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Strengthen research, knowledge creation and uptake for our knowledge society

Refer to Tertiary Education Strategy text for Strategy6

This strategy is described on pages 55–61 of the TES. This strategy should be a key area of development for universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and wananga over the period of this STEP.

Strategy Six: Objectives

29. Excellent research performance is encouraged and rewarded

30. Stronger accountability and enhanced performance reporting for tertiary education research

31. Increased global connectedness and mobility

32. A more focussed tertiary research investment through world-class clusters and networks of specialisation

33. Greater alignment of tertiary education research with national goals

34. Improved knowledge uptake through stronger links with those that apply new knowledge or commercialisation of knowledge products

35. Increased breadth of support for research students and emerging researchers, with a particular focus on the development of Māori researchers

Priorities for Tertiary Education Organisations

Over the period of this STEP, universities, polytechnics, wananga and other degreegranting institutions will be expected to analyse existing specialisations and identify their distinctive contribution to the TES (as outlined above in Strategy One). This will assist them to identify, in conjunction with their stakeholders and end-users, their most appropriate areas of research focus and resource concentration, as described in Objective32. These choices will need to be based on an organisation’s distinctive strengths, its contribution to the overall portfolio of tertiary education system research and the research carried out by other agencies such as Crown Research Institutes. This analysis will help TEOs to access the Performance Based Research Fund, with the results of the initial assessment round announced in March 2004. It will also support their selection of the most appropriate national and international networks and clusters. The development of deeper research capability and broader collaborative networks among tertiary research providers in the social sciences will be accelerated through the Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) initiative. BRCSS will also encourage greater connection of these research teams to the agencies who will use the knowledge generated. Universities and polytechnics will also be working with end-users and students to identify and implement improved support services for research students, emerging researchers and Maori researchers, as outlined in Objective35.

Priorities for Agencies

For agencies, the focus will be on implementing the Performance Based Research Fund, in accordance with Objective29, Objective32 and Objective35. Evidence portfolios will be analysed by expert Panels in late 2003 with the results available in March 2004. The assessed quality of research will affect a small proportion of funding for TEOs in 2004. The focus will also be on building on the establishment of the Centres of Research Excellence, as reflected in Objective29, Objective33, Objective34 and Objective35. All relevant agencies will also work to establish the Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) initiative.

Outcomes and successes: Strategy Six –Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution

The newly established Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution will undertake studies of the ecology and evolution of New Zealand plants, animals and micro-organisms.

Already, the initial investment is paying off with scientific discoveries. The Centre now operates advanced DNA sequencing technology that is a first for New Zealand. These facilities are increasing the speed and efficiency at which certain kinds of genomes can be read. The Centre’s increased productivity will allow new questions to be tackled, and generate new scientific insights. As one example, the BBC has recently highlighted a fundamental discovery by the Centre on the nature of very early life on earth.

Outcomes and successes: Strategy Six –Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery

The Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery comprises a cluster of five leading research groups at the University of Auckland with complementary expertise in science, engineering and medicine. The Centre will focus on the use of new technology for genomic discovery and on the innovative development of new medicines for infectious disease, diabetes and cancer, based on new findings in molecular biology.

While the Centre has been largely in the development phase in 2002–03, a number of projects are under way. For example, significant progress has been made recently on a collaborative project to elucidate the structure and function of the newly discovered staphylococcal virulence factors: SET1, SET3 and SET15. These factors are important for microbial defence against host immune functions.

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STEP 2 Strategy 6

Strengthen research, knowledge creation and uptake for our knowledge society

Priorities for Tertiary Education Organisations

Priorities for Agencies