Major grants

Motu is primarily funded by research grants. This page lists our current major grants and funding sources.

Aotearoa Foundation - Low Emissions Future

Motu received a two-year grant from the Aotearoa Foundation, established by Julian Robertson, to help inform climate change policy making and private-sector actions, and significantly benefit New Zealand’s longer-term development. The programme will run until October 2015 and is undertaking:

• a coordinated programme of basic and applied research,
• stakeholder dialogue,
• international exchanges, and
• communications on New Zealand’s pathway toward a global low-emission future.

The grant funding was contingent on securing co-funding, which we received from Meridian Energy, Z Energy, Ministry for the Environment and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. The co-funding is primarily to validate New Zealand interest in and commitment to the programme as well as to create a potentially self-sustaining programme in the longer term.

We invite forward-thinking businesses, government departments, philanthropic organisations and individuals who recognise the strategic importance of this programme to New Zealand to become valued programme supporters. We expect this programme to have an enduring impact on the low emissions future pathway that will benefit all New Zealanders.  

Te Pūnaha Matatini

In 2014, Motu helped lead the creation of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a new Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) focused on the characterisation and analysis of complex systems and networks. The CoREs are multi-institution, multidisciplinary research collaborations funded by the Tertiary Education Commission.

Te Pūnaha Matatini is hosted by the University of Auckland, and includes researchers from several other universities. Four Motu researchers are Principal Investigators, and Motu Director Adam Jaffe is the Research Theme Leader for the Complex Economic and Social Systems Research Theme.

Te Pūnaha Matatini is studying how:

• innovators in New Zealand are connected to the worldwide innovation network, 
• patterns of innovation and movement of skilled workers affects regional economic growth, and
• how cooperation and competition among fishers can give us insight into how institutions affect society’s ability to manage common resources.

Research Partnership for Use of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD)

This research partnership between Motu and the Productivity Hub (the Treasury; the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment; Statistics NZ; and the Productivity Commission) is a coup for Motu. This two-year programme — secured through a competitive selection process—for research and capability building focused on expanding the use of the microeconomic data held by Statistics NZ to study patterns and causes of productivity in New Zealand firms.

Other Grants and Funding

The following is a full list of grants and funding sources (of greater than $30,000) active during the 2015/16 financial year:

• Aotearoa Foundation - Emissions Trading Scheme Research
• Ministry for Primary Industries - Climate Mitigation Co - Benefits Arising From Freshwater Reforms
• Ministry for Primary Industries - No Cost Mitigation - 2015 - 2018
• National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) - Climate Impacts - 2013 - 2016
• New Zealand Productivity Commission - Research Partnership for Use of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD)
• Queensland University of Technology - Consultancy Services - 2014 - 2016
• Te Punaha Mataitini Centre of Research Excellence
• The Treasury - 90 Day Trial research
• Tertiary Education Commission - Tertiary IDI Pathways Project - 2013 - 2015
• University of Auckland - Networked Infrastructure
• University of Otago, Wellington - Resilient Urban Futures - 2012 - 2016
• University of Waikato - Capturing the Diversity Dividend of Aotearoa New Zealand - 2015 - 2017
• The Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Grant - Testing the Validity and Robustness of National Wellbeing and Sustainability Measures - 2012 - 2016
• The Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Grant - Margins in Earning Dynamics - 2015 - 2018
• The Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Grant - Mind the Gap
• The Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Grant - Skilled Migration - 2016 - 2019