Marsden panellists won't be able to ask for funds

Academics who award grants for one of the country's richest research funds will be banned from applying for money for their own projects.

Marsden Fund manager Don Smith yesterday insisted all decisions were impartial after criticism that nine of the award panellists had received $6 million in funding.

But Prime Minister Helen Clark stepped into the row, saying she wanted to see a report to ensure the grants procedure had been "robust".

Mr Smith, who sits in on panel discussions, said the use of overseas referees provided assurance the process was beyond reproach.

Nevertheless, because it was important that there could be no suggestion of bias, panel members would no longer be able to apply to the fund from next year.

The panel that assessed the $38 million fund was accused of running a closed shop after this year's awards were announced.

National Party science spokesman Paul Hutchison criticised the awarding of funding for a University of Auckland research project studying the orgasm and the sexual culture of Auckland as "nebulous and politically correct".

He questioned the fund's priorities, saying more worthy projects had been overlooked.

"New Zealand's total investment in science, research and technology is less than half the OECD average, therefore it's vital every research dollar is well spent," Dr Hutchison said.

Helen Clark said she would seek more information on the procedures around approving grant applications but that it was difficult to have expert review panels without having leading researchers on them.

"All the debate around this is going to hang on 'are the procedures robust'," Clark told Newstalk ZB.

"From the Government's point of view, money is always scarce. You want the best use of it and I'll certainly be asking for a report around the robust procedures and whether they are as robust as they should be."

However, fund chairman Garth Carnaby said he was confident the grants process was blemish-free, with no unmanaged conflict of interest.

"It's just nonsense, the issue of these people awarding themselves grants and things, it's scandalous, it's twaddle," Dr Carnaby said.

"No one who has receive a grant has any possible way of influencing a grant in their own favour. Any scrutiny of the process will come to the same conclusion.

"We welcome any scrutiny because we are concerned about the professional damage to a couple of fine scientists who have been alleged to have not been following the highest ethical procedures."


RESEARCH GRANTS

Projects to receive money this year included:

* Creating a new neutrino "telescope" buried in the ice below the South Pole.

* Using traditional knowledge and DNA technology to document the history of Maori weaving.

* Investigating the knowledge gap between professionals and the general public regarding DNA evidence.

* Developing a new probe to create images of live tissue.

- Additional reporting by NZPA