National Science Challenges: second tranche assessment panels announced

Given the recent furore over the cutting of funding for Nga Pae o te Maramatanga and the ongoing concerns over the National Science Challenges, some might be interested in who is assessing the Vision Matauranga (VM) component. The panels - listed here - name Paula Searle ('Aging Well'), Barry Poata Smith ('A better start' and 'Healthier Lives'), Charlotte Severne ('Biological Heritage', 'Land and Water', and 'Sustainable Seas'), and Colin Knox ('Science for Technological Innovation') as Vision Matauranga assessors for the second tranche of NSC funding.


I make no comment on their abilities (qualifications and associations are listed for all panellists) other than to note that we seem to have an incredibly limited selection pool for the allocation of tens of millions of dollars of research funding over the next decade: four VM assessors over seven pots of paua?!