Dunedin professor part of science panel

A Dunedin professor has been named as one of an 11-person panel tasked with identifying the biggest science challenges facing New Zealand.

Prof Richie Poulton, director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, at the University of Otago was yesterday named as part of the government-appointed panel, which includes top researchers and some budding young scientists, and is chaired by the Prime Minister's chief science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said science was essential to addressing some of the key issues facing the nation, ''... whether it be challenges like improving water quality while at the same time lifting our farm productivity, or the state of our health''.

''This panel will identify the top science challenges New Zealand needs to solve over the next five to 10 years.''

The Government has set aside $60 million funding from the 2012 budget for new investment into the national science challenges.

''Over the last few months, we have had excellent input from both the public and the science sector, with hundreds of submissions, ideas and proposals on what these key challenges should be. The panel will take this information and recommend between six and 10 final challenges to Cabinet for approval.''

The final challenges would help the Government focus its overall science funding investment, and help foster links across the research community in New Zealand to maximise the impact of work already under way in the challenge areas.

The panel contained a mix of experienced and up-and-coming young scientists from a wide range of fields. The other members appointed to the panel are: Prof William Denny, leader of the Medicinal Chemistry Group at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre; Dr Ian Ferguson, departmental science adviser for the Ministry for Primary Industries/chief scientist at Plant and Food Research;

Prof Peter Hunter, professor of engineering science and director of the Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland and director of computational physiology at Oxford University; Prof Mary O'Kane, New South Wales chief scientist and engineer; Prof Jacqueline Rowarth, professor of agribusiness at the University of Waikato; Charles Royal, member of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) science board and former director of graduate studies and research at Te Wananga o-Raukawa; Prof David Penmanm consultant, previously assistant pro vice-chancellor research at Lincoln University; Elf Eldridge, PhD student at the MacDiarmid Institute; and Rachael Wiltshire, last year's dux of Samuel Marsden Collegiate, Wellington, and a 2012 Royal Society of New Zealand science prizewinner.

The panel would meet later this month to consider the challenge proposals and make recommendations. The Cabinet is expected to decide on the final challenges in April.

MBIE would then work with the science sector from May to August to develop detailed themes and projects and decide how selected challenges would be led.

Part of this would involve building a map of current research to cluster around the chosen challenges and identify gaps and opportunities in existing research.

A statement of science investment priorities would also be developed this year to determine the total balance of resources to be allocated to the challenges and other science priorities.