New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised

Crown entities A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute. The Crown Entities Act ...

charged with conducting

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

. Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

(DSIR) and of elements of various government departments. The dissolution of the DSIR, along with the government-imposed requirement that the CRIs become "financially viable" and operate on commercial lines, created a certain amount of resentment among some scientists. The Crown Research Institutes Act 1992 states the purpose of a CRI as carrying out research, and that each CRI must do this for the benefit of New Zealand, pursuing excellence in all that it does, abiding by

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

standards and recognising

social responsibility Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which an individual is obligated to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of the community that will inherit the world that individual leaves behind. Social ...

; and operating as a good employer. A CRI must do these things whilst remaining financially viable. The technical definition of financial viability changes from time to time, but focused on

return on equity The return on equity (ROE) is a measure of the profitability of a business in relation to the equity. Because shareholder's equity can be calculated by taking all assets and subtracting all liabilities, ROE can also be thought of as a return on ''a ...

. The State does not expect CRIs to maximise profit, but simply to cover the costs of capital. This formula aims to ensure appropriate commercial disciplines whilst fulfilling scientific purposes. The State charges CRIs with promoting the transfer and dissemination of research, science and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

. In other words, they have the role of "making a difference" with the research they produce. They do this via strategic, long-term relationships with

sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a po ...

s (the CRI Act set up most of the CRIs with a sector-orientation), to support, sustain, challenge and develop existing sectors and also to lead development of new sectors.

Governance and administration

The New Zealand Government — via two

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘ prime minister� ...

s (the Minister of Research, Science and Technology and the Minister of Finance) — holds all shares in each of the eight CRIs. Cabinet appoints a Board for each CRI. Each Board — intended to comprise

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

, "

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

" and science expertise — operates according to the Companies Act as well as the CRI Act (1992) and other relevant Acts. Each Board produces an

annual report An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance. ...

and reports to the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU), (part of The Treasury), which represents the shareholders. Parliament also scrutinises each CRI on a regular basis. Day-to-day, however, CRIs operate as any commercial company would, acting within their strategic statement of intent (agreed with the shareholders) that aligns with the CRI Act purpose and principles. The CRIs, along with Callaghan Innovation, cooperate as Science New Zealand.

Funding

NSOF (the Non-Specific Output Fund) provided CRIs with some independent public-good research-funding streams from 1992 to 2005. The CRI Capability Fund (CF) replaced NSOF as from 1 July 2005. It provided public funding to maintain, enhance, and foster current or new capabilities. In 2010, the Government provided each CRI with core funding to deliver outcomes for the benefit of New Zealand. Core funding gives CRIs greater financial certainty and comprises a significant proportion of total funding available to CRIs.

List of CRIs

CRIs: * New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute (AgResearch) *

New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Plant & Food Research ( Māori: Rangahau Ahumāra Kai) is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute (CRI). Its purpose is to enhance the value and productivity of New Zealand's horticultural, arable, seafood and food & beverage industries. The int ...

(Plant & Food Research) * Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) *

Scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game '' Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game ''B ...

(New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited) *

GNS Science GNS Science ( mi, Te Pū Ao), officially registered as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics (including seismology and volcanology), and nuclear sc ...

, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences *

Landcare Research Landcare may refer to: *Australian Landcare Council, a now superseded Australian government body *Landcare in Australia, umbrella approach promoting land protection in Australia * Landcare Research, New Zealand *The Landcare movement in Australia ...

(Landcare Research) *

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA ( mi, Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental scien ...

(NIWA) The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited (trading as Plant & Food Research) formed by combining the Crop & Food Research and HortResearch on 1 December 2008 Another CRI, the Institute For Social Research and Development, was disestablished in 1995 after failing to achieve financial viability. It should not be confused with the

UN agency The United Nations System consists of the United Nations' six principal organs (the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the UN Secretariat) ...

of the same name.

Industrial Research Limited Industrial Research Limited (IRL) was a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand that was established in 1992 and merged into Callaghan Innovation, a new Crown entity, on 1 February 2013. IRL provided research, development and commercialisation ...

(IRL) merged into a new Crown entity, Callaghan Innovation, on 1 February 2013.

References

External links

Science New Zealand
{{Authority control Crown Research Institutes of New Zealand

Governance and administration

Funding

List of CRIs

See also

References

External links