NZ to be Nanotech Hub

The NZ government is investing NZ$628 million into new research programs in a bid to position the country at the vanguard of nanotechnology development. More than 30 organizations will receive a share of the funding, including the Victoria University-based MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, one of New Zealand’s seven National Centres of Research Excellence. “Our biggest area of research investment in this round is the primary production sector, accounting for about half of the total investment,” said Murray Bain, chief executive of government funding agency the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST). “This reflects the innate importance of this sector to New Zealand’s economy and the need for us to be innovative if we’re to remain globally competitive. We are also increasing the amount we’re investing in research to help us understand and respond to climate change.”