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New Zealand Statistical Association Newsletter 59

March 2004

ANZJS – The Future

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Should ANZJS become electronic-only? - Neville Bartlett
Accessing ANZJS Online
The Royal Society and Innovation in New Zealand - Steve Thompson
Archive - Newsletter 58

Communication
Email Murray Jorgensen
Email Russell Millar
Email Roger Littlejohn

Neville Bartlett

• go to http://www.statsjournalsweb.com;

• click ‘Browse Journals and Societies’ ;

• locate Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics, click ‘Logon’ and enter the password (which has been distributed to members).

• locate the issue and article you require and click on the Article button for the pdf file of the full text.

The Royal Society and Innovation in New Zealand

Science Alert Editorial 311, 26/2/2004
Comment by Royal Society CEO,
Dr Steve Thompson (steve.thompson@rsnz.org)

This week we print a special wide-circulation edition of the Royal Society of New Zealand's newsletter, SCIENCE ALERT. Once a year the Society takes stock of the Government and other programmes it administers. This edition outlines for you a summary of the priorities we have established within our own sphere of action for science and technology, as part of New Zealand's innovation spectrum. We set out eight priorities that we will implement with your help and the efforts of our members and staff. Please contact the Chief Executive, Dr Steve Thompson, if you have any comment or would like to discuss these issues in more detail. See our web site at http://www.rsnz.org for full details, via: Society Affairs > Annual reports > Progress report to Government.

The Royal Society contributes to New Zealand's social and economic growth and development in two distinct, but complementary ways. In its first role it operates as an independent agency, established under Act of Parliament to promote a critical awareness of science and technology issues in New Zealand societal and business affairs and to contribute to the science and technology education of New Zealand's young people. As an independent agency, it also provides professional services to scientists in the form of courses, support materials, and a code of ethics.

In its second role as a purchase agent, the Society administered government funding amounting to some $60m per year in 2003. $41m of that came via the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology for the delivery of a range of programmes covering research chosen for its excellence, international linkages, support for outstanding teachers and researchers, and promotion of a culture of innovation.

Below we highlight our contractual responsibilities to the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, and we show how all of our activities fit into an innovation spectrum which begins with the social, economic and infra-structural conditions necessary to inspire young people to embrace new knowledge.

Education and Awareness
The Society's activities are particularly focused on the foundation areas necessary for innovation to occur. In addition to the activities that are supported by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, the Royal Society is energetically involved in education, public awareness and supporting RS&T professionals. The Society works to promote science and technology in the primary and secondary education levels and also to the wider community, celebrate excellence in our young people, and support all to achieve in science and technology. The wide range of activities and the provision of funding by external organisations shows the scope of the Society's experience in this area. The activities assist in the realisation of the GIF goal of producing more talented people and a highly skilled population.

Supporting Professionals
The Society is also active in a part of the spectrum dealing with support for professionals in RS&T, which complements activities under the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology's "Supporting Promising Individuals" output class. Royal Society activities to support professionals include:

• publishing New Zealand learned journals;

• courses on communication for scientists;

• newsletters and daily news for scientists and technologists;

• support of the Australasian Research Management Society and 60 other science organisations;

• engagement with Maori science and technology;

• active international linkages and memberships;

• development and instillation of a code of ethics;

• studies on leadership qualities for innovation;

• several highly active committees leading workshops in (for example) social sciences, Antarctic research, climate change, human resources, care of animals, astronomy, and education;

• conference support for young professionals;

• the Society's own suite of medals, national awards event and professional science week;

• MasterClass events for science professionals;

• distinguished speakers series; and

• policy papers.

Supporting Excellence
New Zealand's Marsden Fund, administered for government by the Royal Society, is explicitly focused on developing new knowledge, human skills and expertise and thus directly addresses the goal of growing our research and development capability.

The Fund grows and develops the skills and talent of people who are capable of carrying out world-class research to an excellent standard. The employment market for these people is global and they are part of the 'brain exchange'. The Fund is thus a key tool in the attraction of talent to and the retention of talent within New Zealand. Marsden funding has assisted the return of researchers to New Zealand, bringing back not just skills developed overseas but also global connections. While the Marsden Fund does not target research that is intended to lead to future applications and the vast majority of Marsden research is basic, a result of funding excellent research is that applications do arise. From 28 projects followed up in 2002/03, a third had concrete applications in development.

The Science-Industry Interface
Lastly, the Royal Society is increasing its activity at the interface between research and those who require and use its results. Much needs to be done in New Zealand to increase the capacity of industry to specify research projects and embody their results in products or services. The Society has worked this year with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) to identify leadership characteristics and is working to find ways in which mutual understanding across the "valley of death" can be grown. The Society has also administered a $1.7m fund for NZTE to create a culture of enterprise in New Zealand.

Royal Society Priorities for the Medium Term

Much work remains to be done to build a sound foundation for the appreciation and use of knowledge in New Zealand. We devote much of our own limited resources to pursuing this goal. We also believe that the professions of science and technology need rebuilding to a healthy and aggressive state. From a professional's point of view, satisfying careers imply status, stability and salary - and science and technology in general possess none of those characteristics. Our own resources are also channelled into support for the profession.

We put excellence to work for New Zealand, in the form of Marsden Fund grants for excellent research, and as embodied in the Academy Council of the Royal Society, Teacher Fellows, James Cook Research Fellows, Award winners and outstanding young people. Our current priorities for development of those of our activities which support the Growth and Innovation Framework are:

Priority 1: Journal Publishing
Scientists need professional support, and the Society publishes, on behalf of government, a suite of learned journals. The Society sees scope for a vibrant publishing activity, with titles being added in environmental science, social science, and biotechnology/food systems. We envisage a progressive move to "free access" publishing, where publication charges are met by author-pay plus government coverage of the remaining deficit, and papers are then released free to the Web. Two key objectives for New Zealand science would be met: 1) a readily available publishing avenue for New Zealand and regional papers, and 2) worldwide exposure of New Zealand authors and results. Each journal would be aggressively marketed to reach beyond New Zealand to include those parts of the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., Pasifika, South America, South Africa) where similar ecological or social questions exist (for instance in areas of biosecurity or indigenous populations).

In the Society's view, the scenario above would:

• give the journals a solid focus as "Southern Hemisphere" regional journals;

• give New Zealand authors access to world-wide readership;

• be in line with current moves to "open access" as technology allows; and

• be financially viable with continuing "public good" input from government.

Priority 2: Marsden Fund
The Marsden Fund, administered for government by the Royal Society, focuses explicitly on developing new knowledge, human skills and expertise. The Marsden Council's strategy for the development of the fund includes introducing some longer-term awards, and developing new awards for particular segments of the research community. One particular focus will be to provide more opportunities for researchers to link into international research programmes by providing parallel funding for collaborating with prominent international researchers. They also plan to increase support given to emerging researchers through the Fast-Start scheme by increasing the award amount from $50k to $70k per year.

The Marsden Council see four further changes to the Marsden Fund that require consideration. In order of importance, these are:

• increasing the Fund to enable a greater proportion of the applications to succeed;

• increasing the Fund to recognise increased research costs;

• increasing the funding provided for administering the fund to provide for:

  • the recent and planned growth of the fund,

  • the need for an enhanced evaluation and policy analysis capacity to support the Marsden Fund Council; and

  • activities to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Fund.
     

• developing and increasing the Fund in order to add to the types of awards made, in particular to fund an expansion in collaborative research with international researchers.

Although the Marsden Fund is an elite funding instrument and is targeted at excellence, it has a very low success rate by international standards. The overall cost, both indirectly to the research community of preparing applications, and directly to the government of evaluating proposals, is high compared with the amount of research ultimately funded. The current success rate of 14.2% (for 2003/04) is well below that of the Australian Research Council who target 25% for their Discovery Fund.

There is widespread concern about the cost to researchers and their institutions of preparing applications to a Fund with a low success rate. Additional "one-off" funding provided in 2003 allowed an unusually large number of Marsden awards last year. The extra funds enabled the success level to be raised to 14.2% from its historical level of approximately 10% with no sacrifice in the quality and excellence of the applications funded. The Fund's ability to achieve higher success rates will depend in part on universities' new costing proposals which contain higher overhead rates.

Priority 3: Talented Young New Zealanders
New Zealand brims with young talent. The Royal Society helps to unleash this talent through such programmes as the privately-sponsored BP Challenge, our own CREST programme, and government/private sponsored regional/national science events such as Realise the Dream, major-sponsored by Genesis Energy. We maintain a database of some 700 "young achievers" whom we update with newsletters, and we encourage to act as role models. Many of these activities are under-funded to the point of ceasing operation. New Zealand will lose a generational opportunity if it fails to support these inspirational young people. The Royal Society continues to seek sponsorships from all sources.

The reception that Society activities have had with young people and the benefits from the international participation indicate that it is highly valuable and beneficial and that it must be continued and strengthened in the future. We also welcome the establishment in 2003/04 of a small contestable fund to contribute to travel costs for students attending international events for which no travel sponsorship is available.

Priority 4: Science Promotion
Communicating science and technology is a neglected but essential element in gaining public understanding and support of science and technology.  The Society has increased its activity in this area four-fold and intends to maintain or increase it.  We have collaborated with many organisations this year, and see it as our role to create a stage for other organisations to profile S&T.  Our promotions are by no means confined to Royal Society activities or the work of members and Fellows.  Programmes such as DNA50 and the Transit of Venus are national and involve many organisations and individuals, here and overseas.

However, there is more we can do to provide timely opinion and advice to the public, government, and media on particular issues. The Royal Society Communicators course is highly valued by participants in terms of what they learnt, and the motivation and confidence they acquired. The feedback from community groups using the communicators has been extremely positive. The Society is now offering the course on a user-pay basis, relying on participants or their employers to pay the course fee.

New Zealand's Science and Technology Promotion Fund, administered by the Society, delivers excellent value for money and is often used by projects to leverage additional commercial sponsorship monies. Each year the variety of imaginative projects to apply for funding is large but the bids amount to 10 times the available funding. Highly creative ideas continue to be turned down because of limited funding.

Priority 5: International Science and Technology Linkages
International links are imperative for a small country, and the Society administered government funds in 2003 to support 73 scientists in making such links. The Society also subscribes on behalf of government to 31 international science unions, assists New Zealanders to attend international conferences, and provides seed money to attract international conferences to New Zealand. Following their review of the International Science and Technology (ISAT) Linkages Fund in 2002, Government allocated additional funds, and the scheme was changed to permit grants to be made for up to 3 years. Scope exists for further attraction of international conferences to New Zealand, and for international joint symposia, in order to give New Zealand a greater presence on the world stage.

Priority 6: James Cook Research Fellowships
James Cook Research Fellowships allow leading researchers to pursue specific personal research projects for two years. The opportunity develops them as role models, but limited funding has reduced awards to five per year. If the benefits of this Fellowship are to be maximised it is vital that future Fellows are encouraged to travel overseas, by providing a larger stipend to account for the varying fortunes of the New Zealand dollar, and the increased cost of living overseas.

Priority 7: New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Teacher Fellowships
In 2003, 58 science, mathematics and technology teachers were awarded fellowships for a life changing and re-energising year out of school, in technological or scientific practice.  Most return to the classroom, while the few who don't, continue to contribute to education in creative and entrepreneurial ways. Primary teachers tend not to apply because they find it hard to specify a project. Maori/Pasifika teachers are also under-represented. Teacher applications do not fully reflect the emphasis placed on ICT, biotechnology and creative industries in the Growth and Innovation Framework. Fund rules could be changed to allow fellowships to be earmarked for primary teachers, for Maori/Pasifika, and for the biotechnology, electronics and creative industries (ICT is already covered by a Ministry of Education programme).

Priority 8: New Zealand Science and Technology Medals
Medals and awards act as recognition for high achievers, but their main purpose is to inspire professionals to aspire to excellence. The Society awards the New Zealand medals on behalf of government, and supplements these with its own medals. We perceive some gaps in the suite of medals, and are moving to institute a Pickering medal for technology. Possibilities also exist for Social Science, Antarctic research, and other medals.

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