Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
Minister of Science and Innovation

29 June 2017
Media Statement

$85 million for new Lincoln University facilities

Primary sector education, research and innovation will receive a significant boost thanks to a capital injection for state-of-the-art new buildings at Lincoln University, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment and Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith announced today.

The Government has agreed to provide Lincoln University with $85 million to support the construction of new shared education and research facilities with AgResearch on the university’s campus. The investment will help Lincoln University’s recovery from the Canterbury earthquakes by replacing earthquake damaged buildings with modern teaching and research spaces.

“This is a significant investment by the Government that will benefit students, the primary sector, and New Zealand as a whole,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“The new 27,000m² joint facility will enable increased collaboration, with researchers and academics organised by discipline rather than organisation, leading to an increase in the quantity, relevance, and quality of agricultural related research.

“The new facility will make an important contribution to creating a globally competitive agri-tech industry. By creating better links between research and industry the new facility will improve innovation and the applicability and speed of technology transfer to industry,” Mr Goldsmith says.

The new buildings will be a key part of the Lincoln Hub – a specialist land-based innovation cluster in partnership with Lincoln University, AgResearch, Plant and Food Research, Landcare Research and DairyNZ.

“The new facility will assist the growth of the ecosystem of science and education at Lincoln. It will play an important role in promoting a career in the agricultural sector for prospective students and staff, and will increase the number and quality of land-based sector graduates.

“I’m excited for this innovative new facility and I look forward to seeing its benefits realised,” Mr Goldsmith says.

The new facility will accommodate almost 700 staff, students and academics and is comprised of five linked buildings which will be home to Lincoln University science research and teaching spaces, AgResearch laboratories, corporate facilities, and office spaces and facilities for DairyNZ.

Construction of the new buildings is scheduled to be completed by December 2019.

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