NZ biotech centres of excellence chosen

The NZ government has announced which five biotechnology centres will receive help from the government's new centres of research excellence fund.

The government has pledged to invest almost $61 million in the centres across three of the country's eight universities.

The idea for the fund came out of a review last year into tertiary education and a belief that New Zealand should concentrate its limited research budget on a small number of world-class research centres.

The Royal Society of New Zealand is managing the fund. It received 45 applications and the final few were selected from a shortlist of 11. The five centres, covering diverse research from molecular ecology and evolution to developments in Maori education, bring together researchers from 12 tertiary institutions and organisations. Together they will aim to develop knowledge likely to contribute to New Zealand's economic and social development.