Dollars in pursuit of excellence

With all the advances in technology and medicine, why hasn't someone been able to develop a cure for cancer or diabetes? Many people undoubtedly ask that very question as they wolf down medicine, undergo surgery and scour publications for new treatments.

But some relief could be on the way for cancer and diabetes sufferers as a result of a research package announced yesterday. Research into new drugs is just one of many projects to win help from the Government's new Centres of Research Excellence fund. Yesterday the Government pledged to invest almost $61 million in five research centres, based across three of the country's eight universities.

The idea for the fund came out of a review last year into tertiary education and a belief that New Zealand should concentrate its limited research budget on a small number of world-class research centres. The Royal Society of New Zealand - an independent organisation set up to support the development of science and technology - is managing the fund. It received 45 applications and the final few were selected from a shortlist of 11.

The five centres, covering diverse research from molecular ecology and evolution to developments in Maori education, bring together researchers from 12 tertiary institutions and organisations. Together they will aim to develop knowledge likely to contribute to New Zealand's economic and social development.

WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING

Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution

New Zealand's network of experienced biologists and mathematicians are highly regarded internationally, but there has not been a specific research centre to combine their efforts.

The Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution will change that, enabling scientists to combine their expertise in the various fields involving genetics.

Five universities have combined to develop the centre, which is named after renowned New Zealand-born ecologist Allan Wilson.

Wilson, who died in 1991, worked at University of California, Berkeley, for 35 years and developed the controversial African Eve theory - concluding that all modern humans evolved from one "mother" in Africa 200,000 years ago.

The Allan Wilson Centre will be based at Massey University, but biologists and mathematicians from Auckland, Otago, Victoria and Canterbury will work in partnership to address the fundamental questions about New Zealand's plant and animal life.

Recent developments and techniques, including the human genome project and advances in DNA, have already enabled these scientists to revolutionise their understanding of New Zealand's biodiversity.

Associate investigator Dr Allen Rodrigo said the centre would be "an incredible step forward", allowing much closer collaboration of scientists with similar research interests. Once established, it was likely to give contributing scientists a further platform to present their work internationally.

He said the success of a phylogenetic conference in Whitianga last month, which attracted biologists and ecologists from around the world, already showed work by New Zealand scientists was considered world class.

Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery

Developing drugs to combat two of New Zealand's major health problems - cancer and diabetes - will be one of the main objectives of Auckland University's Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery.

It will combine the work of five leading research groups, each of which has already won national and international acclaim for work in chemistry, biological sciences, engineering and medicine.

Centre director Professor Ted Baker said the combined efforts of the research groups would specifically aim to develop drugs to fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial disease, using new technologies and approaches.

The development of new drugs and new tools for biotechnology would have "real commercial potential".

Fifty to 80 scientists will work within the centre, which will cover the faculties of science, medicine and engineering.

NZ Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications

Based on centres in Canada, Brazil, Britain and the United States, the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications was developed to help to raise the level of knowledge and skill in the mathematical sciences in this country.

Working with the New Zealand Mathematics Research Institute, the new institute at Auckland University will have a strong emphasis on developing the use of high-level mathematical techniques in areas including medical statistics, risk assessment and mathematical physics.

It aims to serve as a focus for research in the mathematical sciences, offering links with other tertiary institutions in New Zealand and abroad, as well as fostering connections with other sciences and applications in business and industry.

MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

The high-tech worlds of materials science and nanotechnology will combine at the new institute set up to create new products and industries for New Zealand's economic, environmental and social well-being.

Nanotechnology is the science of building items by joining one atom or molecule at a time using programmed nanoscopic robotic arms.

The Wellington-based MacDiarmid institute will be headed by the internationally-recognised Professor Paul Callaghan.

It aims to develop further understanding of new materials and technologies, as well as ensure the development of the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs.

Named after New Zealand-born Nobel Prize-winning chemist Professor Alan MacDiarmid, the institute will work in partnership with Canterbury University, Industrial Research Ltd and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.

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