Potential Sources of Research Funding
The GSNZ offers a wide range of awards and recognition across the geosciences.
See our Awards pages for more information.
Some of the main funding opportunities available to New Zealand researchers are listed below:
Marsden Fund
Supports excellence in science, engineering, maths, social sciences and the humanities in New Zealand by providing grants for investigator-initiated research.
Catalyst Fund
Advancing global science partnerships for New Zealand.
Endeavour Fund
Encourages researchers to sample a diverse range of ideas and conduct excellent research, with transformational potential.
National Science Challenges
The National Science Challenges were established in 2014 and aim to tackle the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand. The Challenges bring together the country’s top scientists to work collaboratively across disciplines, institutions and borders to achieve their objectives.
EQC
Each year, EQC provides around $17 million of funding for research and data on natural hazard risks and how to reduce risks and build New Zealand’s resilience.
QuakeCoRE, NZ Centre for Earthquake Resilience
QuakeCoRE is a Centre of Research Excellence funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission. Their programmes address five areas of multi‐disciplinary research, interconnected to understand and improve how communities recover and thrive after major earthquakes.
In addition, universities and CRIs have their own funding and scholarship programmes. Links to these organisations can be found on the New Zealand Geosciences Community page.
Fellowships
Rutherford Discovery Fellowships
Supports New Zealand’s most talented early- to mid-career researchers for a five year term.
James Cook Research Fellowship
Supports experienced researchers to pursue their research full-time.
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
Provides funding to PhD graduates to undertake two years postdoctoral research in New Zealand.
NIWA Post-Doctoral Fellowships
These positions support NIWA’s research programmes and provide valuable experience for early career researchers.
Resources
E Tūhura - Explore Zealandia
A portal for geoscience webmaps and information on the Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia region.
Geological Maps
GNS Science produces a variety of geological maps showing surface distribution of geological units which are and are compiled and printed at various scales.
Topography/Digital Elevation Models
Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) provides access to digital and paper topographic maps for New Zealand, offshore islands, and Pacific and Antarctic regions in scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000 and smaller, and topographic data
LINZ data also provides access to a variety of land and sea data, including topographic and elevation data.
NIWA provides free New Zealand Region bathymetric datasets and images.
Geological Databases
New Zealand Geoscience Bibliography
New Zealand Geoscience Bibliography contains references and abstracts of geoscience publications relevant to New Zealand.
It is produced by GNS Information Services and the references and abstracts are provided free of charge to assist geoscience research in New Zealand.
Fossil Record File (FRF)
The Fossil record File is a register of tens of thousands of fossil localities, mostly from mainland New Zealand but also including our offshore islands.
GSNZ shares ownership of the FRF with GNS Science. More information on this unique resource is available on the FRF page.
New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon
The New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon (StratLex) is a compilation of New Zealand rock unit names, giving information on age and distribution, and references to relevant literature. Prospective authors are encouraged to check proposed new names against the New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon.
Authors are also urged to follow the International Stratigraphic Code (Hedberg 1976), which was adopted for New Zealand use by the Geological Society of New Zealand.
The StratLex database is maintained by GNS Science and is available free of charge to the geological community.
In addition to those specified above GNS Science maintains a collection of national databases covering:
- Natural Hazards
- Paleontology & Stratigraphy
- Rocks & Minerals
The New Zealand Petroleum and Mineral Exploration Database enables you to preview and access New Zealand exploration information.
The New Zealand Geotechnical Database has been developed for the use of professional geotechnical and structural engineers to access geotechnical data shared by other engineers and their clients, and to share their own data in return.
