Performance-Based Research Fund Effective

Universities NZ welcomes the Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment's indication over the weekend that there will be a modest increase to the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) in this year's Budget as it is an effective system for supporting the wide-ranging contributions made by university research.

"There is no evidence to support the claim that the PBRF has stifled research commercialisation," says Universities NZ Chair Professor Pat Walsh.

"In fact the opposite is the case - the commercialisation of university research has increased over the time that the PBRF has been in place and the highest performing researchers in the PBRF are often those most involved in commercialisation."

Similarly, claims about gaming by universities over staff participation in the PBRF ignore the fact that the eligibility figures have no impact on the distribution of the funding.

"Universities NZ looks forward to the upcoming review of the PBRF. It will lay to rest once and for all these myths about the PBRF and demonstrate how effective it is," concludes Professor Walsh.