杏吧原创

First steps taken, big leap needed

NEW ZEALAND may be a developed nation, but it is not a rich one, with a population of only 3.8 million taxpayers supporting the research base.

New Zealand鈥檚 spending on science still lags behind that of other industrialised nations, according to a 2004 survey.

However the private sector鈥檚 share has been growing fast (see Graphic). In the period 2002 to 2004, industry spending rose 25 per cent, compared with an 8 per cent increase in government R&D funding. Most of the private-sector spending was directed at IT and biotech 鈥� the challenge now is to broaden that investment.

One way to do this, which also fosters public research, is to increase funding for public-private partnerships. In the national budget announced in May, the government announced an extra NZ$16.2 million (US$11 million) for industry-led partnerships, in which government matches private-sector investment. The existing 10 partnerships focus on areas such as improving wood quality and finding new tests for toxins in seafood.

Researchers argue that as well as finding ways to boost industry funding, the government must also rachet up its own contribution to R&D, not least to stem a worrying loss of talent when researchers decide to work abroad. But before it can do this, politicians will have to persuade an ambivalent public that it will bring economic benefits.

鈥淯ltimately New Zealand is going to have to make the transition from primary production to a genuine knowledge economy,鈥� says Peter Smith, dean of the faculty of medical and health sciences at the University of Auckland. 鈥淚t鈥檚 moving in that direction but it needs to move faster.鈥�

Bridges across the Tasman

SYDNEY lies just three hours across the 鈥淒itch鈥�, which means it is closer to Auckland than to Perth. While Australia is far bigger and richer than New Zealand, both countries are waking up to the benefits of collaboration rather than competition.

In March, the New Zealand government announced almost NZ$7 million in grants for four biotech firms to build links with their Australian counterparts.

New Zealand is also funding infrastructure that it will share with its bigger neighbour. The most significant investment is NZ$5 million towards a synchrotron in Melbourne. Scheduled for completion in 2007, the A$50 million (US$39 million) instrument will be used to probe molecular structures. It could reveal in detail the interaction between a virus and a human cell, for example, which could lead to the development of new drugs. Without cooperation, such facilities would be beyond New Zealand鈥檚 means.

Key areas for future collaboration are likely to include clinical trials and biomedical science and technology, fields in which both countries are strong.

Succeeding to the crown

SCION Research was born on 30 May this year. Behind the new name, however, lies Forest Research, an organisation created in 1992 as one of nine government Crown research institutes (CRIs).

So why the name change? While Forest Research served the industry鈥檚 needs, researching and improving tree breeding and wood-fibre quality, Scion will in addition focus on biomaterial science as a way to generate more wealth from forestry.

Some in New Zealand would prefer to see investment shifted to hot new areas such as IT rather than traditional industries like farming. They point out that employment in IT is already up to half that in agriculture. But advocates of the Scion approach argue that the traditional sectors are not the 鈥渟unset industries鈥� they are sometimes labelled and could be springboards to future wealth. Certainly, CRIs accept that adding value to traditional products is a key part of their role.

Biotechs band together

FOR New Zealand鈥檚 fledgling biotech industry, 14 March was a landmark date. It signalled the start of the first national conference of NZBio, the association of biotechs created at the end of 2003.

Last year a report prepared for the government by a biotech task force set ambitious goals for the development of the sector over the next 10 years. Starting from a revenue in 2004 of NZ$250 million, the target it set for 2014 was four times that sum.

With advice from NZBio, the government is making changes to help realise its plan. For instance, changes announced in May鈥檚 budget will allow biotechs tax relief, making it easier for companies with large set-up costs.

Brian Ward, CEO of NZBio, says that the industry has more to do before it can tempt the best scientists from abroad, however. 鈥淣ew Zealand can provide world-class infrastructure and resources. But in terms of matching some of the best packages that are available in the US and Europe 鈥� it鈥檚 very challenging.鈥�

Left behind in the race for profits

WHILE some sectors are on the up, others are finding it hard going, especially research fields that cannot show a good economic case for their work. The budget research allocation for social sciences, for example, stood at NZ$5.56 million in 2004, but this year there was no increase at all 鈥� representing a cut in real terms.

Some New Zealanders complain that this flies in the face of the country鈥檚 much-prized tradition of fairness. How, they ask, can we conduct world-leading research with so little money? But with limited funds, the government argues it has to concentrate on its strengths.