Centre of Research Excellence

The Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) are interorganisational research networks in New Zealand funded through the Centres of Research Excellence scheme, which is administered by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).

History
The scheme was set up in 2002 with the aim "to build networks to connect high-performing researchers in the university system". A 2001 review of university research by TEC had revealed a fragmented research system, which did not encourage collaboration and was based on the number of students enrolled or on a small and short term agreed programme of research, and could not be applied strategically to fund areas of importance to New Zealand's development. The CoRE fund and the Performance Based Research Fund were set up as complementary funds to address these problems. The CoREs were intended to be networks of "high-performing researchers" that would be "strategically focused and linked to New Zealand’s future economic and societal needs, of excellent quality, and transferable."

The initial funding round distributed $260 million, with a further capital investment of $50 million, from 2001/02 to 2011/12. The initial centres were established in 2002, after a selection process run by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Five CoREs were selected in 2002, with another two chosen in a second round in 2003. These seven CoREs were allocated funding for six years. There was a mid-term review after three years, with funding for the remaining three years to be confirmed on the basis of an assessment of performance to date. An assessment by the Ministry of Education in 2013 concluded that "the work of the CoREs has had wide-ranging impacts on New Zealand's society and economy".

Four further contestable funding rounds have been run, in 2006/07, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2019/20. There are currently (as of 2023) ten CoREs, which are funded until 31 December 2028. The fund is $49.8 million per annum (GST exclusive).

In 2022 another national centre of excellence was established, He Whenua Taurikura, New Zealand’s National Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism. (This centre does not appear to be funded by the CoRE fund but has been included in the table below for completeness.)

Defunded CoREs
Two centres that were funded in 2002/03 failed to get further funding after 2015, while the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications was funded for six years from 2002.


 * Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, hosted by Massey University.
 * Gravida: National Research Centre for Growth and Development, hosted by the University of Auckland
 * New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.
 * Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery. Hosted by University of Auckland. Director Ted Baker.