$10 million boost for early career researchers

<p>The New Zealand Government is investing up to &dollar;10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system&comma; including the research workforce&period; After completing their PhD&comma; researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the past year many have been unable to do so due to travel restrictions&comma;” Associate Minister of Research&comma; Science and Innovation Dr Ayesha Verrall said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The MBIE Science Whitinga Fellowship will fund some of our best and brightest early-career researchers&comma; providing them with much-needed certainty for the coming years&period; Each researcher will receive a one off fellowship worth &dollar;320&comma;000 over two years to help them grow and develop their research skills in New Zealand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s vital that we ensure that our research community is well supported as we respond to COVID-19&period; Some of the long term challenges we are tackling as a Government&comma; such as housing and climate change&comma; rely on the contributions of the country’s leading researchers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This initiative is about attracting and retaining talented researchers and encouraging their career development&period; The Fellowships&comma; which open in February 2021&comma; will be awarded for research undertaken in any field&comma; including the humanities&comma; m&amacr;tauranga and social science at an eligible New Zealand research institution&comma;” said Dr Verrall&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;