects of the highest ambition and encourage creativity and innovation through greater connections between specialists across disciplines with larger teams.

The assessment criteria for the Marsden Fund Council Award are those outlined in the Terms of Reference and are the same as for all other Marsden Fund proposals, with an extra criterion:

Proposals must use an interdisciplinary approach to significantly expand research possibilities and ambition through new researcher and institutional links.

Proposals should clearly demonstrate the potential for significant scholarly impact due to novelty, originality, insight and ambition that characterises Marsden Fund research, plus the potential for fostering new and sustainable linkages between researchers and between institutions beyond the period of the Award.

Marsden Fund Council Awards will be particularly suited to projects where the expertise and skills required for the project could not be supported by a Marsden Fund Standard grant. Proposals that require multiple skill sets, incorporate more than one post-doctoral fellow across different research areas, or develop research infrastructure and co-operation across disciplines are encouraged. While joint proposals from multiple institutions are encouraged, only one institution will be the contractor.

The Council will set aside $6 million per year for projects up to three years in duration, to cover proposals in this category of grant. The Council expects to fund up to 2 grants in this category, dependent upon proposal budgets. The Marden Fund Council Awards are up to 3 years.

The Council reserves the right to not grant any Marsden Fund Council Awards if they are of the opinion that the purpose of the Marsden Fund would be better served by allocating the money to the general pool of Fast-Start and Standard proposals.

For each Marsden Fund Council Award proposal, the Council expects a minimum of two PIs to be involved, each representing separate discipline areas (two or more) that are fundamental to the proposal.

Council will accept proposals where AIs provide major additional input, where these individuals are constrained to act as PIs by the PI exclusion rule (see “Eligibility” section above). In this case, the normal FTE restriction of 0.05 per year does not apply to AIs on a Marsden Fund Council Award proposal. Applicants should discuss this in the ‘Roles and Resources’ section.

Interdisciplinarity

Meeting the “interdisciplinary research” criterion is essential for Council Award proposals to succeed. It is important to note that this is more than bringing together two or more disciplines in an additive approach.  Simply larger Standard proposals where various modules are added together but not integrated well are not likely to succeed.  Ideally, the proposed research would integrate several disciplines together and be more than the sum of its parts (interactive).

The Marsden Fund Council is keen to fund interdisciplinary proposals that in the long term, may lead to transdisciplinary research, but this is not a requirement.

Examples

Projects funded so far in this category:

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/awarded-grants/marsden-fund-highlights/2019-marsden-fund-highlights/exploring-temperature-dependence-earths-biosphere-over-time-and-space/

 https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/awarded-grants/marsden-fund-highlights/2019-marsden-fund-highlights/study-into-whether-ancient-malaria-led-to-genetic-predisposition-to-diabetes-gout-in-pacific-populations/

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/awarded-grants/marsden-fund-highlights/2020-marsden-fund-highlights/in-the-green-could-local-plant-diversity-be-the-key-to-understanding-childhood-allergies-and-asthma/

 https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/awarded-grants/marsden-fund-highlights/2021-marsden-fund-highlights/deciphering-gravitational-waves-and-decoding-signals-from-the-universe/

Definitions of different types of research

Multidisciplinarity:

Draws on knowledge from different disciplines but stays within their boundaries (additive)

Interdisciplinarity:

Analyses, synthesises and harmonises links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole (interactive).

Any study or group of studies undertaken by scholars from two or more distinct scientific disciplines. The research is based upon a conceptual model that links or integrates theoretical frameworks from those disciplines, uses study design and methodology that is not limited to any one field, and requires the use of perspectives and skills of the involved disciplines throughout multiple phases of the research process.

Transdisciplinarity:

Integrates diverse disciplines, and transcends their traditional boundaries (holistic). There are several frameworks that can be used here. For example, it can be defined as research efforts conducted by investigators from different disciplines working jointly to create new conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and translational innovations that integrate and move beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a common problem.

References:

• Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 1. Definitions, objectives, and evidence of effectiveness - PubMed (nih.gov)
• https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/trec/about-us/definitions/
• For a useful visual guide to different types of collaborative research, please see https://makinggood.design/thoughts/tasty (Jo Bailey)

Marsden Fund Council Award: assessment process

There are two main points of difference to the Fast-Start and Standard schemes:

1. Marsden Fund Council Award proposals will be assessed by the members of the Council, rather than by disciplinary panels. In addition to the Chair, the Council is composed of top researchers from all ten of the Marsden Fund panels, and as such the Council is well placed to assess interdisciplinary proposals.
2. There is a one-stage proposal process. Applicants for this award are required to submit a Full Proposal at the February deadline.

Proposals to this category will be assessed in two stages. In Stage 1, they will be triaged by the Council. In May, Council will select proposals to go forward to Stage 2. These will be assessed by expert international referees. Applicants will have the opportunity to respond to referee reports.

Following submission of applicant responses, the Council may have specific questions about various aspects of the research. If so, there is a possibility that some of the Council representatives may wish to conduct a brief video interview with one or more of the PIs on the proposal, to address any questions that Council may have. If this is the case, the Marsden Fund administration will contact applicants to arrange a convenient time. The timeframe for this is likely to be early October.

A final decision will then be made in October by the Council.

How to apply

Applicants should register their intent to submit a Marsden Fund Council Award on the portal. Please enter the name of the contact PI (with all initials) and select “Marsden Fund Council Award” as the grant category.

The final date for registration of intent will be determined by Research Offices in each institution. Note that the Marsden Fund does not have a deadline for registration, and does not require Research Offices to notify the Marsden Fund administration of registrations. Institutional applicants will be registered by their co-ordinator, or, if there is no co-ordinator, by the Marsden Fund administration.

The strict deadline for submission of proposals is 12 noon (NZDT) Thursday, 16 February 2023.

After the Council has considered all proposals (Stage 1), a number will be selected for peer review by expert referees and reviewed again by the Council at Stage 2. Another proposal will not be required. The results of the final allocation process will be announced in early November 2023.

It is not intended that any pre-selection of proposals should occur within proposers’ institutions, but researchers must ensure that any proposal they submit has the approval of their research institute or other employing agency, where appropriate.

Trusted Research Guidance (Updated)

Researchers should familiarise themselves with the Trusted Research Guidance for Institutions and Researchers. If there are any questions arising from this, please consult your Research Office. 

New Zealand has an open and collaborative research and innovation system, and values academic freedom and research conducted independently by individuals and organisations.  While the government is actively seeking to increase the international connectedness of the research and innovation system, there are potential risks with international partnerships that have to be identified and managed to prevent damaged reputations (including harm to researchers), lost intellectual property (IP), and harm to New Zealand’s national interests (Trusted Research Guidance for Institutions and Researchers).

One such risk is that sensitive technologies* may be accessed by others and applied to purposes that are not consistent with New Zealand’s values or interests. In order to manage these potential risks, a risk analysis of those projects that are offered funding in the 2023 Marsden Fund selection round will be performed.  In the unlikely event that any funded project appears to contain a high level of risk, risk mitigation strategies may need to be employed.  These would be developed after a discussion with the Principal Investigator and the relevant institution(s) and may form part of the contractual conditions of the project.

*Technologies become sensitive when they: are or could become dual use i.e., have both a civil and military/security application; or, underpin, or have the potential to underpin, significant economic value for New Zealand.

Vision Mātauranga

Background

Vision Mātauranga is a policy about innovation, opportunity and the creation of knowledge that highlights the potential contribution of Māori knowledge, resources and people.

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/marsden-fund-application-process/submitting-a-proposal/vision-matauranga/

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/agencies-policies-and-budget-initiatives/vision-matauranga-policy/

There are four themes:

• Indigenous Innovation, which involves contributing to economic growth through distinctive research and development.
• Taiao, which is concerned with achieving environmental sustainability through iwi and hapū relationships with land and sea.
• Hauora/Oranga, which centres around improving health and social wellbeing.
• Mātauranga, which involves exploring indigenous knowledge.

Vision Mātauranga and the Marsden Fund

Please note that Vision Mātauranga is included as an assessment criterion:

Proposals must consider the relation of the research to the themes of Vision Mātauranga and, where relevant, how the project will engage with Māori.

For the Marsden Fund Council Award, applicants indicate whether or not Vision Mātauranga is relevant and, if so, which of the four themes apply – please refer to instructions for Section 2.

Up to one additional page will be available for statements on Vision Mātauranga immediately following the description of research in Sections 3a-3c. This is to enable Vision Mātauranga to be more easily integrated into the conceptual framework and/or research design. Where Vision Mātauranga is appropriate to a proposal, it can contribute to the assessment of its overall excellence.

How do I decide whether to include a Vision Mātauranga statement in my proposal?

A Vision Mātauranga statement must be included for all research that has relevance for Māori. The research category descriptions outlined in the next section may help you decide if this applies to your project. Please note, however, that those categories are fluid, there may well be overlap between them, and not every point in each category need apply.

Categories of research

The five categories identified below have been adapted from those on the National Science Challenge, Biological Heritage website https://bioheritage.nz/about-us/vision-matauranga/ hosted by Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.

Please note that there may well be overlap between categories as in categories 2 and 3 in terms of the nature and degree of relevance to Māori.

The original categories were set out by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in information for the Endeavour Fund c. 2015.

Research with no specific Māori component

• No mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is used.
• Māori are not associated with the research process (for example, it is not on any research management / advisory / governance panels, it is not inclusive of Māori land or institutions, nor the subject of any component of the research).
• Work is not likely to be of greater direct relevance to Māori than members of any other group.

Research specifically relevant to Māori

This category includes research projects where:

• There is specific relevance to Māori.
• Mātauranga Māori may be used in a minor way to guide the work and its relevance to Māori.
• It includes work that contributes to Māori aspirations and outcomes.

Research involving Māori

This category includes research projects where:

• Mātauranga Māori may be incorporated in the project, but is not central to the project.
• Research is specifically and directly relevant to Māori and Māori are involved in the design and/or undertaking of the research.
• The work typically contributes to Māori (for example, iwi, hapū, organisations) aspirations and outcomes.

Māori-centred research

This category includes research projects where:

• The project is Māori led, and where Mātauranga Māori is used alongside other knowledges (for example through frameworks, models, methods, tools, etc.).
• Kaupapa Māori research is a key focus of the project.
• Research is typically collaborative or consultative, with direct input from Māori groups, commonly including Māori researchers or a collaboration with Māori researchers or researchers under the guidance/mentoring of Māori.
• There is alignment with and contribution to Māori (for example, iwi, hapū, organisations) aspirations.

Kaupapa Māori research

This category includes research projects where:

• Mātauranga Māori is incorporated, used and understood, as a central focus of project and its findings.
• Research is grounded in te ao Māori and connected to Māori philosophies and principles.
• Research typically uses kaupapa Māori research methodologies.
• Te reo Māori may be a central feature to this kaupapa or research activity, and key researchers have medium to high cultural fluency or knowledge of tikanga and reo.
• The research is generally led by a Māori researcher; non-Indigenous researchers may carry out research under the guidance/mentoring of a Māori researcher.
• Māori participation (iwi, hapū, marae, individual) is high.
• The work contributes strongly to Māori (for example, iwi, hapū, organisations) aspirations and outcomes and is mana enhancing.

Developing a Vision Mātauranga statement

It is important to keep in mind that there is no single approach or prescription for Vision Mātauranga: one size does not fit all and there are many possible ways of addressing Vision Mātauranga. Vision Mātauranga should not, however, be seen as an add-on, nor should it be treated as separate from the research, methods or people involved in the project. A holistic approach that considers reciprocity and relationships is therefore desirable.

Vision Mātauranga does not begin and end with your Vision Mātauranga statement. You should document how you have considered Vision Mātauranga and demonstrate applicable actions and relationships throughout the research proposal. The following questions may be useful to consider when conceptualising and writing your project:

• Have you co-created the research topic/issue with an iwi or Māori organisation?
• What does working in partnership with iwi mean to you as researchers?
• To what extent have you discussed the research with Māori partners and agreed on the methodology you will use?
• Was there full disclosure and informed consent to the proposed research with Māori partners? How has that agreement/informed consent been agreed to?
• Has budget been disclosed and agreed to with Māori partners? Is there provision in that budget for Māori involvement, capability development and consultation?
• Is there appropriate Māori researcher involvement in the project, both in terms of PI/AIs and capability development?
• What provisions have you made to ensure there is advice from appropriate Māori organisations throughout the life of the research project? If there are concerns or disagreements with Māori partners, how are these to be resolved?
• What provisions have you made to ensure there is appropriate technology transfer to Māori partners as the research proceeds and as findings become available towards the end of the project?
• Are there benefits to Māori? What are they? And how have these been agreed with Māori partners?
• How is the project an opportunity to build the capacity of Māori researchers or students in your discipline, both now and for the future?
• How might this research build new, or enhance existing, relationships with Māori?
• How will you share the research outcomes with Māori?
• Has there been agreement about the intellectual property ownership of research findings with Māori partners? What is the nature of that agreement?
• Is there a need for members of the research team to be proficient in te reo? How has this aspect been addressed?
• Is there a Tiriti o Waitangi component or requirement in your research?
• Is the research mana enhancing?

Vision Mātauranga resources

Below you will find a non-exhaustive list of published resources that describe, discuss, and talk about how researchers have engaged with Vision Mātauranga and kaupapa Māori research. These range from early conceptions of Vision Mātauranga to more recent frameworks. The resources underscore the diverse ways Vision Mātauranga may be approached across disciplines and methodologies.

Allen, W., Jamie M. Ataria, J. M., Apgar, J. M., Harmsworth, G., and Tremblay, L. A. (2009). Kia pono te mahi putaiao—doing science in the right spirit. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 39:4, 239-242. DOI: 10.1080/03014220909510588

Crawford, S. (2009). Matauranga Maori and western science: The importance of hypotheses, predictions and protocols, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 39:4, 163-166. DOI: 10.1080/03014220909510571

Broughton, D. (Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Taranaki, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi), and McBreen, K. (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu). (2015). Mātauranga Māori, tino rangatiratanga and the future of New Zealand science. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 45:2, 83-88. DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2015.1011171

Kana, F. and Tamatea, K. (2006). Sharing, listening, learning and developing understandings of Kaupapa Māori research by engaging with two Māori communities involved in education. Waikato Journal of Education, 12, 9-20. https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/6198/Kana%20Sharing.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Macfarlane, S., Macfarlane, A. and Gillon, G. (2015) Sharing the food baskets of knowledge: Creating space for a blending of streams. In A. Macfarlane, S. Macfarlane, M. Webber, (eds.), Sociocultural realities: Exploring new horizons. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 52-67.

Moewaka Barnes, H. (2006). Transforming Science: How our Structures Limit Innovation. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand Te Puna Whakaaro, 29, 1-16. https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj29/29-pages-1-16.pdf

Pihama, L., Tiakiwai, S.-J., and Southey, K. (eds.). (2015). Kaupapa rangahau: A reader. A collection of readings from the Kaupapa Rangahau workshops series. (2nd ed.). Hamilton, New Zealand: Te Kotahi Research Institute. https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/11738/Kaupapa%20Rangahau%20-%20A%20Reader_2nd%20Edition.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y

Smith, L. T., Maxwell, T. K., Puke, H., and Temara, P. (2016). Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing indigenous insights? A discussion from Mātauranga Māori. Knowledge Cultures, 4(3), 131–156.

A video resource is available at: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/marsden-fund-application-process/information-for-applying-to-the-marsden-fund/

Other funding

Applicants are asked to provide details of funding sought or received for the Marsden Fund-proposed research, or for research relating to the proposal. This is consistent with information asked for at the Standard and Fast-Start Full proposal stage.

Format of proposals

All proposals should be submitted via the portal using the prescribed document templates. These can be downloaded from the portal with the original format retained from the templates. The layout of the entire proposal is automatic on the portal (seen via the “Print Preview” function). The limit on space in all sections of the templates should be adhered to. The typeface should be 12 point, Times or of similar size font, single spacing (12 point), with margins of 2 cm on the left and 2 cm on the right side of the page. Instructions may be removed, but not the margins. No additional pages or attachments will be accepted other than where requested (unless a translation is supplied– see below).

A hard copy of the last page of the proposal that contains the declaration page is not required. Instead, all contact PIs are required to tick a box on the portal to indicate their acceptance of the proposal declaration. The declaration is the same as that for Standard and Fast-Start proposals. For institutional sign-off, a single signature covering all submitted proposals is all that is required, and a form for this is available on the portal for Research Offices. For private individuals, the tick-box alone is sufficient.

IMPORTANT: Coloured images / text may be included in sections 3a to 3j of the proposal. Images are not permitted in CVs. The guidelines on formatting must be followed. Failure to do so may result in the proposal not being considered.

Applying in te reo Māori

If applicants wish to complete some, or all, sections of their proposal in te reo Māori, they are able to do so. However, because some of the panellists (and possibly referees) who will be assessing their proposal will not be fluent in te reo Māori, an English translation of the section(s) will be necessary. Applicants, therefore, are able to provide a translation for those sections as supplementary material over and above the page limits set for the relevant section of the proposal. Applicants must still keep to the set page limits for the “official” proposal, but can use additional pages for the translation.

The portal at present will not allow additional documents or pages, so we ask that anyone who is providing a translation sends it by email to rachel.averill@royalsociety.org.nz by the closing date of February 16th 2023. If an applicant chooses not to provide a translation, then we will arrange for a translation to be made by one of the third-party translation services that we use for our own publications. Please note that because this will be carried out by a third party service, we will not be able to guarantee the accuracy of the translation.

Proposal numbers

When you register your proposal on the portal, a unique proposal number will automatically be generated.

• This consists of: 23-(Institution)-(Number).
• The first two numbers refer to the year of application (2023). The institution is a three-letter abbreviation.
• For example: LCR – Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, UOW – University of Waikato.
• The numbers are consecutive 3-digit numbers. Your number can be obtained from your institution’s Research Office.
• Private individuals or researchers need to contact the Marsden Fund administration for their proposal number.

You will need to select the category of proposal: Fast-Start, Standard, or Marsden Fund Council Award.

As proposals will be assessed by Council, no panel choice is necessary.

The information entered will appear automatically at the top of each page of the proposal form, along with the name and initials of the contact PI (see notes on “Contact Person and Principal Investigators” below).

Example for Dr H.R. Taumata:

Audiences

Different parts of the proposal should be addressed to the appropriate audiences.

Public: The Title and Summary sections should be in plain language, without compromising accuracy. These will be made publicly available if the proposal is funded.

Marsden Fund Council: The Background, Overall Aims and Proposed Research sections should address the Council as its audience (in other words, research literate but not necessarily specialists in the fields covered in the proposal).

Expert Referees: The section “Specific Methodologies required for the Proposed Research” should address specialists in the field. Here the intended audience are expert referees. It is anticipated that expert commentary on this section will provide confidence to the Council that the proposals are rigorous, and have a basis in prior research using a sound research methodology.

It is important to support the Background, Overall Aims, Proposed Research, Assessment Criteria and Specific Methodology sections by the use of references. Please ensure that these are not only to the applicants’ own work

Contacts and contracting organisation

The host organisation of the contact person will be responsible for signing off all Council award proposals. Administration contact on the research proposal is through the institution’s research office. Private applicants may sign off as their own host.

The host organisation of the PI will be responsible for fulfilment of the contract and is required to guarantee that resources and research time are available.

Any funding awarded is GST inclusive. Successful private applicants will have to register for GST.

Contracts will be based on the information contained in the proposal. If the applicant is offered the full amount requested, the proposal will be the basis for the contract. If the funding awarded is less than that requested, then the contract will be negotiated to reflect this.

Although a contract is with a host organisation for administrative purposes, if there is significant change in personnel on a project, the Marsden Fund can either transfer the contract to a new institution to which a key person has shifted, or terminate the project. Other changes to the contract need to be notified to the Marsden Fund and a variation approved. A successful private applicant can also act as the contractor.

The submission of progress reports to the Marsden Fund is a contractual requirement. A written report describing in a prescribed format the progress of the year’s research is required at the end of years one and two (if any preliminary work has been described in the proposed research, you will be asked to describe what has happened to this work in the first progress report). A full report, following a prescribed format, must be provided at the completion of the funding period.

NZRIS obligations

Royal Society Te Apārangi is one of the data providers for the New Zealand Research Information System (NZRIS). In 2020, several new data elements were introduced for each proposal. These will form data to be collected in the future as part of NZRIS. These elements will continue.

• Percentage share of Fields of Research (FOR) codes in the proposed research.
• Socio-Economic Objectives (SEOs) and associated keywords required – note that these will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.
• Type of research activity (default set to “pure basic”, 100%) - will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.
• Share of the proposed research to each Vision Mātauranga theme.
• On the “Statistical information” page, “Date of Birth” is requested for each applicant. This is not mandatory. Along with other statistical information such as gender and ethnicity, this will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.

For more information about NZRIS, please see https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/research-and-data/nzris/

For more recent progress on NZRIS, please see https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/nzris-phase-1-factsheet-august-september-2020.pdf

Our provision of data to the NZRIS system currently consists of the characteristics of awarded proposals and the names and institutions of supported investigators.

Proposal section by section

Instructions how to use the portal, along with FAQs, are available at:

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/marsden-fund-application-process/submitting-a-proposal/the-marsden-application-portal/

Most sections of the Marsden Fund Council Award proposal have brief explanatory statements about what is required.

Follow-on Funding tick box

Please tick this box if this proposal is following on in any way, or arising from previous Marsden funding. If so, please note in the text box the Marsden Fund contract(s) which the proposed research follows on from. The tick box and previous contract information provided here will be used for monitoring and evaluation purposes only and will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals. For this reason, any relationship to previous Marsden funding should be described in the proposed research.

Section 1a. Title

The title of your proposal should be in plain language, be descriptive, and no more than 25 words in length. Please note that the title helps potential reviewers decide whether to assist us in the review process, so please avoid puns, proverbs, colloquialisms, whimsical or obscure popular culture references. A clear title will also help the Marsden Fund Council meet its obligations to communicate the relevance and importance of Marsden-funded research to the New Zealand public. For this reason, the Marsden Fund Council reserves the right to alter your title, should your proposal be funded.

Section 1b. Contact Person, and Principal and Associate Investigators

For each Marsden Fund Council Award proposal, the Council expects a minimum of two PIs to be involved. However, one should be nominated as the contact person for the proposal and all correspondence between the Marsden Fund and the proposers must be directed through the contact person. Administrative contact on the research proposal is through the institution’s Research Office. Private applicants may sign as their own host.

Please note that all PIs and AIs on each proposal will need to confirm their own contact details via an individual URL, which will be emailed to each person after their email address has been entered into the portal by the contact PI. Each individual person will therefore be able to provide their own Fields of Research (FOR) codes, contact details and statistical information, and give consent for their involvement in each proposal that they are involved in, without a requirement for the contact PI to provide details.

ORCID: There is a facility in the "People" section of the portal for each named investigator to add or create an ORCID ID. An ORCID ID is preferred for all named investigators but is not mandatory. Please click on the "Create or Connect your ORCID ID" button on the top right of the "Contact Details" section and follow instructions.

All named PIs and AIs are requested to provide up to five FOR codes about their own research interests and expertise. A list of codes will be available on the portal, and can also be referred to at:

http://aria.stats.govt.nz/aria/#ClassificationView:uri=http://stats.govt.nz/cms/ClassificationVersion/d3TYSTsmz2uc8CY1

Each person named in the proposal needs to tick their acceptance of the personal Terms and Conditions page. Agreement of personal Ts and Cs is carried over from previous years.

They will also be able to see a list of proposals that they are named on, and will also need to click the "I Agree" box next to each proposal to indicate their agreement. Agreement is not carried over from previous years, as it relates to specific proposals.

Section 1b and Use of Personal Information

To monitor the profile of different groups within Marsden funding and identify funding trends and gaps, Royal Society Te Apārangi collects statistical Information relating to each applicant. Statistical information (for example, gender, ethnicity, years since PhD, date of birth) is used for statistical purposes only. It is not accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.

Section 1b should contain the title, first name, first and middle initials, and last name of all PIs and AIs, and also a contact email address for all investigators. Please note that although contact details of all investigators are required, only the names, institutions and countries (if outside New Zealand) of the investigators will be displayed when previewed as a document on the portal. It is important to list all PIs and AIs, including those based overseas, as new PIs and AIs cannot be added later except in extraordinary circumstances.

Section 1c. Fields of Research, Socio-Economic Objectives, Type of Research Activity

FOR codes, SEOs and Type of Research Activity are all part of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC). These codes have recently been updated to give ANZSRC 2020. Further information can be found at: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/research-and-data/anzsrc/

Fields of Research (FOR) Codes

Please enter up to FIVE 6-digit codes, using codes that are as specific as possible. For a list of codes and a search field, please refer to: http://aria.stats.govt.nz/aria/#ClassificationView:uri=http://stats.govt.nz/cms/ClassificationVersion/d3TYSTsmz2uc8CY1

As part of our NZRIS obligations (see “NZRIS obligations” earlier), we will be required to report the share of each FOR code to the proposed research. Please indicate the % share of each FOR code to the proposed research. The shares should add up to 100%.

Please also give key words or key phrases of no more than 255 characters in total, in a single list (separated by commas or semi-colons; please avoid using the return key). This information will be used to assist the process of finding referees and also to provide data for a strategic report on funding.

Socio-Economic Objectives (SEOs)

Collection of SEO data for Marsden Fund proposals will form part of our reporting obligations for NZRIS (see “NZRIS obligations” earlier). It is expected that the vast majority of Marsden Fund proposals will be covered under “Expanding Knowledge” codes beginning with 28.

Please choose up to five codes from the drop-down field. Please also indicate the % share of each SEO code to the proposed research. The shares should add up to 100%.

For a list of codes and a search field, please refer to the Socio-Economic Objectives Calculator at: http://aria.stats.govt.nz/aria/#ClassificationView:uri=http://stats.govt.nz/cms/ClassificationVersion/d1iJyaEzjWHJiRej

Please also give key words or key phrases associated with the chosen SEOs, of no more than 255 characters in total, in a single list (separated by commas or semi-colons; please avoid using the return key).

This information will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.

Type of Research Activity

Collection of research activity data for Marsden Fund proposals will form part of our reporting obligations for NZRIS (see “NZRIS obligations” earlier). The default setting on the portal for each proposal is “Pure Basic” and set to 100%. This can be changed if required. If no change is required, no action is needed.

The four activities are:

• Pure basic research (Default setting for Marsden Fund) is basic research carried out for the advancement of knowledge, without seeking long-term economic or social benefits or making any effort to apply the results to practical problems or to transfer the results to sectors responsible for their application.
• Strategic basic research is experimental and theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge directed into specified broad areas in the expectation of practical discoveries. It provides the broad base of knowledge necessary for the solution of recognised practical problems.
• Applied research is original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific, practical aim or objective.
• Experimental research is systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience and producing additional knowledge, which is directed to producing new products or processes or to improving existing products or processes.

More information can be found at: http://aria.stats.govt.nz/aria/#ClassificationView:uri=http://stats.govt.nz/cms/ClassificationVersion/Wg615FKY3OhnyOzL

This information will not be accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals.

Section 1d: Summary

Please describe in up to 200 words the nature of the proposed research. This should be in plain language and should cover the following items: What is the state of the field? What does the applicant want to do? How will the applicant do it? What is the broad outcome expected to be?

Note that this will be made publicly available should the proposal be successful and may be published as part of the Marsden Fund’s publicity.

The summary will be used as an aid for finding appropriate referees, should the proposal proceed to Stage 2. For this reason, it should not contain any commercially sensitive information, and it should be a stand-alone description of the proposal.

Section 2: Vision Mātauranga (Updated)

Please address this section before completing sections 3a-3d, to ensure that the correct page limits for 3a-3d are applied.

Proposals must consider the relation of the research to the themes of Vision Mātauranga and, where relevant, how the project will engage with Māori.

This section has been moved from Section 3. The size of the text box has also increased.

Where research projects have one or more Vision Mātauranga themes, the Council expects that applicants be in an engagement or consultation process at the planning stage, so as to achieve the best possible outcomes.

It is also essential that any costs associated with Vision Mātauranga are accounted for in the budget (sections 6 and 7).

Please refer to the Vision Mātauranga section earlier in this document for more guidance. If unsure about the relevance of the proposed study for Māori, researchers should consult their institutional advisor. Examples of relevance could include proposals that involve biomedical research of significance to Māori health, social research, educational research, entrepreneurship, indigenous research, natural hazards, native flora and fauna, anthropology, the environment, sporting and cultural activities, literature, and language (even if the approach to these topics is seemingly irrelevant, such as algorithm development, biochemical pathways or mechanical properties). Furthermore, capacity and capability development, both now and for the future, are important aspects of Vision Mātauranga and should be considered for inclusion in any project.

In this section, applicants should identify which, if any, of the four Vision Mātauranga themes can be associated with the proposed research. Please note that more than one theme may apply. If none apply, please tick N/A. The themes are:

• Indigenous innovation: research that utilises distinctive products, processes, systems and services from Māori knowledge.
• Taiao: research that furthers environmental sustainability by engaging with local hapū and iwi and their researchers and initiatives.
• Hauora/Oranga: improving health and social wellbeing.
• Mātauranga: exploring Indigenous knowledge.

If one or more themes do apply, up to one additional page will be available for statements on Vision Mātauranga immediately following the description of research in Sections 3a-3c. This is to enable Vision Mātauranga to be more easily integrated into the conceptual framework and/or research design. Where Vision Mātauranga is appropriate to a proposal, it can contribute to the overall excellence.

Collection of the % of the research that aligns to each Vision Mātauranga theme will form part of our reporting obligations for NZRIS (see “NZRIS Obligations” earlier). If you have identified one or more Vision Mātauranga theme(s), please consider each theme one at a time. Indicate the proportion of the proposed research that aligns with that theme. Note that it is possible for the combined total to be over 100%. For example, if the proposed research is entirely Mātauranga and also has a Hauora/Oranga theme, the contributions could be 100% and 10% respectively).

Please note that the percentages do not form part of the assessment criteria – they were introduced as part of our NZRIS obligations.

UPDATED: There is a comment box on the portal to briefly explain your rationale for either choosing N/A, or your choice of Vision Mātauranga theme(s). The maximum size for this is now 200 words. Council members will be looking for affirmation that applicants have considered whether their proposed research has Vision Mātauranga theme(s). If you feel that Vision Mātauranga does not apply to your proposed research, please state this here. Consultation is not a requirement; however, if you have received feedback from your institution that Vision Mātauranga does not apply to your proposed research, please state this here.

Please note that the Council will assess each proposal for Vision Mātauranga relevance, whether the applicant has indicated N/A or not.

Sections 3a – 3d: Background, Overall Aim, Proposed Research

Please address section 2 (Vision Mātauranga themes) before completing this section, to ensure that the correct page limits are applied:

• If no Vision Mātauranga theme is identified in Section 2, the total page limit for this section is five pages, with no set limit for each section within this.
• If one or more Vision Mātauranga theme is identified in Section 2, the total page limit for this section is six pages, with no set limit for each section within this.

Please read the definitions of these sections clearly and avoid repetition.

Section 3a: Background

Use this section to give a context for the proposal by summarising in plain language the state of knowledge in the field.

Section 3b: Overall Aim of the Research

Use this section to state the general goals and specific objectives of the research proposal. Outline the potential for significant scholarly impact of your proposal (incorporating novelty, originality, insight and ambition). Applicants should also use this section to explain the interdisciplinary nature of the proposal, and how it will significantly expand research possibilities and ambition through new researcher and institutional links.

Section 3c: Proposed Research

This section should cover, where appropriate, the hypotheses being tested, the general or brief methodologies to be used, sampling design, and methods of data analysis. Please ensure that your description covers the period of funding sought (up to three years), and that it includes contributions by collaborators and any postgraduate students. This section is intended for a general research literate audience, in other words, the Council, who will not necessarily be specialists in the fields of research covered in the proposal.

If you identify one or more Vision Mātauranga themes in Section 2, please elaborate here how this fits in with your proposed research. For example, you may wish to discuss consultations and linkages, relevance, conceptual framework and/or proposal design, and outcomes (in addition to statements in Section 3d).

As signalled in the past few years, the Council has recommended an increased emphasis on ethical considerations of the proposed research, particularly in the social sciences disciplines.

• If the proposed research requires ethics approval, please use this section to show that you have considered all of the ethics issues associated with your research. Your discussion should satisfy the Council that your processes are meaningful, and for social science disciplines in particular, that you have fully considered how your methods will affect the communities you are working with. It is important that you do not concentrate solely on your theoretical argument at the neglect of methodology, implementation, and community safety.
• Compliance information (for example, permit numbers, details of ethics approvals gained) should be detailed in Section 3j (Ethical or Regulatory Obligations).

Section 3d: Vision Mātauranga

If you identify one or more Vision Mātauranga themes in Section 2, please include discussion of this within Section 3d, for example, on consultation and linkages, relevance, conceptual framework and/or proposal design, and outcomes.

Where research projects have one or more Vision Mātauranga themes, the Council expects applicants to be in an engagement or consultation process at the planning stage, so as to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Please refer to the earlier section in these guidelines for more guidance and resources on Vision Mātauranga.

If unsure or in doubt about the relevance of the proposal for Māori, researchers should consult their institutional advisor. For the guidance of applicants, the relevance does vary according to research discipline. Examples of relevance could include proposals that involve biomedical research of significance to Māori health, social research, educational research, entrepreneurship, indigenous research, natural hazards, native flora and fauna, anthropology, the environment, sporting and cultural activities, literature, and language (even if the approach to these topics is seemingly irrelevant, such as algorithm development, biochemical pathways or mechanical properties). Furthermore, capacity and capability development, both now and for the future, are important aspects of Vision Mātauranga and should be considered for inclusion in any project.

Statements on Vision Mātauranga should be contained within Section 3d, following the description of research (Sections 3a-3c). This is to enable Vision Mātauranga to be more easily integrated into the conceptual framework and/or research design. Where Vision Mātauranga is appropriate to a proposal, it can contribute to the overall excellence.

Compliance aspects, such as access to culturally sensitive material and knowledge, should be covered in Section 3j, “Ethical or Regulatory Obligations”.

Aspects of Vision Mātauranga relating to relevant experience can be included in the “Roles and Resources” section (3i) and can also be incorporated into sections 3a-3c.

It is also essential that any costs associated with Vision Mātauranga capability development and engagement are accounted for in the budget (sections 6 and 7), as stated in the earlier section on the Vision Mātauranga guidelines:

• Is there appropriate Māori researcher involvement in the project, both in terms of PI/AIs and capability development?
• Has budget been disclosed and agreed to with Māori partners? Is there appropriate provision in that budget for Māori involvement, capability development and consultation?

Section 3e: Specific Methodologies for the Proposed Research

This section should expand on the areas covered in the “Proposed Research” section and go into much more detail. It should cover, where appropriate, the specific methodologies to be used, sampling design, and methods of data analysis. This section is intended for a specialist audience­, in other words, expert referees in the fields of research covered in the proposal.

This section should not exceed three pages in length.

Section 3f: Assessment Criteria

This section is for applicants to state explicitly how their proposed research relates to each Marsden Fund Council Award assessment criterion. Applicants should address each individual criterion. These are listed on the template.

Applicants should pay particular attention to the criterion regarding interdisciplinarity. Additionally, if there is potential for the proposed research to lead to transdisciplinary research, applicants should provide details here (though an outcome of transdisciplinary research is not a requirement).

This section should not exceed two pages in length.

Section 3g: References

This section is for references associated with the Background, Overall Aims, Proposed Research, Vision Mātauranga, Assessment Criteria and Specific Methodologies sections (3a-3f). It is important to support the proposal by means of references. Please ensure that these are not restricted or limited to the applicants’ own work. Applicants are also requested to:

• Ensure that the references have been published, so that they are readily accessible when the proposal is being assessed.
• Bold any applicants’ names if they appear in the reference list.
• Include titles of each reference.

There is a limit of four pages for this section when previewed as a document on the portal. This section does not include the use of footnotes; it should contain a list of references only, rather than further explanation of ideas covered in sections 3a-3f. Links (URLs) may be included if they are publicly accessible.

Sections 3h – 3j: Timetable, Roles and Resources, and Ethical or Regulatory Obligations

One assessment criterion includes the ability of the researchers to carry out the research. Sections 3h, 3i and 3j are an opportunity to demonstrate that the research is feasible, and that the researchers have a clear plan. Researchers should indicate how they intend to use their time, what the roles of various personnel will be, any anticipated ethical or regulatory obligations, and any potential administrative hurdles (such as permits, access or approvals) that they will need to deal with.

The total page limit for Sections 3h to 3j is two pages, with no set limit for each section within this. Please read the definitions of these sections clearly and avoid repetition. Where practical, utilise paragraph breaks, subheadings or bold fonts to clearly signpost your proposal.

Section 3h: Timetable

Describe in general terms the advances you hope to make in each year. It is acknowledged that this timetable may be revised as the research progresses.

Section 3i: Roles and Resources

In this section, please explain briefly:

Roles: The contribution that each named team member will make to the proposed research. This should clearly explain the FTE requests. If un-named personnel are included in the proposal (for example; technicians, students, post-doctoral fellows, etc.) please indicate role, what skills are being sought, and what steps will need to be taken to fill these positions. This section should additionally include a description of the role of team members for which no FTEs are being sought.

If AIs are named on the proposal and are constrained from being PIs due to the PI exclusion rule, please address this here.

Resources: Clearly state the resources required for the proposed research that the team will have access to. This is an opportunity to discuss the practical requirements of your proposed research. For example: access to libraries/collections/archives; access to required instruments/equipment/techniques/materials; ability to do fieldwork (for example; site access, assistance, etc.); access to pools of participants.

If there are any special requirements for the proposed research, please explain how these will be met.

Please note that if applicants will require logistical support from Antarctica New Zealand, this should be signalled here. If logistical support will be required, applicants on any Marsden Fund Council Award proposal that is selected to go to Stage 2 will then need to engage with Antarctica New Zealand.

COVID-19: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic there may be uncertainty around some research activities, such as those which require travel or access to overseas facilities. If this is the case for your proposed project, please explain how this risk will be mitigated.

Section 3j: Ethical or Regulatory Obligations

Any permissions, approvals, etc., should be listed in this section.

It is your responsibility to ensure that all ethical or regulatory obligations are met (for example, from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Animal Ethics, Human Ethics). It is also your responsibility to organise access to facilities, fieldwork sites, archives, materials etc. This section should make clear that you have anticipated or gained the necessary formal approvals for your intended research, for instance, Department of Conservation permits, EPA permits, and so forth.

Researchers should plan the necessary approvals well in advance, to ensure no delays on the project should it be funded. Researchers should contact their institutional ethics committee and research offices for further information. Researchers will need to provide information on the current state of their ethics approval.

Note that only compliance aspects related to ethical or regulatory considerations should be covered here. Ethical considerations in the context of the research methodology should be discussed in detail in the Proposed Research section (3c), as mentioned previously.

Social research

Researchers collecting personal information should be aware of their obligations around obtaining consents, data security, maintaining the anonymity of individuals, sensitivity around cultural issues and all other ethical considerations as appropriate. If there is any uncertainty, researchers should consult their institutional ethics committee.

Please note that there is now a requirement that any researchers working with children follow the guidelines of their host institution’s child protection policy, in accord with section 19 of the Vulnerable Children’s Act 2014. Should the host institution not have a child protection policy, researchers should comply with the Society’s guidelines: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/who-we-are/our-rules-and-codes/policy-on-child-protection/child-protection-policy/

Research using animals

Research using animals is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 1999 (the Act), which is administered by the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC).

The Act encourages researchers to consider the Three Rs:

• Replacement: replacing animals with non-animal alternatives. Computer models can sometimes be used for teaching instead of live animals.
• Reduction: using as few animals as necessary.
• Refinement: pain or suffering must be reduced as much as possible, for example, by using painkillers.

For further information on NAEAC and your obligations as a researcher, you should contact your institutional ethics committee well in advance of your proposal. More information on research involving animals is available at: https://www.naeac.org.nz/

Please note that animal welfare legislation requires animal ethics committees to explicitly consider whether a research proposal has assessed the “replacement” option.

Details of ethical approval for social science research or animal research, or regulatory approval (for example EPA approval for use of genetically modified organisms) need to be received before any grant is paid.

Section 4: Personnel (FTEs) table

The time that each member of the research team will spend on the proposed project should be listed in the table in section 4 and filled in for each year of the planned research. The contribution of all personnel must be included as a fraction of a full-time equivalent (FTE). For example, if one PI plans to commit one day per week to the proposed research for the first year, this would be expressed as 0.2 FTE for that person for year 1.

The minimum time for an Associate Investigator (AI) is 0.05 FTE per year.

All FTEs should be included in the FTE table (Section 4), regardless of whether Marsden funding is being requested for them. However, in the budget (Section 6), FTEs should be recorded as zero if Marsden funding is not requested for them. Note that this distinction means that the total FTE count per year may differ between the FTE table and the budget.

Please note that overseas investigators cannot have their time or institutional costs paid for by the Marsden Fund. For payment of any FTE on a Marsden grant, investigators are required to be New Zealand-based.

Post-doctoral researchers and / or postgraduate students can be included in the research team. Summer students may also be included under the “postgraduate student” category if required.

Post-doctoral researchers may be part-time or full-time on a Marsden Fund proposal.

Postgraduate students can be supported on Marsden Fund proposals on a fixed-rate basis. The values are $35k scholarship per year, plus fees (New Zealand resident rates) for PhD students or $22k scholarship plus fees (New Zealand resident rates) for one year for Masters students. These figures assume the postgraduate students are assigned to the research on a full-time basis.

For summer studentships, please check with your Research Office for guidance on scholarships.

More information about postgraduate scholarships can be found here: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/information-for-grant-recipients/marsden-funded-postgraduate-scholarships/

Those involved in the assessment of the proposal require this information to determine whether the total resources requested are sufficient and realistic to achieve the goals and objectives indicated in the proposal in Section 3. The Council expects that sufficient PI time be allocated to carry out the project successfully. The total time that is to be devoted to the project, specified in Section 4, will form part of the contractual obligations to Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Section 5: CV and Publications

A CV should be completed for each named applicant, up to a maximum of five pages (see instructions below). CVs are not required for students, technicians or un-named post-docs, but are required for any post-docs who are named on the proposal. No photographs are permitted on CVs. MBIE, the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and the Marsden Fund use a similar template, which largely standardises the type of information asked for. Please follow these guidelines, which are included with the CV template on the portal. This template allows you to maintain your own master CV, from which you can draw on when submitting a research proposal.

Please note: sections 2b, 2c, 2d of the standard template are relevant only to MBIE proposals and have been deleted from the template on the portal. The template allows you to expand/reduce sections as you see fit.

Part 1

1a.          This section is for personal details. It identifies who you are and where you can be contacted most readily. A space is provided if you have your own personal website about your research (optional).

1b.          You should list your academic qualifications in this section.

1c.          You should list the professional positions you have held in this section.

1d. You should briefly describe your field of expertise in this section.

1e.          Please list your total years of research experience in this section, excluding periods away from research.

You can describe any significant interruptions to your research career in the text box underneath section 1e – for example: parental leave; illness; administrative responsibilities. The information included here should give an idea of research relative to opportunity.

1f. This section is for significant achievements, including, but not limited to, honours, prizes, previous grants, scholarships, memberships or board appointments.

1g. This section is to record the total number of peer-reviewed publications and patents you have produced during your career. Only peer-reviewed or refereed publications, or patents should be counted in each section. Books should be listed separately in this section.

Part 2

2a.          This section lets you list some of the peer-reviewed publications you have produced and that are relevant to your proposal. Recognising that research dissemination occurs other than through peer-reviewed publications, this section also lets you list other forms of research dissemination, such as technical reports or popular press. Please only include publications that are either published or in press. Submitted articles should not be included.

You should bold your name in the list of authors and include names of all other co-authors (up to 12).

You should bold the year of the publication if it was published in the last five years. For 2023, applicants should bold the year of publication from 2018 onwards only.

In total, your CV must not be more than five pages long when submitted. This allows up to two pages for personal and work history information in Part 1, and up to three pages for evidence of track record in Part 2. All instructions in italics should be deleted before you submit your CV.

• Note that the list of publications should include all publications relevant to the proposal; these are not limited to publications from the previous five years.

For book chapters or volumes, please give page numbers and also names of publishers.

For any published books, please indicate the number of pages for each book.

Please note that page limits are the same for each named person on the proposal.

Sections 6 and 7: Budget

The budget information is contained in Sections 6 and 7. The Marsden Fund is operated under Terms of Reference set down by the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation. The Terms of Reference state that funds awarded are to cover the full costs of a proposal. Full costing shall include direct costs, associated personnel costs and an appropriate share of overhead costs such as institutional administration and depreciation of capital assets and buildings. Please note that collaborating researchers from outside New Zealand are able to be included in proposals, but are not able to receive direct funding support for their time or institutional costs. However, costs associated with collaboration (in other words, travel and accommodation) may be covered under “direct costs”.

The Terms of Reference also state that shared funding in the form of one party paying direct costs and the other paying indirect costs will not be permitted. The Marsden Fund may, however, support pieces of work that are related to programmes already being sustained through some other funding route (for example: Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs)) providing that the proposal is for a discrete piece of work. Where relevant, the wider programme should be described to demonstrate that the Marsden Fund proposal complements other work being carried out by the applicant. This procedure has been adopted to prevent cross-subsidisation, especially where Government funds are involved.

The Council wishes to be assured that the funding arrangements for Marsden Fund projects are appropriate. If insufficient information is available to provide this assurance, the Council will seek to obtain these details before funding is approved. Applicants are advised that this need for further information will not play any part in the Council’s assessment of the merit of the proposed research.

In identifying the full cost of their proposal, applicants should see the sample budget within this document, which is prepared as a guide.

Note on Vision Mātauranga costs

If the proposed research has any Vision Mātauranga themes, it is essential that any costs associated with Vision Mātauranga capability development and engagement are accounted for in the budget (sections 6 and 7). This could include (but is not limited to):

• Salary (and associated overhead) costs for any PIs / AIs
• Research assistant time
• Student scholarship support
• Costs of engagement or consultation (direct expenses). Examples could include: donation to the organisation or marae committee as a way of recognising expertise and contribution; koha; vouchers; providing resources such as books or research findings to the communities involved.
• Costs of dissemination (for example: hui) – direct expenses.

Guide on project size

The Council has set a maximum amount per Marsden Fund Council Award of $3 million (excl. GST) over three years. Amounts applied for may vary from year to year, as long as the average amount per year is no greater than $1 million.

Where other funding for research relevant to the proposal is being provided or sought, it must be detailed, as required, in Section 8 (Other Funding). It is appreciated that many other applicants will be involved in proposals to other funding sources, or have funding for related work. This is to be encouraged. However, to assist in the assessment of Marsden Fund proposals, the Council need to be aware of other funding applied for or received. Although the price of a proposal is of secondary consideration, after the grading of proposals on the basis of the Marsden Fund criteria, the price of each proposal will be taken into account by the Council. Applicants should also bear in mind that approximately $6 million (excl. GST) is expected to be allocated to up to 2 Marsden Fund Council Awards Proposals in the 2023 round.

If any applicants have sought other funding for work related to the Marsden Fund proposal (to be detailed in Section 8, “Other Funding”) and they are subsequently successful, they should let the Marsden Fund office know immediately.

Budget template

The budget template is an Excel file with a “Budget” tab (section 6) and a “Direct Costs” tab (section 7). Any inputs into the “Direct Costs” tab will automatically be carried through to the corresponding category on the “Budget” tab and show up in grey cells.

The budget template automatically calculates all subtotals and totals, as well as total FTEs.

Note: White cells on either tab can have data entered into them, but grey cells cannot.

Please remove any hyperlinks in the budget before uploading to the application portal as these will cause errors.

Budgeted categories

Salaries & Salary-related Costs

The figures in this category are to cover only the costs of personnel employed on the research proposal in the proposal. This should include the direct costs (in other words; salary) and indirect or salary related costs (for example: superannuation; ACC and fringe benefits). Costs of general management and administration are to be excluded from this section and included as overheads. Any subcontracted personnel should not be included in this section but incorporated under the “Direct Costs” part of “Other Costs”.

Collaborating researchers from outside New Zealand can be included in proposals but are not able to receive direct funding support for their time (FTE) or institutional costs (overheads). For payment of any FTE or overheads on a Marsden grant, investigators are required to be New Zealand-based.

The FTEs of personnel shown in the budget page should only be those where costs and time are associated with Marsden funding. If Marsden funding is not sought for particular individuals (for example: overseas investigators; post-doctoral researchers with stand-alone fellowships; or postgraduate students with other sources of funding) then the individual should still be named on the budget page but with zero FTEs recorded.

Postdoctoral fellows

Postdoctoral researchers may be part-time (usually 0.3 FTE or more) or full-time on a Marsden Fund proposal. This should be indexed to L1 to L3 salary scales, or as appropriate. Please check with your host institution for more information.

Indirect Costs

Overheads

Indicate the cost of overheads that relate to the research proposal. These should be directly proportional to the time spent on the project. Overheads include managerial time not included in the proposal, the cost of support services, the cost of financial and accounting systems, corporate activities, the cost of premises and other indirect costs. Cost of premises may be either the annual rental cost, or the depreciation cost, of premises and should be proportional to the project's use of the institution's premises for the research proposal.

Direct Costs

Details of costs should be listed in Section 7 (“Direct Costs” tab of the template), and should be broken down by year.

Expendables

This category should include the general operating expenses associated with the research proposal such as consumables, travel (for conferences, collaboration etc.), any direct costs associated with Vision Mātauranga, capital purchases under $5,000, and other miscellaneous costs associated with research. (This does not mean that equipment, such as a spectrometer, can be divided into separate components all less than $5,000 each). Details of expendables should be given in Section 7(a). Please give details of major working expenses. Equipment costs should be included under Equipment Depreciation/Rental, Section 7(b). Items with a large cost (in other words: over $5,000) should be included under Extraordinary Expenditure and explained in Roles and Resources (Section 3i).

Equipment depreciation/rental

The Marsden Fund does not fund the purchase of equipment directly but may allow for an annual depreciation or rental cost. In the case of rental costs, the share of the total cost of the equipment should be proportional to the proposal's use of the equipment. For example, if a confocal microscope costs $40,000/annum to run, and the proposal uses the microscope for 10% of its time, the Full Cost to the project would be $4,000/annum.

Note: Many institutions make a general provision for depreciation in their overhead costs. If this is the case, depreciation costs should be incorporated in “Indirect Costs”. If not, depreciation costs should be included here. In the case of depreciation not already provided for under “Indirect Costs”, the cost of equipment should be assigned in proportion to the expected life of the equipment and the planned usage. If a request is made for equipment depreciation or rental, the details should be listed in Section 7(b).

Students

Postgraduate students are awarded scholarships free of income tax and may be supported on Marsden Fund proposals at the stipulated rates. These are set at $35k scholarship per year, plus fees (New Zealand resident rates) for PhD students, or $22k scholarship plus fees (New Zealand resident rates) for Masters students for one year. These figures assume the postgraduate students are assigned to the research on a full-time basis. Fees should be included in the direct costs.

Summer students may also be included in this category and their FTEs indicated (for example, if a summer student is working on the project for 3 months of a year, their FTE for that particular year will be 0.25). For summer studentships, please check with your Research Office for guidance on scholarships.

Sub-contractors

Any costs where services are purchased from other organisations should be included in this section. Where personnel are sub-contractors they should be shown in this section, named, and their time-commitments shown in the FTE column with details in Section 7(c). If sub-contractors are also PIs or AIs, they should be listed in both places, with the FTEs and associated costs included only in the “Sub-contractor” section. Named sub-contractors for whom a CV is supplied will generally be PIs or AIs.

Where a sub-contractor is a New Zealand research organisation, please break down costs per year into salary, overheads and direct costs according to the table shown in Section 7(c). Other sub-contractors (for example: private individuals) may provide the annual cost as a single figure in the budget, rather than breaking down the costs.

Extraordinary expenditure

These are the costs of any extraordinary items that make the research significantly costlier than standard laboratory or office-based research efforts. An example might be time on a major facility, like a research ship or a linear accelerator and, as mentioned above under Expendables, travel costs where these are a major item. If you use this category, you need to identify the nature of the expenditure in Roles and Resources (Section 3i).

Students

See section 4 for details of scholarship amounts. Summer students may also be included here and their FTEs indicated (for example, if a summer student is working on the project for 3 months of a year, their FTE for that particular year will be 0.25).

GST

The cost of the research proposal should be GST inclusive. Note that the budget template provided will automatically calculate GST at 15% and the GST-inclusive total. The GST-exclusive amounts shown in the “subtotal (a) + (b)” row should not exceed an average of $1 million per year.

Budget example

You may be requesting up to three years funding. This example shows three years.

* Including non-salary costs associated with Vision Mātauranga, and student fees if applicable

1 Data from Direct Costs Sheet

In this example Expendables, Equipment depreciation/rental and Sub-contractors need to be further explained on the separate page provided for Section 7, in other words:

7. Direct Cost Budget Details

Please specify the items for the following (excluding GST). Please break down into costs per year.

For extraordinary expenditure – please describe under “Roles and Resources” (Section 3i)

Section 8: Other Funding

If any applicants have sought other funding for work related to the Marsden Fund application and they are subsequently successful, they should let the Marsden Fund office know immediately.

Part (a): Indicate whether non-Marsden funding (for example: MBIE; Health Research Council; Centre of Research Excellence; Tertiary Education Commission; MPI; commercial; other) has been i) received or ii) applied for, for this or for research relevant to this proposal.

Part (b): Please provide details of previous or current Marsden funding held by PIs or AI, FTEs, their role in the project (PI or AI) and the completion date for the research.

Part (c): Please also indicate any periods of leave to be sought during the period of proposed Marsden Fund research.

Section 8 should not exceed two pages in total.

Section 9: Declaration Page

All contact PIs are required to tick a box to indicate their acceptance of the Full Proposal, and should read the declaration page before they do so.

Institutional Declaration

Institutions should sign a collective declaration for all their proposals, which is available for download from the “Agent Declaration” menu and should be uploaded when signed.

Referees

The process of finding referees will start after Council have made a shortlist of Marsden Fund Council Award proposals in May. Council will endeavour to provide between three and five reports for each shortlisted proposal.

If there is any person whom you do not wish to referee your proposal, please state this, providing reasons, in a communication provided to the Society on letterhead. The latest date to receive referee exclusion notifications is May 16^th 2023 - within 1 week of being notified of the outcome of Stage 1. The number of people that can be excluded as potential referees is strictly limited to three.

Please note that referee exclusions apply only to the funding round in which they are requested and are not carried over from year to year. They need to be requested anew for each funding round. If an applicant excludes a particular referee, does not get funded and gets through to the full round in future years, that referee exclusion will need to be requested again if the applicant still wishes to exclude them.

Referees are not identified to applicants, nor are grades made available to applicants.

Referee reports will be posted on a web portal. The main batch of referee reports will be posted on the portal on 16^th August; from this date onwards, reports will be posted as they are received. Applicants should submit their responses through the web portal. The main deadline for responses will be 30^th August; response deadlines will be extended for reports received later than August 16^th and will be indicated on the portal.

Applicant responses to the referee reports are strictly limited to one page per referee report. For example, if a proposal has five referee reports, then five separate responses of one page each may be submitted. Please note that it is not possible to submit one combined response of up to five pages.

If you do not wish to reply to a particular report, please could you indicate this on the portal by ticking “No Response”, so that we can be certain that we have all the responses back.

Note that the responses do not go back to the reviewers but are assessed by the Council only. Applicants should bear this in mind when writing their responses.

Interviews (optional)

Applicants who progress to Stage Two should be prepared for the possibility of a brief video interview with members of Council, to answer any questions that Council may have. If this is the case, the Marsden Fund administration will contact applicants to arrange a convenient time. The timeframe for this is likely to be early October.

Statistical information and the use of personal information

The Council encourages proposals from all members of the New Zealand research community. To monitor the profile of different groups within Marsden funding and identify funding trends and gaps, Royal Society Te Apārangi collects statistical Information relating to each applicant. Statistical information (for example, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, years since PhD) is used for statistical purposes only. It is not accessible by anyone involved in the assessment of proposals. Personally identifiable information will not be shared with third parties without your authorisation.

In order to evaluate, and assess the long-term impact of our activities, we will keep an electronic record of the information we hold about you indefinitely unless you request that your private data be destroyed.

If you want to verify, modify, correct or delete any private data, you should apply to the Society's Privacy Officer <privacy.officer@royalsociety.org.nz>.

For “Gender”, there is a “Gender Diverse” category in addition to Male and Female. This is in line with guidelines and categories used by Statistics New Zealand. See https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/statistical-standard-for-gender-sex-and-variations-of-sex-characteristics for further information.

Feedback

The nature of feedback at both stages from the Council is yet to be determined, as the approximate number of proposals received is not yet known. Any proposals progressing to Stage Two but are ultimately unsuccessful will be able to seek feedback from the Council.

Deadlines

Proposals should be released via the portal. Hard copies are not required.

For institutions, a combined declaration covering all proposals must be signed and submitted by the deadline below. The combined declaration can be downloaded from the portal and after signing, is then re-uploaded to the portal.

All Marsden Fund Council Award proposals need to be released via the portal no later than 12 noon, Thursday 16th February 2023 (NZDT).

Contact details

The Marsden Fund Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden is administered by Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Telephone:        +64 (0)4 470 5799

Email:                  marsden@royalsociety.org.nz

For general information on the Marsden Fund, please see our website: https://royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/