Robert Hickson • Nov 12, 2012 •
Its great to see the government reaching out to the country to get feedback on what the big challenges facing NZ are, and the role that science can play in helping solve these. However, I’m dissatisfied with the possible challenges that they have put up on the website for two reasons. Firstly, many of these seem to be some of … Read More
John Pickering • Oct 10, 2012 •
Just heard Julia Lane - an expat Kiwi and science economist speaking on Radio NZ about science and the economy. She’s in Christchurch for a debate “Is Science Good for the Economy?” which can be heard tomorrow night as part of the ice fest – see here. A few nice points she made (my paraphrasing). … Continue reading » … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Aug 24, 2012 •
The newly formed ‘Ministry of Everything’ – more formally called the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment – has announced the results of the first tranche of investment round funding. Apparently, $133m will be invested, over the next 6 years ($32.8m of that this year alone), with 47 research projects being supported. The split: [...] … Read More
John Pickering • Aug 02, 2012 •
$6,126,820 has been sitting on my fridge for the last two years. I aim to raise this over 20 years so as to continue my research. Yes – I confess, I am the Six million dollar man (Historical reference for those over 40). Sounds a lot of money, but let’s put this in context. Because … Continue reading » … Read More
Peter Griffin • May 23, 2012 •
On the eve of the 2012 Budget with the word “austerity” ringing in our ears, the Stuff website has done a poll asking readers what they see as priority areas for the Government. Of the six categories listed – health, education, welfare, taxes, business and science, guess which area comes in as lowest priority. That’s right… science. Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Mar 20, 2012 •
Welcome, dear readers, to the most recent foray into the new, and very exciting*, world of crowdfunded science/research: Petridish. Launched in early March, the platform’s still pretty new. Currently, though, there are 9 projects up, primarily covering critter-related projects, but not exclusively. Examples include looking into preserving the culture(s) of climate refugees, helping to find [...] … Read More
Fabiana Kubke • Nov 02, 2011 •
What if scientists were to crowd-source funding for their research? Yup, you heard right. Many scientists are asking the question: what would people, rather than established funding agencies, put their pennies on….. And the answer will be found through the SciFund challenge. 49 projects, 44 days left to raise money on RocketHub. From athlete’s foot, [...] … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Nov 01, 2011 •
Huzzah! I’ve been looking forward to this. A screenshot of SciFund's homepage SciFund is now live. YOU can help to fund science projects. Yup, that’s right. You. Not some funding agency. How does it work? Well, it’s kinda like KickStartr (or NZ’s version, PledgeMe), but for science. Very simply: … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Oct 02, 2011 •
“University professors who are opposed to organising, planning and directing research after the manner of industrial laboratories … have something to think about now. A most important piece of research [the atomic bomb] was conducted on behalf of the Army in precisely the means adopted in industrial laboratories. End results: an invention was given to the world in three years, … Read More
Shaun Hendy • Oct 01, 2010 •
The 2010 Marsden fund results were announced by the Royal Society last week. The Marsden fund supports much of New Zealand’s blue skies research and is one of the most prestigious grants available to New Zealand scientists. In total this year, 102 proposals were awarded just under $60m to be spent over the next three years. How does … Read More