Media release

9 February 2015

MBIE supports NZ-Korea research collaboration

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has announced three multi-institutional joint research projects with the Republic of Korea, supported through a newly established bilateral funding scheme.

“Each project will receive $450,000 over three financial years through the New Zealand – Korea Strategic Research Partnership Fund,” says MBIE’s Science Investments General Manager, Dr Prue Williams.

The three projects focus on the priority areas agreed by the two governments: Health, Advanced Technologies and Environment/Antarctica.

Otago and Massey Universities are collaborating with Seoul National University, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, and Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) to develop new treatments for repairing damaged or diseased cartilage and bone – an alternative to total joint replacement and costly revision surgery.

Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Canterbury are working with Ewha Womans University and Korea University to develop a new type of 4D home entertainment that will use mixed reality technology to provide immersive visualization and tangible interaction between the viewers and digital content.

Four New Zealand research agencies, including the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute, Universities of Canterbury and Waikato, GNS Science and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) will be joined by the Korean Polar Research Institute to investigate the impacts of a warming climate on Antarctica as well as flow-on effects, which is of particular relevance to New Zealand.

“Korea is a key science and innovation partner for New Zealand. The Fund, jointly administered by MBIE and the National Research Foundation of Korea, seeks to strengthen collaborative links and raise awareness of shared interests and aspirations,” says Dr Williams.

“The complementary research capabilities offer great opportunities for achieving high-quality economic, social and environmental outcomes for New Zealand. We look forward to the progress of these three projects over the next three years.”

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