The inaugural Prime Minister’s Science prize was recently awarded jointly to two pre-eminent experts in the field of high temperature superconductors, IRL scientists, Drs Bob Buckley and Jeff Tallon.
It is encouraging to see the New Zealand Institute wading into the debate around science and its role in the economy through the paper it released late last year, Standing on the Shoulders of Science.
While opinions on the best way forward for the world economy vary, there is one point that the overwhelming majority of economists and politicians agree upon — the undeniable link between investment in science and technology and sustained economic development.
While New Zealand has enjoyed respectable economic growth over the last few years, calls extolling the virtue of increased productivity have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.
The new R&D tax credit scheme which was introduced on 1 April 2008 has given most New Zealand industries a significant new tool for getting government support for their research and development projects.