Marsden Fund awards 2006

$39.1m for exciting new research

The Marsden Fund – New Zealand’s funding for ideas-driven research – has this year given the go-ahead to 78 new projects, 26 of which are Fast-Start grants for outstanding new researchers. The projects funded cover an enormous breadth of disciplines, from nanotechnology to the arts in Oceania.
    
“This year we have been able to fund some truly world-class research, which would simply not happen without the Marsden Fund,” says Dr Garth Carnaby, chair of the Marsden Fund Council.”

Examples of what the new funding will enable include allowing New Zealand researchers to participate in a new global initiative to detect neutrinos using the Antarctic ice cap as the detector, investigating the social networks of homeless people and analysing youth perspectives on videogame violence. There is also a project that may help parole board members decide when violent prisoners should be allowed to go home.

Applications to the Fund are very competitive. Of the 932 preliminary proposals (722 Standard proposals and 210 Fast-Start proposals), 240 were asked to submit a full proposal with 78 ultimately being funded.

Details of the awards are listed here (opens in a new window)

Press releases relating to a selection of these awards are available here.