Research, Science & Technology
With significant issues such as climate change facing our energy, primary and export sectors, it is imperative that scientific research is given the required funding to successfully meet those challenges.
United Future's position is to:
- Increase government funding of Research, Science & Technology (RST) to at least the OECD average
- Reduce the proportion of research funding that is contestable, to increase certainty within the research community, maintain core competencies, improve recruitment and retention, allow for capital development, improve collegiality and collaboration, and allow more "blue sky" work to be done.
- Investigate ways to increase the amount of privately-funded RST.
- Review the operation of MRST and FRST as part of the drive to simplify funding mechanisms, with a particular emphasis on improving the effectiveness and coherence of the system.
- Provide opportunities for researchers to gain knowledge of business practices and commercial applications.
- Reinstate research excellence as an important funding criterion by external peer review