University research contract income

Indicator Description

University research contract income.

What We Have Found

Income from research contracts for universities in 2005 was 2.2 times higher than in 1997.

Why This Is Important

The New Zealand Government, like other governments, has recognised the crucial role played by the innovation system in the creation of a knowledge-based society and economy and hence in economic and social development. It has also recognised the critical part played by the tertiary education sector in the innovation system. The sector is a very important producer of research and hence of new knowledge – producing more than 60% of the nation’s research outputs. It also has the responsibility for the key task of training researchers for the innovation system.

One traditionally important contribution of the universities to the national research effort is in the area of pure basic research, which involves exploring and expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Whereas the Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) and many other research providers are more likely to focus on applied or strategic research, the traditional role of the universities in postgraduate training and the nature of the funding for research in the universities, mean that university-based researchers have greater opportunity to work in basic research. The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) and Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) estimate that one-third of all research conducted in the tertiary education sector is basic research. The MoRST/SNZ survey reports that just over a half (51%) of the basic research in New Zealand is conducted in the universities.

There are a number of ways of assessing the overall quality of research from the tertiary education sector. Research contract funding provides a good proxy measure of research quality as approximately two-thirds of university contract research income comes from contracts won through competitive bidding on the open market, and can be subject to rigorous peer review.

How We Are Going

In real terms (2005 dollars), income from research contracts for universities in 2005 was 2.2 times higher than in 1997. In 2005, research contracts in universities constituted $331 million, compared with $154 million in 1997. The growth in income from research has been constant over this time. Over the same period, income from research contracts has also increased as a percentage of all university income, from 11.1% in 1997 to 13.9% in 2005, an increase of 24.8%, though there was a slight decline between 2004 and 2005. The mergers of the Auckland and Wellington colleges of education in 2004 and 2005 with the respective local universities is likely to have been a factor in the fall in research contract income as a proportion of the university sector’s total revenue, as colleges typically have won only modest amounts of research contract income.

University research contract income (1997–2005)

An analysis of the sources of research contract funding over 2000 to 2005 shows that the increases in research contract income have occurred both in the funding available through the government’s funding of research and through private research contracts. However, the largest increases in research revenue in the universities came from private research contracts.

Where To Find Out More

To obtain information about other ways of assessing the overall quality of research from the tertiary education sector consider indicators:

• Performance Based Research Fund staff receiving an A or B quality rating
• Research degree completion rates

References

Ministry of Education (2006). New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector Profile & Trends 2005. Wellington, Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education (2005). Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/07: Monitoring Report 2004. Wellington, Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (2002). Profile of the New Zealand Science System. Wellington, Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.