2017 Endeavour Fund successful proposals

We received 408 applications for research funding from the 2017 Endeavour Fund, with 68 approved for funding.

The successful proposals were selected by the Science Board, an independent statutory Board, following robust assessment by around 220 New Zealand and international independent experts. The new research contracts started on 1 October 2017 with periods of between two and five years.

Read the Minister’s announcement on the Beehive website(external link)

Download a detailed summary of the successful research proposals [PDF, 480 KB] 


Successful 2017 Smart Ideas

The successful Smart Ideas for 2017 are listed below:

Organisation

Title

Duration
(years)

Contract value
(excl GST)

AgResearch Limited

AI on hooves: Multiplying elite sheep genetics by germline complementation

 

3

$1,000,000

Harnessing ruminant milk proteolytic capacity to improve the nutritional quality and immune protective function of infant formula.

3

$900,000

Transforming irrigation by surface-water assessment using acoustic detection and self-learning control logic.

3

$1,000,000

Map and Zap: automated and high throughput mapping and environment friendly, laser-treatment control of weeds.

3

$999,000

Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited - Trading as GNS Science

Tracing Hot Spots and Hot Moments of Nitrate Contaminant Input to Freshwater.

3

$1,000,000

Novel inorganic composites for strong near infrared reflecting black coatings.

2

$1,000,000

Next generation ultra-high frequency acoustic wave filters for 5G networks and beyond.

2

$1,000,000

Flipping the paradigm: feeding methane to cows.

3

$999,999

Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd

The Lake Snow Toolbox: detecting and quantifying an emerging environmental problem

3

$1,000,000

A fruit-fly screening model to accelerate development of species-selective vertebrate toxins

3

$999,999

Lincoln Agritech Limited

Magnetotactic bacteria for removing contaminants from manufacturing processes

2

$1,000,000

Massey University

Wastewater Treatment 'Advanced Extraction Modules': De-risking to enable end-user uptake

2

$989,594

Design and manufacture of controlled release fertiliser system for precision nutrient delivery

3

$999,327

Electro spun Bio printing Technology in the Production of Complex Collagen Tissues

3

$998,532

MetOcean Solutions Limited

Machine learning for convective weather analysis and forecasting

2

$500,000

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd

Trace metal limitation of phytoplankton growth in New Zealand lakes

3

$849,999

New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd Trading as Scion

Small molecular change in cell walls for big impacts in pulp processing

3

$998,574

Sequestering natural and anthropomorphic trace metals from water

2

$978,523

The Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington

Reconstructing real world lights and reflectance models for Augmented and Mixed Reality

3

$999,999

University of Auckland

Mapping the genomic novelty and functional capacity of a typical groundwater ecosystem

3

$995,229

Novel potent DNA alkylating agents as warheads for arming antitumour antibodies

2

$1,000,000

Speleothem Records of New Zealand's Earthquake History

2

$999,822

Portable and handheld device for diagnosis and differentiation of skin cancers

3

$999,804

Selective capture, selective release: pulling intact cells from complex mixtures

3

$869,316

Complete Atrial Fibrillation mapping using non-contact electrodes

2

$1,000,000

Advances in fermentation using underwater sound

3

$999,999

Lens protein adhesives for use in ocular surgery

2

$977,236

Impact for Spray Drying: Optimizing Drop Dynamics with Surface Designs

3

$1,000,000

University of Canterbury

Discovering petroleum associated with buried volcanoes

3

$999,999

Low carbon magnesium oxide cement and hydrogen manufactured from olivine basalt

3

$999,999

Development of a simple, general and novel assay platform for detecting and quantifying analytes in non-laboratory settings.

3

$1,000,000

Manufacture of structure-optimised homogenous glycoprotein therapeutics

3

$1,000,000

 

Building bioinformatic software for controlling protein expression

3

$939,999

University of Otago

 

Situated visualisation to enrich sports experience for on-site spectators

3

$1,000,000

 

Building Better Biocontrols by switching reproduction in parasitoid wasps

3

$939,999

 

Medical device for comprehensive brain monitoring using portable magnetic resonance technology

2

$999,998

Mātauranga Māori guided discovery and development of new control methods for Phytophthora

2

$1,000,000

Targeting unique virus proteins with small molecule inhibitors

2

$927,440

University of Waikato

Transforming Motion Error in Time-of-Flight Range Imaging to a High Value Measurement

3

$953,424

Biologically based visual sensors for autonomous flight control and mobile robotics

3

$999,759

NetStinky: Allowing Regular Users to Detect Compromised IoT Devices in Home Networks

3

$997,182

 

Successful 2017 Research Programmes

The successful Research Programmes for 2017 are listed below.

Organisation

Title

Duration
(years)

Contract value
(excl GST)

AgResearch Limited

Smarter Lives: New opportunities for dairy products across the lifespan

5

$12,500,000

Accelerated evolution: a step-change in food fermentation

5

$8,600,000

Cawthron Institute

Emerging organic contaminants – managing risk for a safer NZ environment and economy

5

$5,607,675

Optimising detection, diagnostic, prediction and management strategies for NZ aquaculture health

5

$14,598,200

Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited - Trading as GNS Science

Our lakes’ health: past, present, future - Me hoki whakamuri kia haere whakamua

5

$11,999,265

Economic opportunities and environmental implications of energy extraction from gas hydrates

5

$7,663,790

Increased Utilisation of Geothermal Energy Through New Integrated Geoscience Methods

5

$6,250,000

Earthquake-induced landslides and landscape dynamics: planning for, and avoiding landslide hazard and risk

5

$8,192,115

Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd

Advanced remote sensing of Aotearoa for next generation land cover mapping

5

$7,750,000

Lincoln Agritech Limited

Bacterial-fungal hybrid endophytes for nitrogen-fixation and stress tolerance in pine and ryegrass

5

$7,213,045

Lincoln University

Unlocking Export Prosperity from the Agri-food Values of Aotearoa New Zealand

5

$4,000,000

Massey University

He Tātai Whenua: A Te Ao Māori landscape classification

4

$2,870,000

Maximising workforce participation for older New Zealanders: Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects

5

$3,996,875

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd

Ross Sea Research And Monitoring Programme: is the world’s largest MPA effective?

5

$11,134,920

New Zealand Winegrowers

Growing returns through dissociating quality from productivity in NZ Pinot noir production

5

$9,313,300

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited

Filling the void: boosting the nutritional content of NZ fruit

5

$5,150,000

The Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington

Improved sea-level rise projections for New Zealand to better anticipate and manage impacts

5

$7,107,435

ECLIPSE – Eruption or Catastrophe: Learning to Implement Preparedness for future Supervolcano Eruptions

5

$8,246,225

Tissue repair technologies based on novel sulfated sugars

5

$6,203,540

Ultra-high speed superconducting machines for hybrid-electric aircraft

5

$6,299,995

Unversity of Auckland

Development of robust IPT pavement systems for electric vehicles

5

$11,825,955

Smart sensing of physiology to grow the NZ Medtech industry

5

$11,981,875

Fast, Efficient and Tailored Pulsed Laser Micromachining and Additive Manufacturing

5

$11,802,990

University of Canterbury

Community concerns, key species and wahi taonga – recovery trajectories of the marine ecosystem from the Kaikōura earthquakes

4

$3,184,344

Map-based tools for Community and Rūnanga-led sustainable town planning in small and medium settlements in New Zealand

5

$2,570,250

University of Otago

Developing and applying next generation genomic selection to rapidly improve honeybee performance

5

$6,344,620

Real-time analytical molecular diagnostic laboratory in the palm of one’s hand

4

$5,999,792

2017 success rates per organisation

The table below details the 2017 Endeavour Fund success rates by organisation.

We are pleased to confirm that the overall success rate is higher in 2017. A lower number of proposals were submitted compared to 2016 and the proposals were of higher quality. There was also an additional $10 million per year funding made available through Budget 2017.

Organisation Proposals submitted Proposals approved Success rate
AgResearch Limited 38 6 15.79%
Aqualinc Research Limited 2 0 0.00%
Auckland University of Technology 23 0 0.00%
Avertana Limited 1 0 0.00%
Cawthron Institute 7 2 28.57%
CRL Energy Ltd 2 0 0.00%
Elemental Group Limited 1 0 0.00%
Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited 5 0 0.00%
Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited - Trading as GNS Science 19 8 42.11%
Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd 10 3 30.00%
Lincoln Agritech Limited 9 2 22.22%
Lincoln University 9 1 11.11%
Massey University 16 5 31.25%
Medical Research Institute of New Zealand 1 0 0.00%
Methodist Mission Southern 1 0 0.00%
MetOcean Solutions Limited 2 1 50.00%
Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust 1 0 0.00%
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd 49 2 4.08%
New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd Trading as Scion 12 2 16.67%
New Zealand Leather and Shoe Research Association (Inc) 2 0 0.00%
New Zealand Winegrowers 2 1 50.00%
NZ Heavy Engineering Research Association 1 0 0.00%
Opus International Consultants Limited 1 0 0.00%
The Family Centre, Social Policy Research Unit 1 0 0.00%
The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited 10 1 10.00%
The Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington 37 5 13.51%
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology 1 0 0.00%
Unitec Institute of Technology 1 0 0.00%
University of Auckland 70 12 17.14%
University of Canterbury 23 7 30.43%
University of Otago 27 7 25.93%
University of Waikato 23 3 13.04%
Waikato Institute of Technology 1 0 0.00%
Grand total 408 68 16.67%