[Taxacom] Historical sciences in New Zealand

[Geoff Read]

John Grehan wrote:
> In reference to the mammal fossil recently described for New Zealand
> referred to earlier by Ken Kinman, I was interested in the following
> statement published in the Dominion Post December 12, 2006.
> 
> "Mr Worthy was a world expert on moa when he was effectively forced out
> of New Zealand last year when the Foundation for Research Science and
> Technology rejected his application for a $200,000 grant over four
> years."

Did you also see this? "The Australian Research Council recently awarded 
the team a $513,902 grant over three years to further explore the St 
Bathans site. Mr Worthy is organising the next field trip in early 
January." He appears to be doing his Ph.D. in Adelaide, and is 
collaborating with NZ-based workers.

> This illustrates an ongoing problem in NZ where 'competitive funding' is
> used as the foundation or research rather than as a supplement (as in
> the US and elsewhere) so if a research program does not get funded
> according to the vagaries of managed priorities and mediocrity (funding
> by a vote of peers is by definition funding through mediocrity) it
> effectively goes down the drain - or goes elsewhere if it can.

Fortunately it's not quite like that. Organisations such as my own are 
now given discretionary funds to support programs and staff. Independent 
researchers who want to do pure research only (the main institutes don't 
have that as an option, and do a mix of rather more mundane work 
commissioned by for-profit companies and local & central government 
organisations, as well as the interesting blue-skies stuff funded by 
FRST and the Marsden Fund) may not have those cushions, but some are 
very successful at getting continuous funding.  Funding systems for pure 
science are still evolving here - every couple of years they seem to 
come up with new methods of allocation. So I guess no one thinks it's 
perfect yet.

Geoff
-- 
   Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.co.nz>
    http://www.annelida.net/
    http://www.niwascience.co.nz/ncabb/