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Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today announced the appointment of three new Crown company directors.

Lizzie Chambers and Dr Barry O’Neil will join the Board of the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd (trading as Scion) and Phil Norman will Join the Board of the Research and Education Advanced Network NZ Ltd (REANNZ).

“The new directors bring a valuable range of scientific knowledge, commercial skills and governance experience to their roles on the Scion and REANNZ boards” Mr Joyce says. 

A New Zealand-China joint declaration, which will boost science and technology links and co-operation between the two countries, has been signed in Wellington today.

The joint declaration, focussing on enhancing and supporting science and technology research co-operation, was signed by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Chinese Deputy-Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang.

The signing was witnessed by visiting State Councillor Liu Yandong.

State Councillor Liu Yandong will visit New Zealand next week as a guest of the New Zealand Government – the first visit by a senior Communist Party figure since China’s November leadership transition.

State Councillor Liu is a senior leader in China’s 2012-2017 hierarchy. Her portfolios include education, science, screen and television, and culture.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says he will sign a joint declaration with State Councillor Liu on science and technology in Wellington on 10 December.

This year’s Rutherford Foundation Trust Awards and James Cook Research Fellowships recipients have been announced today by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.

The two grant schemes have combined Government funding of more than $1.7 million and are aimed at developing the skills of New Zealand scientists.

Three new members have been appointed to the Marsden Fund Council in an announcement today by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.

The researchers will take their place on the Council for three-years from December 2012 and each will convene one of the Marsden Fund Council’s panels. They are:

The Callaghan Innovation Bill, which establishes a new high-tech HQ for manufacturing and services firms, today passed its third and final reading in Parliament.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says Callaghan Innovation will be a one-stop shop offering firms the business innovation support they need to lift their international competitiveness and in turn boost New Zealand’s economic growth.

Applications have been invited for $52.8 million of Government research funding in the 2013 science investment round, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

Proposals are invited for science and research that will improve New Zealanders’ health and wellbeing with $52.8 million per annum available for new projects starting next year.

Professor Margaret Brimble has been announced the 2012 Rutherford Medal winner by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.

Professor Brimble, from Auckland University’s Department of Chemistry, was awarded the prestigious scientific honour during the New Zealand Research Honours Dinner at Auckland Museum tonight.

A medicinal chemist, who designs new chemicals for the treatment of disease, she is being recognised for her world-leading contributions to the synthesis of bioactive natural products and novel peptides.

Ten of New Zealand’s top up-and-coming researchers have been awarded Rutherford Discovery Fellowships this year, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has announced.

The 2012 Fellowships, funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand, will see more than $9 million invested to support the selected scientists over the next five years.

The name of the new institute set up by the Government to help firms in the high-tech manufacturing and services sectors will be Callaghan Innovation, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

A bill to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) – a new high-tech HQ for innovative New Zealand businesses – today passed its second reading in Parliament.

“The purpose of the ATI is simple: to help get New Zealand’s best ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace more quickly,” Mr Joyce says.

A television campaign starting this Sunday will ask New Zealanders to help identify the biggest science challenges facing the country, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Great NZ Science Project is part of the Government’s new $60 million National Science Challenges initiative announced in October which over time will incorporate much of New Zealand’s contracted public science investment.

Investment in science and innovation will be a key focus of talks between senior representatives from six countries with small advanced economies this week, says Science and Innovation Minster Steven Joyce.

The two-day forum, which is being opened tomorrow morning by Mr Joyce, is being attended by representatives from Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and New Zealand.

New Zealand's top scientific researchers have been awarded $54.6 million in Marsden Fund grants, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The funding will go towards financing 86 new projects that were selected from 1113 applicants, who submitted proposals for consideration.

"The Marsden Fund is one of New Zealand's premier investigator-led research funds. Each project selected this year went through a rigorous selection process and the successful applicants were chosen on the basis of scientific excellence," Mr Joyce says.

New Zealanders are being asked to assist the Government identify the key scientific questions New Zealand needs to answer as part of developing the new $60 million National Science Challenges, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

Announcing the challenges today on board NIWA’s marine research vessel the Tangaroa, Mr Joyce says the National Science Challenges will over time focus much of New Zealand’s contracted public science investment on core science questions that are important to New Zealand.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce will travel on Sunday to Washington DC and San Francisco to raise the profile of the New Zealand science, trade and education sectors.

Mr Joyce will lead a science delegation to attend the New Zealand-United States Joint Commission on Science and Technology Cooperation in Washington DC on 19 and 20 September. The objective is to promote bilateral scientific collaboration with the US at a policy and research level.

A bill to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) – a new high-tech HQ for innovative New Zealand businesses – today passed its first reading in Parliament.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says the purpose of the ATI is to help get New Zealand’s best ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace faster.

“New Zealanders are great at coming up with smart ideas but we need to become more successful at translating those ideas into commercially successful products,” Mr Joyce says.

The Government is injecting $92 million into research that will help grow the high-tech manufacturing sector in New Zealand, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

This funding for high value manufacturing and services research is the second tranche of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s 2012 science investment round.

Almost 200 undergraduate students will gain valuable work experience in some of New Zealand’s most innovative firms this summer, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The Government will invest $1.2 million placing undergrads into more than 110 businesses over the summer months to take part in challenging research and development (R&D) work.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today congratulated Kiwi bioscience company LanzaTech for being designated a ‘World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2013’.

The company is to receive the award at the World Economic Forum meeting in Tianjin, China next month.

“LanzaTech is an innovative New Zealand company turning its smart ideas into a commercial reality,” Mr Joyce says.

The opportunity for small advanced economies to learn from each other will be explored when a meeting of a number of those countries takes place in New Zealand later this year, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

Speaking at a Royal Society of New Zealand event in Auckland tonight, Prime Minister John Key said that five countries will participate in a meeting in November in Auckland – Denmark, Finland, Israel, Singapore and New Zealand – and others have also expressed an interest in attending.

New Zealand researchers have been awarded $133 million in new research grants, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The first tranche of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s 2012 science investment round will support 47 research projects in the biological industries; energy and minerals; the environment; hazards and infrastructure; and health and society funding categories.

The Government is from today inviting applications from businesses for the 2012 Technology Development Grant—its flagship investment programme to boost research and development in businesses, Science and Innovation Minister Hon Steven Joyce announced today.

Around $45 million over three years is available for innovative, high-tech businesses to help speed up the development of innovative products and services and get them to market faster.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced that the Government’s new Advanced Technology Institute will be named after Sir Paul Callaghan.

“The late Sir Paul Callaghan championed the idea that science could make New Zealand a better place,” Mr Joyce says.

“He believed that science was not only about great ideas, but about getting value from those ideas through innovation and commercialisation. Those views exactly reflect the ambition of the Institute, so there can be few more appropriate names.”