Posted on 15 October 2015
Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge Update - October, 2015
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The Sustainable Seas Science Challenge Research Plan is now with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for review.
In the past two months the Science Leadership Team (SLT) have been focused on writing and refining the Research Plan for the Challenge. This plan has been reviewed by the Challenge Independent Science Panel and the Governance Board and is now with MBIE for review. A big vote of thanks to the SLT and their teams for the huge amount of time and effort they have put in to get the plan completed.
Next steps
It is now time to move into funding research projects. There will be three streams of funding: Negotiated, Contestable and Innovation.
Negotiated funding
The Negotiated funding will be used to support multi-disciplinary/multi-organisational projects within the programmes following a ‘negotiated’ approach based on the projects and priorities identified in the Research Plan.
Detailed research project plans have been requested from the Project Leaders. The Project Leaders have been asked to identify their teams based on a “Best Teams” approach to deliver the whole of project outcomes.
“Best Teams” are defined as teams that work together collaboratively to provide quality research to best meet the objective of the Challenge, given availability, Challenge resources, and timeframes. The “Best Teams” proposed will be reviewed by the SLT at their next meeting on 9 October.
Key factors for these teams include:
- Scientific Excellence
- Access to appropriate equipment and analyses
Another key factor for these teams is their ability to:
- Collaborate within the team
- Collaborate across programmes and across the Challenge
- Work in multi/interdisciplinary research teams
- Develop partnerships with Māori and stakeholders
- Communicate with a wide range of audiences.
The Project Leaders have been asked to prepare a detailed proposal based on the project description in the Research Plan and submit these proposals by Noon 31 October.
The proposals will be reviewed by independent reviewers using a set of criteria which will include science excellence and ability to achieve project deliverables, potential for impact, alignment with the Challenge objective, integration and synergy with other projects in the Challenge, inclusion of Vision Mātauranga, and co-funding opportunities.
Funding recommendations will be made by the SLT to the Challenge Governance Board for the Board meeting on December 8th. Contracting will be initiated as soon as possible after the Board meeting with the intention of getting the research started as soon as possible in 2016.
Contestable funding
Contestable funding has been allocated to the Tangaroa programme and two projects within Vision Mātauranga. The SLT has prepared a Request for Proposals based on the projects outlined in the Research Plan. These proposals are due at Noon October 31st. The proposals will be reviewed by independent reviewers and the Kāhui Māori using a set of criteria which will include science excellence and ability to achieve project deliverables, potential for impact, alignment with the Challenge objective, integration and synergy with other projects in the Challenge, inclusion of Vision Mātauranga, and co-funding opportunities. Funding recommendations will be made by the SLT to the Challenge Governance Board for the Board meeting on December 8th. Contracting will be initiated as soon as possible after the Board meeting with the intention of getting the research started as soon as possible in 2016
Innovation funding
The Innovation fund is intended to bring new approaches and ideas, skills and expertise into the Challenge. This fund is approximately $1.5M per annum, and projects will be funded for up to two years, generally at no more than $150k per year for individual projects. Proposals will be sought twice during phase 1 of the Challenge (to June 2019) through a Request for Proposals focused on the Challenge priorities. The Director and SLT will be responsible for developing the Request for Proposals with advice and guidance from the Kāhui Māori and Stakeholder Panel. The first RfP will be early in 2016.
Social Science Workshop
We are interested in identifying social science and humanities researchers in New Zealand who could contribute to the Challenge. The aim of the workshop is to introduce the research planned for the Sustainable Seas Challenge to social and economic researchers, and will focus on how social science research integrates within the Objective and framework of the Challenge.
We have invited participants working in social and economic research to share their recent or current work in order to identify opportunities to align existing research and build potential collaborative activities with the Challenge.
We hope that this will be the first step in developing a ‘community of practice’ that can provide an on-going exchange of ideas to test and extend the Challenge’s research. If you are interested in attending this workshop please contact us at [email protected].