iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Streaming info is on our page (and it is the best place to check back for completed video or replacement feed if there are any tech issues. scientists.org.nz/page-18192

New Zealand Association of Scientists - SSC Election Panel 2026

031

Pre-Election Forum on Science & Research

Today 12-1pm Panel Discussion on Science and Research Issues for the 2026 General Election Catch the livestream (or attend - preferably if you've registered). www.youtube.com/live/0yxmHaa...

youtube.com

YouTube video by New Zealand Association of Scientists

162

But mine won’t. After dozens of efforts to point people to the different cultures of science, the system sciences and historical sciences are valid, and there are many different views of “the” scientific method, I throw up my hands and offer only this.

130

NZAS historically did and published a written Q&A with candidates. Looks like we might offer that as a follow up to this unusual and disappointing silence.

Shaun Hendy @hendysh.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Reposted by Troy Baisden

New Zealand’s government plans to reallocate >$100m in science funding, partly justified by claims NZ “overweights” ag & environmental science vs peers, and underinvests in tech. I checked the numbers behind that claim. Some of it holds up. Most of it doesn’t. 🧵 www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/...

mbie.govt.nz

612070

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This whole idea of pushing Business R&D at the expense of the public research system in our institutes, universities etc does not appear to be going well if you plot the data sensibly. It's flatlined in terms of the people for a number of years. Why is current policy doubling down on it?

021

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Shouldn't it be more obvious that NZ's Business R&D was lifted successfully, until we tried to grow it at the expense of what fuels it in the long run – government funded research, carried out through our public research institutions?

032

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

So, we've just spent a few years doubling down on policies that aren't working?

131

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I've been pondering Parliament's Scrutiny Week and other statements where it seem the Minister & officials see Business R&D Growth as a panacea. We rarely plot this data inflation adjusted or as a percent of the economy, and when we do it seems apparent it is not growing.

131

Reposted by Troy Baisden

Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · 03/08/2026

MSc and PhD students are the workforce in the engine room of our public research system. They are very, very cheap labor by policy design. This talk about a 'cost blowout' is utter rubbish. We frown on company owners that charge people to get a job. We should be doing the same here. #NZPOL

rnz.co.nz

Cost blowout puts fees for foreign PhD students under review

A blow-out in the cost of treating foreign PhD students like locals has prompted a rethink of the long-standing policy and a cap on spending next year.

45635

What's sort of interesting is that we seem to be setting up a very bad version of the separation between the ministry (MoRST) and independent funding body (FRST) that was discontinued in 2010-2012, but with smaller independent funding bodies running well for HRC and Marsden (the latter through RSTA)

000

Last, it doesn't just matter that good work gets funded through fair and robust processes (noting @bureauchem.bsky.social's point this is not easy), but that research directions that are off track or deadwood get unfunded.

100

At the same time, the perception of a fair and robust process is also crucial for ensuring the public want to support and fund science with wide benefits.

100

... whether they are pandering to Ministers or just exerting the control that would be better placed in the hands of experts who know the research and know how to deliver to impacts. RFNZ is too close to MBIE and that exemplifies the problem.

100

Political interference is often obvious - for example, the government is cutting what is not their set of 'priorities'. More nefarious is creeping or potential interference, control, or cancellation by officials who don't understand the norms and complexity of delivering research well...

100

That's certainly a potential problem but the issues the systems is headed toward are obviously more complex. We highlighted the framework is generally successful in our BIM (p5). scientists.org.nz/news/13632765

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Reuben Davidson asked the Minister about the PM’s quoted intent to “brutally commercialise the research system”. Despite this and opportunities for the PM himself to walk it back at the PM’s science awards, I feel neither enlightened nor reassured. youtu.be/koeINt5pz3A

youtu.be

Question 7: Brutally commercialise the research system?

YouTube video by New Zealand Association of Scientists

2206

Reposted by Troy Baisden

Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · 19/06/2026

In this post webinar Q&A, @geneticsprof.bsky.social and I discuss a focus on improving conditions for MSc and PhD students. This is a way to make the system better and making it a kitchen table issue. 6 minutes #NZPOL @nzscientists.bsky.social @troybaisden.bsky.social @lcsnz.bsky.social @mehr.nz

youtube.com

Commercialisation Seminar Q & A

YouTube video by Robert Elshire

31410

Reposted by Troy Baisden

NZAS - New Zealand Association of Scientists @nzscientists.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

We're pleased to announce applications are now open for NZ Association of Science's 2026 Medals. The closing date for all applications is 5pm Monday 3rd August 2026. The medals are ... scientists.org.nz/Awards (1/7)

Picture of the NZ Association of Scientists medal

11211

Reposted by Troy Baisden

Dr Lucy Stewart @lcsnz.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

NB we estimate you need approx 0.6% GDP investment in foundational research to support an active research system - we're headed for 0.3%

199

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

NZAS release on Budget 2026 is out. It wasn't even a nothing burger this year... What is shocking is the long-term trend. scientists.org.nz/news/13636927

02521

The BIM ends with four narrative strategies we think are needed for the research system to be successfully reformed. Read the BIM - scientists.org.nz/news/13632765 4/4

011

It includes an improved conceptual diagrams with the needed horizontal layers to complement 'pillars' – so that we focus on the intersection of technology and our existing strengths. Do you agree a new tech pillar isn't the right way to think about it? 3/4

121

We've put out a press release drawing a thread through recent concerns, and also provided a Briefing to the Incoming Minister (BIM) earlier in the month that suggests a more coherent approach to reform. 2/4

112

Concerned about the mishmash of bad news hitting research? So are we at New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS). Read the press release – scientists.org.nz/news/13632857 1/4

389

We now have a reply on LinkedIn - this is a result of breaking each fund down into each year's investment across the transition. But we're still requesting to see the maths.

120

Dr Lucy Stewart @lcsnz.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

We now have a reply on LinkedIn - this is a result of breaking each fund down into each year's investment across the transition. But we're still requesting to see the maths.

030

Reposted by Troy Baisden

There's either a new fund not yet announced or we're seeing another swingeing cut to science funding. Either way the lack of clarity, given the current stress throughout the system, is...unhelpful.

12515

I've never seen anything quite so unclear. Well, except maybe the maths mistake when MoRST eliminated the post-doc scheme that had worked well for a generation. (They tallied up all the postdocs in the country to be 100, and thought we only fund 30. But they funded 30 each year, for 3 years = 90%).

041

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

If you came here looking for answers on what MBIE's Transition Research fund is, we're trying to find out. On the face of it, the $84.8m per year replaces Marsden + Endeavour and more, which currently total 4 times this much?

3133

I dunno, I’ve had this version on my wall for very long time. Are we winning yet?

010

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

The Acumen/Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 survey results don’t report anything for scientists or academics. Unless lumped into NGOs.

100

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

A lot of people have a lot things to say about Christopher Luxon this week. I’m mostly still concerned about him slamming people who make sourdough bread at home a few weeks back.

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

While we’re struggling to see large scale policy action on either issue at present, the case for action has never been better.

000

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

As a scientist who works on how land plays into both freshwater and climate change issues, I was pleased to be part of today’s episode of The Detail. lnkd.in/eVQ5k_Bw www.rnz.co.nz/news/environ...

rnz.co.nz

The sobering report on water that's unlikely to spark action

Scientists worry that the often-long time lags between cause and effect when it comes to polluting our lakes and rivers will give politicians the excuse not to do anything about it

Newsroom NZ @newsroom.co.nz · 11/04/2026

Reposted by Troy Baisden

Comment from Victoria University: The Govt’s science overhaul prioritises commercial outcomes, but risks narrowing the very research pipeline that fuels long-term innovation.

newsroom.co.nz

NZ's science reforms all shell, no substance

23419

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

We left the Green Paper Submission on line. It, along with our call for renewal before it, has stood up better than the reforms and their reports, don't you think? (3/3) scientists.org.nz/GreenPaperSu...

New Zealand Association of Scientists - Our Green Paper Submission

0132

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

From PRO reform that still lacks underlying strategy, to our concerns about the Prioritisation Report scientists.org.nz/news/13616237, to the recent webinar, it looks like our nightmare scenario of managerialism meets the machinery of government along with the worst of politics. (2/3)

New Zealand Association of Scientists - 'Prioritisation' Report Could Cost NZ Dearly

1133

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

What worries me most about the directions of NZ's science reform is that it now matches closely what our extensive 2022 Te Ara Paerangi submission highlighted as 'what to avoid'. (1/3)

26428

FWIW, I think Australia and Netherlands were there for comparison but not in SAE ave… but …noticeably missing from figure 1

You can't have successful missions like the government wants science to be organised into without sufficient social science research.

1114

The government has adamantly cut social science research. It claims we should be more like small advanced economies (SAEs) - even those not dependent on primary/bioeconomy exports. But SAEs fund much more social science research than we do. scientists.org.nz/news/13616237

New Zealand Association of Scientists - 'Prioritisation' Report Could Cost NZ Dearly

1115