Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund 2025 Investment Plan

The Fund invests in the development of skilled people and organisations that plan to undertake, or are undertaking, research that supports the themes and outcomes of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Vision Mātauranga policy. The Vision Mātauranga policy aims to unlock the science and innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources and people to assist New Zealanders to create a better future.

Operating since 2013, Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund is a fund of around $4.0 million per year. Of this, approximately $2.0 million per year is made available for MBIE’s allocation to new Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability proposals with the balance allocated to existing contracts from the Fund’s previous investment rounds.

A further $1.982 million per year is contracted to the Health Research Council of New Zealand to support hauora/health-related projects that meet the objectives of the Te Pūnaha Hihiko.

Health Research Council of New Zealand(external link) — HRC

The Fund invests in activity to develop the system as a whole. The Fund focuses on achieving excellence and impact by investing in the development of people and organisations with the skills and capacity to develop high quality research programmes that are relevant to implementing the Vision Mātauranga Policy. It seeks impact through programmes of work that explore the ways in which scientific research and its development and application can benefit individuals, whānau, Māori communities and Māori organisations.

Investment in excellence through the Fund will help the science system develop, retain, and attract talented individuals, develop people and organisations to benefit from new knowledge, increase relevant skill levels carry out Vision Mātauranga relevant research and become sought after practitioners in their field.

Investment objectives

The investment objectives for Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund are:

• For Māori organisations (research users that identify themselves as Māori), to:
  • build Māori research users’ understanding of what scientific research can do for them, including contributing to economic, social, and environmental goals
  • increase the uptake and application of research results by Māori research users
  • build scientific research capability, capacity, and skills in Māori organisations and new partnerships with Research organisations.
• For individual researchers and Research organisations (including Māori researchers and Research organisations), to:
  • improve their understanding of mātauranga Māori relevant to the science, innovation and technology system
  • build scientific research capability relevant to Vision Mātauranga themes and outcomes and new partnerships with Māori organisations.
• For the science, innovation and technology system, to:
  • identify effective ways to transfer knowledge between Māori and researchers
  • increase Māori organisation connections and collaborations with individual researchers and Research organisations
  • strengthen and increase networks of researchers, Research organisations and Māori organisations that will encourage and support each other
  • explore and develop new opportunities to undertake scientific research that contribute to the Vision Mātauranga policy themes and outcomes. 

Investment Schemes

MBIE funds Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund projects from the Vote Business, Science and Innovation: Talent and Science Promotion appropriation.

Vote Business, Science and Innovation - Economic Development and Infrastructure Sector - Estimates of Appropriations 2024/25(external link) — treasury.govt.nz

In each year of the MBIE administered investment round, approximately $2.0 million will be allocated to new proposals through two separate schemes: the Connect Scheme and the Placement Scheme.

Investment decisions are influenced by:

• available funds for investment, and may be subject to government changes to investment levels or appropriations
• the quality of proposals received, with final allocations of funding to successful proposals made by MBIE.

Connect Scheme

The Connect Scheme invests in work programmes of up to two years that strengthen capability and networks by building new connections between Māori organisations and the science and innovation system. It funds programmes of work which would not ordinarily be achievable in the course of normal business.

Through this scheme, Māori organisations and Research organisations/individual researchers will have:

• developed new relationships, or expanded on existing ones
• the confidence to engage across organisations to incorporate the themes and outcomes of Vision Mātauranga into research practice and organisational planning
• developed networks that support each other in their practice, and share knowledge, methodologies, and general support to build strong connections and linkages
• engaged relevant stakeholders and the community/public in work programmes through outreach, communication, and education activities.

Work programme requirements

Work programmes should provide a catalyst for Māori organisations and Research organisations or individual researchers to establish new connections and opportunities to work collaboratively. They should not support or extend existing research projects currently being funded, and/or involve full-time students.

Proposals must be co-developed between the Research organisation/individual researcher and the Māori organisation. A proposal must be accompanied by written endorsement of the proposed work programme from both the Research organisation/individual researcher, and a Māori organisation that will be involved with the proposal.

Example Connect Scheme options include (but are not limited to):

• the development and delivery of innovative initiatives that encourage Māori organisations and the research community to engage effectively
• the formation and support of groups of researchers across organisations to collaborate on Vision Mātauranga capability building initiatives to support research programmes and provide mutual support/mentoring
• fostering and establishing new networks between mātauranga holders or practitioners, and the research community, with a view to exploring and implementing innovative ways to use mātauranga to deliver benefit to Aotearoa New Zealand
• mentoring for Research organisation staff members that manage research programmes, with a view to increasing Vision Mātauranga relevance across an organisation’s business, capability or science plan beyond business as usual.

Placement Scheme

The Placement Scheme invests in work programmes of up to 2 years that strengthen capability and networks between Māori organisations and the science and innovation system by enhancing the development of an individual(s) through placement in a Partner organisation. It funds programmes of work which would not ordinarily be achievable in the course of normal business.

The Placement Scheme is for proposals which invest in:

• full or part-time placement(s) of named skilled researcher(s) from a Research organisation or individual researcher, into a Māori organisation; or
• a full or part-time placement of a named member(s) of a Māori organisation into a Research organisation. This person could hold a role that would benefit from a placement, such as a research manager or a business manager wanting to better understand what scientific research can do for the Māori organisation and to improve knowledge transfer, sharing, uptake, and benefits.

Through this scheme, placement individuals will:

• have greater confidence in working across Māori organisations and Research organisations to create new opportunities for research and development programmes and the application of research results
• have built up greater skills, capability, understanding or knowledge of research relevant to Vision Mātauranga outcomes and how research and development can be used to benefit the Māori organisation
• be able to use their skills and capability to identify and support future opportunities to participate in scientific research relevant to Vision Mātauranga outcomes.

Work programme requirements

A placement can include more than one individual. The individual(s) undertaking the placement must carry out a work programme that provides benefits for the research related capability of both the Māori organisation and Research organisation/individual researcher(s). It should not support or extend an existing research project currently being funded, and/or involve full-time students.

The work programme must be co-developed between the Research organisation/individual researcher and the Māori organisation and be endorsed in writing by both the researcher organisation/individual researcher(s) and the Māori organisation.

All organisations involved (including the applicant) must be confident that the individual(s) selected for placement are suitable for the role and will benefit from it. For clarity, the individual(s) involved in the placement do not need to be of Māori ethnicity, although this may be important to the organisations involved depending on the particular focus of the proposal.

Proposals should indicate how the individual(s) were selected and clearly indicate the nature of the anticipated benefits. The organisations involved in the placement should also provide appropriate support to assist the individual(s) to negotiate through any different or new knowledge approaches.

More than one person can be placed into the same organisation, in the same area, for the same purpose, within a single proposal. The proposal should explain why more than one person is required.

Part-time placements are possible. There is no minimum definition of part-time although the number of hours worked must be sufficient to achieve the target outcomes of the Placement Scheme.

A placement must incorporate:

• mentoring arrangements to support the individual(s) delivering the work programme as part of the placement
• regular assessment of support needs (including cultural needs if appropriate), progress, and identification of issues to be actively managed by parties to the placement
• opportunities to engage the relevant stakeholders and the community/public with the programme through appropriate outreach, communication, and education activities.

Example Placement Scheme options include (but are not limited to):

• coaching for either the Māori organisation or individual researcher/Research organisation to identify potential research and development opportunities arising from mātauranga
• identifying possible applications of mātauranga, and assisting the Māori organisation or researcher to develop a plan for its application
• assisting a Māori organisation or individual researcher/Research organisation to identify and realise opportunities using scientific research across relevant sectors including environmental, social, manufacturing and business
• building the number of researchers with capacity and capability to assist with issues and opportunities including, for example:
  • innovative uses of mātauranga to unlock resources on Māori land,
  • greater connectivity and increased productivity of existing Māori primary sector businesses, and
  • building the capacity of both Research organisations and Māori organisations to develop innovative methods of implementing research outcomes.

Understanding

Understanding Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund in the national context

Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund supports delivery on:

The National Statement of Science Investment

The National Statement of Science Investment 2015-2025 (NSSI) sets out the Government’s strategic direction for science investment. It outlines the Government’s vision for the science system for 2025 of “a highly dynamic science system that enriches New Zealand, making a more visible, measurable contribution to our productivity and wellbeing through excellent science”.

National Statement of Science Investment 2015-2025

Vision Mātauranga Policy

This initiative supports the themes and outcomes of the Vision Mātauranga policy which aims to unlock the science and innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources and people to assist New Zealanders to create a better future.

Vision Mātauranga policy

He kai kei aku ringa

Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund broadly supports the Crown–Māori Economic Development Strategy He kai kei aku ringa. He kai kei aku ringa is being reviewed and updated at the time of this publication.

He kai kei aku ringa(external link)