Professor I Axford Presiding Member Foundation for Research, Science and Technology PO Box 12 240 WELLINGTON Dear Professor Axford AMENDMENT TO THE 1992 ``STATEMENT OF SCIENCE PRIORITIES'' Pursuant to section 7 of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Act 1990, I am now amending the ``Statement of science priorities 1993/94 to 1997/98'' which was issued by the Government in October 1992. It is noted that much of the 1992 Priorities Statement has now been overtaken by events. Research strategies have been completed. Background material incorporated in the statement necessarily excludes recent developments leading to the Government's increased commitment to science. Rather than extensively amending the Priority Statement to update all of this general material, the annexes to this letter incorporate only amendments which detail the new funding distribution for the PGSF and which impact directly on its management. Should this lead to inconsistency in the amended document, the amendments and additional notes detailed here are to guide interpretation. This letter conveys the amendments desired by the Government in respect of: Allocation of funds (Annex I) Adherence to Thematic Priorities (Annex II) Access of the Tertiary Education Sector to the Public Good Science Fund (Annex III) Criteria for the Selection of Proposals (Annex IV) Transfer of funds to the new Basic Science Fund, and transitional arrangements. (Annex V) This amendment will continue in force until the conclusion of the 1995/96 PGSF funding round. A completely new priority statement is to be issued in 1995 dealing with the period 1996/97 to 2000/01. Yours sincerely SIMON UPTON Minister of Research, Science and Technology Annex I ALLOCATION OF FUNDS The table below sets out revised funding targets for each science area for the financial year 1995/96. This table supersedes the funding table in Annex B of the 1992 Priority Statement. Annex C of the 1992 Priority Statement is deleted. [tn1,8] [tn1,8]Priority Statement (1995/96) Setting Out New Funding Targets - ($000s) [tn1,8] (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) Core [tn1,2]SCIENCE AREA Target Capability High New Total [tn1,2] Fund Funding Priority Technical 95/96 No Description[qfl] 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 Universities Adjust. Target [tn1,8] 1 Sheep/Beef Production 21543 500 277 22320 2 Dairy Research 8436 1800 200 10436 3 Alternative Animal 4657 0 4657 4 Generic Animal 11786 422 397 12605 5 Forage Plants 19675 607 146 20428 6 Horticulture etc 47712 272 2256 50240 7 Forestry Research 19167 260 1800 659 21886 8 Fisheries 3280 1200 291 67 4838 9 Industry, Technology, Mfg 22909 2450 1810 611 27780 10 Construction 3318 213 3531 11 Commercial/Trade Services 275 100 0 375 12 Energy 5361 500 268 6129 13 Transport Services 959 250 0 1209 14 Information/Communication 1381 250 328 1959 15 Urban & Rural Planning 833 200 71 1104 16 Social Science 3065 1184 4249 17 Environmental Protection 10092 1800 366 12258 18 Geological Structures 10558 50 1027 11635 19 Land Use, Flora & Fauna 10461 603 401 100 11565 20 Marine & Frest Waters 16626 385 296 17307 21 Climate & Atmosphere 8054 130 285 8469 22 Antarctica 1862 1862 23 Space/Knowledge 3713 1716 - 5429 0 24 S&T Services 4375 - 2932 1443 [tn2,7] Total 240098 1850 10850 10668 - 5181 258285 [tn1,8] Notes: 1 Column A lists the funding levels by science area in the Foundation's ``Transitional Funding Strategy''. These figures are directionally consistent with the funding targets in the 1992 Priority Statement and have had technical corrections applied. 2 Column B lists additional funding to be applied to particular science areas to maintain core capabilities in the science system. More specific details as to how this funding is to be applied are as follows: [tn1,7] Additional [tn5,3]Criteria [tn1,1] Science Area 94/95[el]($000) 95/96[el]($000) Topic Areas Data-[el]base NSS Core[el]Capability [tn1,7] Generic Animals 221 201 Rumen physiology; Possums * * Forestry, wood and paper processing 139 121 Indigenous forest management * Geological structures and processes 100 -50 Palaeontology * * Landuse, flora and fauna 309 294 Terrestrial biosystematics * * Marine and fresh waters 206 179 Marine taxonomy; Hydrology * * * Climate and atmosphere 65 65 Trace gases * [tn1,7] TOTAL 1040 810 [tn1,3] 3 Column C lists additional funding to be applied to high priority outputs as a result of increases to the PGSF announced in the 1994 Budget. This funding is to be expended in a manner consistent with the Research Strategies for the relevant Science Areas. 4 Column D shows how the ``entry fee'' of $10.668m from the universities is to be applied across science areas in 1995/96. The distribution is the average of the actual funding levels allocated to the universities in the 1993/94 and 1994/95 funding rounds. 5 Column E shows technical adjustments arising from: transfer of funds from the PGSF to the new Basic Science Fund. $1,859,000 is to be transferred from the Space/Fundamental knowledge science output. (See Annex V). transfer of funds from the Space/Fundamental Knowledge outputs (34/36) to other PGSF outputs. (See Annex V). transfer of funding equal to the amount awarded to the Carter Observatory in 1994/95, out of the PGSF, pending audit of activities previously supported by this funding. The amount transferred is $390,000. (See Annex V). transfer of funding for National Measurement Standards from the S&T services science area to a Non-DOC in Vote:RS&T, as approved by the Government in July 1994. The amount transferred is $2,932,000. Annex II ADHERENCE TO THEMATIC PRIORITIES The 1992 Long-Term Science Priorities Statement contains, in Annex F, a list of priority themes. The Foundation has developed Science Area Research Strategies which in some cases conflict with the output-specific themes in this Annex. The Foundation is authorised to replace or incorporate output-specific themes in Annex F of the Priority Statement, once each Science Area Research Strategy is advised to me. In cases where this happens, the Science Area Research Strategy should contain an explanation of the reasons. Annex III ACCESS OF THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SECTOR TO THE PGSF The Government has decided that Tertiary Education Sector institutions will have unrestricted access to the PGSF from 1995/96. The ``entry fee'' for this access, which was added to the PGSF from 1993/94, is to be distributed across Science Areas as detailed in Annex I. The Foundation is invited to make appropriate transitional arrangements for Tertiary Education Sector access, in consultation with providers, so as to manage the workload of the funding allocation process. The management discretion of the Foundation is not to be used to artificially limit the long term growth of, or set an upper limit to, tertiary education sector PGSF funding. Annex IV CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF RESEARCH PROPOSALS The 1992 Science Priorities Statement contains, in Annex H, a list of criteria for the selection of research proposals. With the advent of the Basic Science Fund in 1995/96, these criteria are being amended to more clearly reflect the complementarity of the two funds. The following wording supersedes the wording of Annex H of the 1992 Priority Statement. ``In selecting proposals for funding, the Foundation should: a) ensure that the following pre-conditions are satisfied: i[sp'ii'] the proposal comprises public good science and technology outputs as defined in the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Act 1990; and [ri] ii[sp'i'] proposers supply all the information requested by the Foundation and required by the Ministry in order to effectively monitor the implementation of the priority statement. b) give primary consideration to each proposal's contribution to the fulfilment of the Government's priorities while ensuring that all proposals funded meet acceptable standards of scientific and technical merit. c) have regard for: i[sp'ii'] the inclusion, where practicable and appropriate, of collaboration between research providers; [ri] ii[sp'i'] the capability of the science provider to deliver the public good science outputs to the standards required; [ri] iii relevance to indicative research strategies and topics developed as part of the National Science Strategy policy.'' Annex V THE PGSF AND THE BASIC SCIENCE FUND (BSF) Funding is to be transferred from PGSF Outputs 34 & 36 (Space and Fundamental Knowledge) to other PGSF Outputs or the BSF according to the amounts shown in the table below. Programmes are to be notionally transferred with their funding. All contractual obligations in respect of these programmes, including multi-year obligations for 1995/96 and beyond, are to be met. The Carter Observatory's programme funding is to be reviewed. This funding will be transferred out of the PGSF, to the BSF or elsewhere, depending on the outcome of the review. [tn1,9] [tn1,2]SOURCE OF FUNDING[tn3,7]DESTINATION OF FUNDING [tn1,1]Output[el]34/36 ($000) Forage Hort, Arable etc Manufact- uring Fisheries Land use, flora & fauna BSF To be determined by review [tn1,9] University programmes (34/36) 1716 1716 Non- university programmes (34) 433 43 390 Non- university programmes (36) 3233 146 2256 611 67 100 53 Projected baseline increase in 34/36 47 47 [tn1,9] 5429 1859 [tn2,1] [tn8,1]