Crown research institutes needed sustained programmes of fundamental research to maintain a competitive edge but to also deliver on their overall purpose, Association of Scientists president Dr Nicola Gaston said.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said some projects were moving to the technology transfer phase which involved less research and more development work.
But AgResearch’s problems were deeper, with Joyce contradicting two operating principles enshrined in the Crown Research Institutes Act, she said.
They required CRIs to do research for the benefit of NZ and to pursue excellence and were counter to Joyce’s comment CRIs were about commercial science.
Joyce said there was no contradiction.
“I absolutely expect Crown research institutes to produce excellent science of benefit to NZ.
“However, I also expect the industry-related CRIs to produce science that will be of commercial use to their industries, otherwise why would we have CRIs dedicated to agricultural research, horticultural research and forestry research, for example?”
Gaston said inflation had eroded AgResearch’s core funding which had exposed its science capability to short term priorities and was because the Government did not understand the balance of scientific work that CRIs needed to support.
“CRI scientists are being expected to deliver cutting edge science in support of a growing suite of new Government initiatives but core funding to support salaries and infrastructure has been stagnant for years.”
Joyce said the Government’s annual investment in science had increased 70% in the last seven years, from $850 million to $1.5 billion.
