1 July 2010
The Tertiary Education Commission has released new guidelines for assessing the quality of research carried out by universities, polytechnics and wānanga.
"The new guidelines put greater emphasis on commercial research and the entrepreneurial application of research, and will help businesses and research organisations achieve more for New Zealand,” says BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly.
Tertiary education researchers carry out more than half of all research in New Zealand. Under the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF), their research is subject to quality evaluation to determine how much funding each tertiary research organisation receives from the PBRF.
Dr Garth Carnaby, President of the NZ Royal Society, and Entrepreneur in Residence at Lincoln University, also hails the new PBRF guidelines:
“The old approach meant commercial research was treated as a poor relative. The new guidelines help break down that prejudice, which has got to be good for New Zealand business innovation and therefore New Zealand as a whole,” said Dr Carnaby.
Under the new approach to evaluation of commercial research, commercialisation experts will help judge the quality of the research. The new approach was developed by a reference group, chaired by Professor John Hattie from the University of Auckland. Reference group recommendations have been endorsed by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce and the Minister for Research, Science and Technology, Dr Wayne Mapp.
In introducing the new guidelines, which cover all aspects of the next quality evaluation in 2012, TEC Chief Executive, Dr Roy Sharp, said that one of the key strengths of the PBRF as a funding mechanism is the fact that the tertiary research sector has had an influence on its design.
“The PBRF is widely recognised as being successful in achieving its objectives to increase research excellence. It remains the most important policy development for tertiary education research in New Zealand,” said Dr Sharp.
The PBRF 2012 Quality Evaluation Guidelines are available on the TEC website. For more information please email media@tec.govt.nz
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Notes
The PBRF involves assessing the research performance of Tertiary Education Organisations and then funding them on the basis of their performance.
The PBRF is the largest research funding pool for the tertiary sector, with $250 million appropriated for 2010/11. The PBRF is widely recognised as being successful in ensuring that excellent research in the tertiary education sector is encouraged and rewarded.
As part of the PBRF, every six years a quality evaluation of individual’s research is undertaken by peer review panels. The TEC has today published the new Guidelines for the next round of quality evaluation in 2012. Changes to the Guidelines have been made following extensive consultation with the sector.
All degree offering tertiary education organisations are eligible to take part in the PBRF ie. universities, wānanga, institutes of technology and polytechnics, and some private training establishments.