Strategic Science Investment Fund

The SSIF allows for a coherent approach to science investment. It gives us the ability to prioritise and purchase science in areas that ensure the long-term stability and impact of the science system.

The SSIF provides a strong foundation for New Zealand’s science system, complementing and enabling government’s other science investments.

The SSIF funds through 2 components – Programmes and Infrastructure.

Programmes

SSIF Programmes are structured around science platforms. A science platform is 'a combination of people, facilities, information and knowledge that provide a particular, ongoing science and innovation capability for New Zealand'.

SSIF Programmes supports the following:

• Crown Research Institute (CRI) platforms (16 platforms across 7 CRIs)
• Independent Research Organisation (IRO) platforms (3 platforms across 2 IROs)
• Antarctic Science platform
• Advanced Energy Technology platform
• Infectious Disease Research platform
• Data Science platform
• Combatting kauri dieback and myrtle rust.

Infrastructure

Funding access to and development of large-scale research infrastructure that is needed to undertake research in priority areas. SSIF supports the following infrastructure investments:

• Australian Synchrotron
• Enhanced Geohazard Monitoring
• Genomics Aotearoa
• The New Zealand based Mission Operations Control Centre
• National eScience Infrastructure
• Nationally Significant Collections and Databases
• Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand (REANNZ)
• Research Vessel Tangaroa

The SSIF investment plan provides the strategic context and sets out principles, rationale and signals for how funding is invested.

SSIF background and funding

Budget 2016 brought several existing investments into the new SSIF and announced additional funding of $63 million over 4 years. An extra $40.5 million was committed in Budget 2017. In 2017/18, the SSIF was worth over $260 million per year.

We publish a SSIF investment plan outlining:

• the Government’s strategic scientific goals and priorities
• the rationale and signals for how SSIF funding will be invested
• performance expectations.

As new priorities are identified and SSIF funding becomes available through future Budget processes, research organisations will be invited to respond to calls for proposals. Funding will be allocated on merit for proposals that meet the strategic goals and priorities in the SSIF investment plan.

Essential documents

Strategic Science Investment Fund Investment Plan 2017-2024 [PDF, 794 KB]

SSIF Budget 2016 fact sheet [PDF, 470 KB]

SSIF establishment questions and answers [PDF, 126 KB]

SSIF Performance Framework [PDF, 290 KB]