Purchasing Science

The New Zealand Government has established a fund of $250 million to purchase public good science projects. This paper: Describes the four organizations that are involved in the development of priorities for purchases (the Cabinet committee, the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and the Royal Society of New Zealand; Discusses how the organizations will interact and how New Zealanders can influence decisions; Identifies constraints imposed upon the system by the statutes which govern this activity; Concludes with a more broad perspective on social science research which is funded by Government