Waikato University professor has labelled Marsden fund cuts “disappointing” but “not surprising”.
The Marsden Fund supports researchers pursuing significant projects that impact their discipline’s future, contributing to scientific understanding and economic, environmental, and social change.
Professor Tahu Kukutai said the fund was “salami-sliced off with no due process, with no consultation, with no consideration of disproportionate impact on Māori researchers and communities. You know, that’s devastating”.
She said the fund’s point of difference was how it allowed researchers to explore topics with long-term impact.
“There are not many funds that do that. Most of the research funding that’s now available in Aotearoa is very sort of narrow focus on the impact for Aotearoa, and its economic benefits.”
She said the fund’s particular focus on social sciences and humanities - and the subsequent dismissal of them - meant Māori researchers would likely shoulder an unfair amount of the cuts.
“For Māori we made up 13 per cent of the Marsden fund. So you take away the humanities and social sciences panel that drops that number to 5.5 per cent. So it’s not just defunding those disciplines, it’s defunding Māori researchers as well. That has long lasting affect on Māori researchers and our communities.”
Professor Kukutai argued the prevalent focus on social sciences and humanities among Māori researchers is vital for addressing some of Aotearoa’s most pressing challenges.
“Some of the biggest challenges we’re facing here in Aotearoa around climate change, social cohesions, mental health. We need Māori researchers. We need Māori-led research, and this decision is actually moving in the opposite direction.”
Kukutai will be traveling to Thailand to attend a United Nations conference on the shared findings of collecting Indigenous data.
