The Highs and Lows of Developing a
Transdisciplinary Research Centre
and the Importance of Applied Research
T H I S W O R K B Y E S R C I S L I C E N S E D U N D E R A C R E A T I V E C O M M O N S A T T R I B U T I O N - N O N C O M M E R C I A L - N O D E R I V A T I V E S 4 . 0 I N T E R N A T I O N A L L I C E N S E.
Terri-Ann Berry, Gregor Steinhorn, Brenda Massey, German Hernandez, Joanne Low & Shannon Wallis
ESRC, Unitec Institute of Technology
ESRC – Team & Purpose
• Established in 2019
• Fostering transdisciplinary industry engaged research.
• Tackling waste and pollution challenges to improve environmental outcomes in NZ.
• Collaborations with a broad range of partners including:
• National and international universities, crown
research institutes, governments and industry Joanne Low, Shannon Wallis, Terri-Ann Berry, German Hernandez, Yanina Purcell (Author’s own)
The Issues
Waste & Pollution
Finding Practical Solutions
• Global challenges requires new research and innovation
• degrading environments, climate change, increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
• ESRC aims to respond to these challenges through an economic, social and
environmental lens.
• Raising funds and finding partners to assist with complex and often controversial
research is not easy.
Onehunga High School Waste Project (Author’s own)Environmental Solutions Research Centre
• Centre application
• Office search
• Logo creation
• Progress reports
• Team management
• Researching
• Teaching
• Supervising
• Maintaining a sense of humour!
Director
Research Associate &
Centre Manager
Research
Assistant BEngTech (Civil) Students Research
Associate Research
Associate
Research Administrator
Multidisciplinary Partnering
Waste
Asbestos Indoor Air
Quality
Academic Funding
The Reality
ESRC Team auditing on site (Authors Own)
Funding Potential
• Major non-specialized research funds:
• MBIE Endeavour Fund ($228 million)
• Royal Society Te Apārangi’s Marsden Fund ($79 million)
• Success rates?
• 10.2 – 13.3% of applications (MBIE, 2021, Royal Society, 2021).
• Applied research ?
• Certain funds welcome applied research however, approved funding traditionally concentrated in areas such as the primary industries.
• Environmental research?
• 25% target for environmental focus (MBIE Endeavour Fund),
• Strongly competed by ecological and biosecurity research in NZ.
“What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
Henry David Thoreau
Managing ESRC funds 2019-2020
Pros & Cons
Income Source Year Ending Budgeted
Income ($) Actual Income ($)
Ministry for the
Environment (Asbestos) 2019 $5,000 $5,000
ChemCare
(Asbestos) 2019 $5,000 $5,000
Ministry for the
Environment (Asbestos) 2020 $121,810 $121,810 ChemCare
(Asbestos) 2020 - $930
Auckland Council
(Plastic Waste) 2020 $26,000 $26,000
University of Auckland
(Air Quality) 2020 $38,500 $21,982
Total - - -
Pros:
• Fairly successful – 43% (10)
• Funders are keen
• One fund leads to more funds
Cons:
• Templates - one size fits all
• Need expert help and advice
• One-shot wonder
• Funding can be cancelled
• Ongoing reporting is tiresome
• Cash contributions required
An Alternative Approach
Industrial Partnerships
Industrial Funding – Pros
Pros:
• No structured application process
• Applied research ++
• One fund leads to more funds
• Reputation
• Less ongoing reporting
• Multiple applications
• High impact
• Increased research potential
• One to one – real people
• 100% success!
Industrial Funding – Cons
Cons:
• Remaining impartial/robust
• Overheads
• Exhaustion
Constant reinforcement Constant communication A whole new world
Constant hosting!
ESRC
The Future
The Bottleneck
Fund Decision FTE FTE Period
Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund (MDF) December ‘21 0.1 Jan-Dec ‘22 Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund (Plastic Waste) December ‘21 0.05 Jan-Dec ‘22
BRANZ (Plastic Waste) December ‘21 0.1 2022 – 2023
HRV (Air Quality 2022) January ‘22 0.15 2022
Endeavour Fund (Asbestos) September ‘22 0.2 2022 – 2025
MfE Plastic Innovation Fund (Plastic Waste) TBC 0.2 TBC
MfE Waste Minimisation Fund (Asbestos) Approved 0.2 2020 – 2022
HRV (Air Quality 2021) Approved 0.1 2021 – 2022
Total 1.1
New Pressures
•
Constantly pushed to extending beyond 1 FTE
•
We cannot not react to opportunities unless we are willing to work for free!
•
Weekend and evening work is normal – planning ahead is essential to ensure team safety
•
No succession planning – all staff rely on contractual external funding.
•
But we love what we do!
Research Team Accomplishments
• Asbestos Awareness Conference 2020:
• ESRC and Unitec hosted in collaboration with the New Zealand Demolition and Asbestos Association
• Building Out Waste Conference 2021:
• ESRC and Unitec hosted in collaboration with the Sustainable Business Network
• RNZ, AM Show, Stuff, Herald 2019-2021:
• Asbestos bioremediation and construction waste issues.
Terri-Ann Berry, Annie Day, Linda Kestle & Julie Roberts
(Building Out Waste Conference 2021)
Research Team Awards
• Unitec Research Symposium 2020:
• Research with Impact Award - Winner
• Tamaki Makaurau Zero Waste Awards 2021:
• Community Collaboration – Highly Commended (with Naylor Love, Mitre 10 and Auckland Council).
• Innovation – Individual Nominee
Mark Roberts, Terri-Ann Berry, Annie Day & Linda Kestle
(Zero Waste Awards 2021)
Conclusions
• ESRC:
• connected with industry, long-term collaborations;
• proven successes to actively address environmental issues.
• Industry funding has been a blessing
• but highlighted the requirement for a new skill set.
• Raising the profile (environmental concerns):
• meet other like-minded people from all sectors;
• strengthen chances of funding to achieve better outcomes.
• ESRC:
• dynamic but high pressure environment;
• aim to develop into a nationally leading centre of environmental and applied research.
Thank You!
• We would like to thank all of our collaborators from both within and external to Unitec, we couldn’t have achieved this without you.
• Thanks also to the amazing Unitec
Marketing team for their ongoing
support.
References
• Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/2022-endeavour-roadshow-presentation.pdf (accessed 16.11.21)
• Royal Society Te Apārangi: https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/marsden-fund-supports-innovative-research-in-aotearoa/(accessed 16.11.21)
