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Early career researchers get two-year lifeline

    

Fellowships awarded to Covid-hit young scientists in New Zealand via diversity-based ballot system

Thirty young researchers are to receive a total of NZ$9.6 million to kick-start their careers in New Zealand.

The two-year Whitinga Fellowships, the winners of which were announced on 23 June, were created as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hit the careers of many early career researchers. They include a NZ$75,000 salary, NZ$75,000 for overheads and NZ$10,000 in expenses each year, and are currently planned as a one-off.

In a trial of a novel selection process, all projects that met quality standards were put through a multi-round ballot system to ensure diversity. The selection process was managed by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Wendy Larner, outgoing president of the Royal Society, said the fellowships would help early career researchers who were at risk of having to exit the workforce entirely. She said the unusual selection process meant the fellowships “walked the talk” of diversity.

The first two ballot rounds chose a minimum of five Māori and three Pasifika researchers, followed by a round to ensure at least half the fellows were female. Once diversity quotas were met, the remaining Māori, Pasifika and female applicants were added back into the pool for a final ballot. Of the 30 eventual recipients, 18 are female, 8 are Māori and 4 are Pasifika.

Winning projects

University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington researchers were the most successful applicants, with seven fellowships each. Institutions were not part of the ballot process.

Successful research topics include the value of Māori and Pacific identities, a data-driven pandemic response project, work on forecasting the effects of projectiles from volcanoes and research into preventing gender-based harassment among young men.

Other projects will investigate personalised treatments for multiple sclerosis, criminology research on reducing system biases and application of Māori knowledge to science in New Zealand.

Research and science minister Ayesha Verrall said early career researchers were “invaluable to the science system”.