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GFANZ Blog Posts

11th November 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand (GFANZ) is a charitable organisation whose purpose is to promote the use of genomic science for the benefit of all society. GFANZ affirms its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and upholding Te Tiriti O Waitangi...

The post E tautoko ana a GFANZ i te UNDRIP (GFANZ Supports the UNDRIP) appeared first on Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Radio Interview: Science with Dr. Troy Baisden

‍Interview with Troy Baisden, co-president of NZ Association of Scientists about changes to the Marsden Fund.

Science with Dr. Troy Baisden | RNZ

NZ Association of Scientist's Dr. Troy Baisden joins us to cover the latest changes to the Marsden Fund.

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Press Release: We Are The University Open Letter: Cuts To Marsden Funding For Humanities And Social Sciences

By tightening the bottleneck of researcher funding, Collins is crushing the ability for new ideas and new teachers to enter the realms of humanities and social sciences, consequently disincentivizing students’ study of these subjects.

‍‍ We Are The University Open Letter: Cuts To Marsden Funding For Humanities And Social Sciences - Scoop

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News Article: Union members make plea for university pay deal at Massey

‍“I spent five years being fired and rehired, despite doing the same job those five years – denied the benefits of a full employee like annual and maternity leave, a Massey device, performance reviews, promotions, redundancies, and basic security and dignity.”

Plea for varsity pay deal at Massey

Union members have outlined to the university’s council how hard they are finding it.

www.thepost.co.nz

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Opinion Piece: Cuts to research funding will lead the country on to the rocks

‍Our field is transdisciplinary in nature, underpinned by insights that originate from disciplines such as sociology, history, psychology, education, law, literature and philosophy. In shutting down what has been an influential source of funding to support social science and humanities research, therefore, the minister is undermining the very foundations upon which management and organisation research is based – research which could help prevent a recurrence of the Manawanui disaster.

Cuts to research funding will lead the country on to the rocks

OPINION: This decision profoundly fails to grasp the interdependencies between academic disciplines, which plays a key role in generating new knowledge.

www.waikatotimes.co.nz

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News Article: Review of science sector, role of prime minister's chief science advisor won't be announced until next year

‍A review of the government's science, innovation, and technology sector, including the role of the prime minister's chief science advisor, is due (sic) in the new year.

Review of science sector, role of prime minister's chief science advisor won't be announced until next year | RNZ News

The significant job vacancy has been causing concern in the science world since Christopher Luxon has refused to confirm when, or if, a new advisor will be appointed.

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News Article: Amid cuts to basic research, New Zealand scraps all support for social sciences

‍Paul Spoonley, a sociologist at Massey University and the convener of the fund’s social sciences panel, says it’s a mistake to exclude social science. “The idea that somehow the economy doesn’t involve people seems to me a very strange one,” he says. Other researchers fear the cuts will disproportionately slash research by New Zealand’s Indigenous Māori scientists.

Amid cuts to basic research, New Zealand scraps all support for social sciences

Scientists shocked as “blue-sky” Marsden Fund has half its budget shifted to research focused on helping economy

www.science.org

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News Article: Massey University deficit smaller than expected

‍Massey University is still forecasting a financial deficit for the year, but there are signs things are starting to improve.

University deficit smaller than expected

Signs of financial improvement may be starting to show.

www.thepost.co.nz

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News Roundup: Marsden Fund Changes

A selection of pieces on the changes to the Marsden Fund. Please feel free to add more in the comments.

Universities criticise Marsden Fund cuts, business group backs the move - RNZ 5th December
Govt cuts humanities and social science funding – Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre 4th December
All Marsden Fund humanities research cut - Otago Daily Times 5th December
Unis, business disagree over Marsden Fund cuts - Waikato Times via Pressreader 6th December
Funding research for economic return sounds good – but that’s not how science really works - The Conversation 6th December
New Zealand academia condemns cutting of humanities, social science funding - Xinhua 5th December
Humanities expelled from key New Zealand research funding scheme - Times Higher Education 5th December
Marsden Fund cuts a win for ‘convenient’ evidence - Newsroom 6th December
The changes to research funding in Aotearoa, explained - The Spinoff 5th December
Amid cuts to basic research, New Zealand scraps all support for social sciences - Science 6th December
Arts don’t just decorate knowledge, they deepen it - Newsroom 9th December
‘Horrified’: researchers respond to Marsden Fund changes - Research Professional News 9th December
Anne Salmond: Research cuts an own goal - Newsroom 10th December

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Opinion Piece: Anne Salmond: Govt de-funding the mind

‍Evidence-based decision-making also requires reliable insights into the languages, laws, politics and histories not just of New Zealand, but of those other countries with whom we trade, choose as allies, or who might threaten our lives and tranquillity.

The disciplines that train researchers to produce this kind of knowledge are, precisely, the social sciences and the humanities. And yet in New Zealand, it seems, world-class research in these fields is no longer needed, and people are irrelevant to the economy.

Anne Salmond: Govt de-funding the mind - Newsroom

Comment: The Government's decision to cut humanities and social science research from its major funding stream is both bad policy and scientifically illiterate, writes Dame Anne Salmond

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News Article: Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it?

‍Many people in the field say that science-advice systems need further change. Tackling issues such as intergenerational disadvantage, youth mental health, immigration and responses to climate change require different ways of operating, says Peter Gluckman, former chief science adviser to the New Zealand prime minister and now at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “Science advice is not designed for that at the moment.”

Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it?

A Nature global survey finds that most specialists are unhappy with systems to provide science advice to policymakers.

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Web Post: Are we counting on the right evidence?

‍“What I discovered was the privileging of very scientific-based forms of knowledge, which sidelined Te Ao Māori, for example, as well as any other ways of understanding the same issues and problems.”

Are we counting on the right evidence? - The University of Auckland

What counts as evidence when important decisions are made about social wellbeing in Aotearoa is the focus of a new study at the University of Auckland.

www.auckland.ac.nz

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Opinion Piece: The Covid inquiry report is an excellent guide to preparing for the next pandemic – health cuts put that at risk: Opinion

‍To prepare for the next inevitable pandemic, the report says New Zealand must build public health capacity to increase the range of response options and tools available to decision-makers.

The big question is when and how the Government will implement these recommendations, particularly in the context of job cuts and downsizing of public health capacity.

The Covid inquiry report is an excellent guide to preparing for the next pandemic – health cuts put that at risk: Opinion - NZ Herald

THREE KEY FACTS The rising threat of epidemics and pandemics adds urgency for the Government to act on the recommendations of the long-awaited inquiry into...

www.nzherald.co.nz

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News Article: Midwives' union outraged as graduates unable to sit exams

‍"They've had a year's notice ... they knew how many student midwives were in their final year of their midwifery programme, they knew it was the largest cohort, ever, particularly coming out of AUT and Auckland."

The delay was also concerning given that new graduates are "desperately needed" by maternity services, particularly at Christmas which is a busy time, and it was "appalling" if the spots had gone to electricians and pilots instead of midwives. "There are still midwifery vacancies around the country, and new graduates are vital to that pipeline."

Midwives' union outraged as graduates unable to sit exams | RNZ News

The midwives' union says it is "completely unacceptable and appalling" that dozens of midwife graduates were prevented from sitting their final exams before Christmas.

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Tania (TK) Roxborogh

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Melanie Newfield

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Welcome to Te Ara Paerangi Community & Where we intend to go from here

Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to Te Ara Paerangi Community!

Yesterday, Minister Collins dropped a bombshell on our already besieged public research sector. Abrupt changes to the Marsden and Catalyst Funds came as a surprise to all across the research sector. There is plenty being written about why this is bad, who it may affect and how, what it all means, etc. I won't rehash that here. This post is about coming together to work out a path to a public research sector that works for everyone.

You are reading this because it is important to you that someone does something about what is happening in research and all across the public sector. We are all in the same boat. This is us and it is us who must do something. This site was created three years ago to encourage participation and sharing of expertise in the Te Ara Paerangi / Future Pathways research system reform process. We had some success with that - collaborating, teaching and learning, and having a place to do it. That process was scuttled when this government came in. That was disheartening for so many who had put their time and energy, heart and tears into it.

As with so many other public services, cut after cut has been made in the research sector. Some overt, others quietly just letting things end (e.g. national science challenges). The announcements yesterday are a policy change in kind, not in degree. We are all right in being very, very concerned; angry even. The many years of neoliberalism, managerialism, and hyper-competition in our under resourced system have conditioned many away from working together for the good of everyone. We must overcome that, now. This includes organisations as well as individuals.

To join the Te Ara Paerangi Community site: request an invitation here.

‍What we are offering here is a place to organise, to collaborate, to build community, to plan, to work to effect change. Some things in the near term. Others with a longer time frame.

Your help is needed to make these things happen. In the now, there two areas where expertise and effort are needed:

Organisation Building / Governance
People interested informing the process needed to form a diverse and appropriately skilled steering group.
People who have time and interest in being a chair / member of the steering group.
Aiming for an online hui in mid-January. Sooner is possible if someone can take on the organising.
Technical & Testing Group
People who have experience administering content management systems.
People with skills in user interface design.
People who like to write how to documents.
People who know none of the above and can tell us what is not working for them or is confusing.

When you look at the lists above and you see your skills in one of the items, put something in the comments. It is so important that we see each other putting our hands up to do the mahi.

Just a few weeks ago, I shifted the site to a server in Aotearoa. I did not anticipate yesterday's news, so it is not quite where I want it to be. There is a bit more technical work to be done so that the direct messaging can be enabled again. At the same time, in site video conferencing will be added. Once there is a steering group, we will re-evaluate how the site is set up based on the needs of the community.

‍Thanks for sticking with me through this long post. Together, we can build a better future in Aotearoa. Tell your colleagues, your whanau, and your mates about this effort.

Ngā mihi nui,

Rob

Government's Marsden Fund cuts: All humanities, social sciences research funding slashed | RNZ News

Cutting all research funding for the fields is a massive step backwards, critics say.

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Sharla McTavish

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Health Network Collective

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Mike Kilpatrick

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Press Release: Is The Future Of The Creative Sector At Risk In Waikato?

‍There has been a problematic trend of arts programmes being on the chopping block at universities around the country.

This seems to lack a vision for what skill-sets graduates will need in the future. Many leaders in sectors from business, to law, to healthcare, manufacturing and tech have expressed a desire for graduates who can think creatively and communicate eectively. Performing Arts is a great pathway for those skills. Graduates developing these important soft skills will have impacts on recruitment across all sectors, national GDP development, and opportunities for regional economic development.

Community Scoop » Is The Future Of The Creative Sector At Risk In Waikato?

Scoop Community provides New Zealand Community news and views

community.scoop.co.nz

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News Article: 'Asleep at the wheel': Science group calls on Minister to step up over issues in sector

‍"The rapid loss of skilled scientists and researchers poses a critical threat, while the next generation of researchers are increasingly questioning the viability of pursuing a science career in New Zealand. Without immediate intervention, the country risks undermining its capacity for innovation and progress in an increasingly knowledge-driven world." Dr Sereana Naepi

'Asleep at the wheel': Science group calls on Minister to step up over issues in sector | RNZ News

The Save Science Coalition says political parties agree there are "big issues" within the science sector but Judith Collins is yet to do anything about it.

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News Article: Fears for university independence – who decides what is taught

‍Though we recognise that knowledge is widely contested, we rarely think about the politics of its making. We also tend to discount its influence on culture, economy, the exercise of rule, and social futures. All are prefigured by what and how we know, which is why it matters so much who decides what knowledge is made and taught.

Universities are key sites in the production and translation of knowledge. When governments or other powerful actors (including vice chancellors) intervene in what they teach and research, we must hold them to forensic account.

Fears for university independence – who decides what is taught - Newsroom

From the University of Auckland – Opinion: Universities are restructuring themselves, but are they responding to government drivers or are their leaders exercising their new capacity to interpret universities anew?

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