The NSC initiative was developed over 2012–13 by the New Zealand government's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as a restructure of national scientific research funding. The science challenges they address were intended to be "the most important national-scale issues facing New Zealand".The Challenges shared five principles, summarised by MBIE as: • Mission-led • Science quality • Best research team collaboration • Stakeholder engagement & public participation •
Māori involvement and
mātauranga The selection process involved a period of public consultation over late 2012–early 2013, and then selection by a "peak panel" of researchers, chaired by
Peter Gluckman. The selection panel consisted of
William Denny, Ian Ferguson, Peter Hunter,
Mary O’Kane,
Jacqueline Rowarth,
Richie Poulton,
Charles Royal, David Penman, Elf Eldridge, and Rachael Wiltshire. National Science Challenge at Ōtākou Marae on 4 December 2015; Minister for Science and Innovation
Steven Joyce on far left The first phase of funding from 2013 to 2018 led to eleven Challenges being established beginning in 2014; the last was launched on 5 May 2016. At the midway review in 2018 the Challenges received their second tranche of funding ($320 million) to last from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024. Expert reaction to the review highlighted concerns over the way the challenges were initially selected, and whether the cost of governance means more could have been achieved through investing in existing funding mechanisms. The president of the
New Zealand Association of Scientists, Heide Friedrich, said “The New Zealand Association of Scientists has concerns if the review process asked the right questions, given the recommendation is to approve the second tranche of funding without changes."
Shaun Hendy commented that "After some public input, the National Science Challenges were more or less selected by a panel led by Sir Peter Gluckman but most of us still find this process rather mysterious." A 2016 critique of the programme asserted that although "Māori involvement and mātauranga" was one of the core principles of their establishment, the National Science Challenges "moved to marginalize input by Māori researchers. Māori research approaches and complaints were recorded by the MBIE in NSC documents, but not substantively addressed". Subsequently the organisation Rauika Māngai was created, a group of Māori researchers representing the eleven National Science Challenges and
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (Aotearoa New Zealand's Centre of Māori Research Excellence). Rauika Māngai worked with the Challenges to improve partnerships with Māori communities and implement the 2020
Vision Mātauranga policy. == Challenges ==