Summary

Between 2004 and 2016, the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) will allocate around $2.7 billion in funding to participating tertiary education organisations (TEOs). This represents a substantial investment by the Government in tertiary education. This interim report examines the quantitative evidence on the impact of the PBRF in a variety of areas ranging from research impact to completion rates of higher research degrees. One of the purposes of this report is to contribute to the review of the PBRF.

This interim report does not include results or staff data from the PBRF Quality Evaluations. When the 2012 PBRF Quality Evaluation data becomes available in early 2013, additional analysis will look at changes in research quality over time, as well as analysis of staffing trends.

This report has the following structure:

• In Chapter 2, we present a brief history and overview of the PBRF. This includes the current aims of the PBRF and describes how the three component measures of the PBRF work.
• In Chapter 3, we examine government funding of research in tertiary education organisations. This includes examining the share and size of funding allocated via research top-ups and the PBRF over time.
• In Chapter 4, we analyse bibliometric data to show the academic impact of research produced by New Zealand tertiary education institutions both before and after the introduction of the PBRF.
• In Chapter 5, data on postgraduate research training is examined. We look at participation rates in postgraduate research degrees and examine trends in research degree completions over time.
• In Chapter 6, we explore data on external research income, particularly for the universities.
• In Chapter 7, we examine teaching performance indicators and surveys of student/graduate satisfaction.
• In Chapter 8, we examine trends in the designations of university academic and research-only staff.
• In Chapter 9 we present summaries of previous Ministry of Education analysis of commercialisation data from the University Commercialisation Offices of New Zealand (UCONZ) and the Research and Development Survey.
• In the Appendix we present a detailed description of the three components of the PBRF (Quality Evaluation, Research Degree Completions, and External Research Income).