Science community needs to wake up

Office Of The Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee
Professor Peter Gluckman, DCNZM FRSNZ FMedSci FRS
Chief Science Advisor

Media Release

Science community needs to wake up—PM’s Chief Science Advisor

16 July 2009

Professor Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, will be challenging the science and policy communities to address some of the core issues that have limited the potential for science to transform New Zealand. In his inaugural public speech to be delivered to staff and students at Massey University (Palmerston North) on Friday 17 July, Professor Gluckman will raise the fundamental question of what New Zealand should expect from its public investment in science.

“Science can do so much more for New Zealand’s transformational future. But the science community, in pleading to the State to ‘just give us more money’, has slipped into a set of platitudes,” says Professor Gluckman. “This elicits an equally platitudinous set of responses. I see my role as raising the quality of the dialogue to a much higher level.”

Professor Gluckman also notes that the competitive nature of the New Zealand research funding system acts as a barrier towards adopting a cohesive, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary approach to performing research.

“New Zealand has only four million people—unless we act as ‘NZ Inc’, our poor performance and the scepticism of the policy maker will be reinforced.”

He will be calling on the scientific community to work together in taking ownership of this issue and demonstrating the true value of what science could offer to New Zealand.

“The political establishment needs to be convinced that research can make a difference and transform New Zealand. Every one of you has something to contribute to reversing that perception and beginning the transformation.”

ENDS

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