Purpose

The TREF is designed to increase the quality and impact of research by encouraging and rewarding New Zealand’s degree-granting organisations that undertake research that delivers economic and social benefits for New Zealand. The TREF provides bulk funding to support tertiary education organisations’ research capability, including postgraduate-level teaching support. It is a non-contestable fund and does not fund research projects directly.

The TREF supports the goals of the Tertiary Education Strategy and aligns with the Government’s broader priorities for science, innovation and technology.

Tertiary Education Strategy

Objectives

The primary objectives of the TREF are to:

• incentivise research activity which leads to economic and social benefits for New Zealand
• incentivise tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to support excellence across the breadth of research activity in New Zealand
• support TEOs to deliver quality research-led teaching
• support research capacity and capability, including a future-proofed research workforce.

The TREF will assess the research performance of TEOs against several metrics, allocate funding based on their performance, and provide robust and useful public information on tertiary sector research.

Background

In September 2025, the Minister for Universities announced a suite of reforms to modernise the tertiary sector, reduce compliance costs, and align research more closely with the Government’s economic aims. A key initiative was replacing the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) with a more streamlined and cost-effective Tertiary Research Excellence Fund.

The confirmed policy settings for the TREF are outlined in the determination:

Determination of Design of Funding Mechanism: Tertiary Research Excellence Fund (PDF 770 KB)

The PBRF will continue until 31 December 2028, with the TREF commencing from 1 January 2029. Indicative funding allocations for the first TREF funding allocation will be sent out around November 2028 as part of the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC’s) annual Investment Plan round.

Eligibility

A TEO is eligible to participate in the TREF if it:

• is based in Aotearoa New Zealand
• is accredited to grant bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees or doctoral degrees
• has an approved Investment Plan
• has a research section in its Investment Plan that meets TEC criteria
• receives funding under the Delivery at Levels 7 (degree) to 10 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework funding mechanism.

If your organisation would like to discuss eligibility to participate in the TREF, please contact the TREF team by emailing TREF.Help@tec.govt.nz.

How the Fund works

The TREF will allocate $315 million a year across six weighted funding components.

The following two components have been carried over from the PBRF with adjusted weightings, and are available to all participating TEOs:

• Research Degree Completions
• External Research Income

The following three performance-based components have replaced the peer review-based Quality Evaluation required under the PBRF. Funding allocated through these components is available to universities. However, other tertiary providers such as wānanga, polytechnics and private training establishments (PTEs) have the option to opt in to these components should they wish to do so:

• Field-Weighted Citation Measure
• Commercialisation
• Policy Impact

If you are a participating wānanga, polytechnic or PTE and wish to discuss the ability to opt in to these components, please get in touch with the TREF team at TREF.Help@tec.govt.nz.

The following component is only available to participating wānanga, polytechnics and PTEs:

• Research Capacity

For more information on each of the components, see TREF components.

TREF funding is paid through the Investment Plan and delivery of the Plan is monitored by the TEC. As part of the transition from the PBRF to the TREF, all providers currently receiving PBRF funding must submit information about research activity as part of their Investment Plan. For more information, refer to Developing Investment Plans.