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South Island universities have failed to win any role as host institutions in the Government's funding of five university research programmes from its $60 million Centres of Research Excellence (Core) fund.
And three of the five programmes - chosen on the basis of excellence from a shortlist of 11 - will be hosted by Auckland University.
Auckland had four programmes shortlisted for consideration by a selection panel of the national science academy, the Royal Society.
By taking three of the five funded slots, Auckland University has effectively blitzed the rest of the nation's universities in an independent ranking of their research capabilities.
The five "winning" research programmes have gained access to funds including $26 million over three years, ongoing funding of $12 million, and a one-off injection of $20 million, available for strategic research assets.
They include:
* Massey University's Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, for studies of New Zealand's biodiversity and its origins using molecular biology;
* Victoria University's MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, for research on new materials and technologies such as nano-engineering, opto-electronics, superconductivity, conducting polymers, light harvesting, bio-materials and energy storage materials;
* Auckland University's Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, for research into applications of new technology exploiting genomic data to develop new medicines for infectious diseases, diabetes and cancer;
* Auckland University's Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, for application of high-level mathematical techniques to bioengineering, bioinformatics, medical statistics, optimisation and risk assessment to enhance decision making in complex systems;
* Auckland University's Nga Pae o te Maramatanga (Horizons of Insight), as a National Institute of Research Excellence for Maori Development and Advancement, for research leading to new initiatives in education, health and science that benefit Maori.
Auckland University vice-chancellor John Hood said the infusion of funding into key areas of the university's research would be a "welcome boost" and a tribute to the work being undertaken by academics throughout the institution.
"These centres will further enhance Auckland's position as a leading, internationally recognised research led university," he said.
"They have been won under intense competition."
Auckland University - like its Massey counterpart - initially made 10 different applications among the original 45 seeking funding. Only two of the Massey proposals made it into the final 11. Victoria made eight bids for funding, and Otago made six separate tries.
Of the four Auckland applications shortlisted, only three finished in the money, but Dr Hood said many of Auckland's unsuccessful proposals had also been excellent.
"The Core application process resulted in many more excellent proposals than could be funded," he said.
"The impossible dilemma facing the selection committee was to ensure that the funded centres receive adequate support. This inevitably left some truly excellent proposals behind."
The programmes which failed selection for the new funding included all three of the programmes hosted by South Island universities which made it into the shortlist: Lincoln University's proposed Centre for Advanced Bio-protection Technologies, for ecologically sustainable pest and disease management; Canterbury University's Centre for Antarctic Studies and Research, and Otago University's planned Public Health Research Institute, for promoting sustainable healthy environments.
The other failures on the shortlist included the Genes, Enzymes, Microbes Biotechnology Centre hosted by Waikato University, Auckland University's Perinatal Systems Biology programme, for foetal development research to identify therapies for diseases; and Massey University's Riddett Centre for food science and technology.
Other tertiary institutions, including Auckland University of Technology (AUT), and the Unitec polytech which failed in its bid to become a university, did not even make it into the shortlist of 11.
The only one of the nation's four Maori universities which sought to host a "core" centre -- Te Wananga o Raukawa, at Otaki -- also struck out, as did Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and the Eastern Institute of Technology, which failed to win recognition for its proposed wine and food science "centre of excellence".
Staff at the Royal Society, which is overseeing the Core Fund, have said the failure of polytechnics and former polytechnics seeking to host research programmes was not surprising because until recently those institutions had little history of research.
Originally announced in the 2001 budget, the Core money re-directed from elsewhere in the science sector has been widely seen as a sweetener for the mainstream universities, which agreed to the Government's desire for them to hold down student fees this year.
Associate Education Minister Steve Maharey, who has special responsibility for tertiary education, said in a statement the Government had been very impressed with the quality of the shortlisted proposals.
"I intend talking with ministers during the 2002 budget round to see how we might allocate additional resources for this initiative," he said.
- NZPA
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