Nelson Firms In EU Research Programmes As Ties Build
Two Nelson groups are among successful bidders to take part in the world’s largest science research and innovation programme, and its European Union backers are keen to see more.
Nelson-based molecular analysis company Sequench and the Nelson Artificial Intelligence Research Institute have won bids to work with European partners under the Horizon Europe research programme.
Sequench, which specialises in analysis of complex environmental samples, and the institute will team up with European scientists on a project to use AI to improve the detection, understanding and management of invasive alien species in marine and freshwater.
New Zealand is the first global partner of the Horizon Europe programme, which gives Kiwi researchers access to European partners and technology. It is open to New Zealand universities, businesses and organisations with successful applicants eligible for top-up funding for overhead costs from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
A roadshow for the programme, which has a budget of €95 billion, has been held in four New Zealand cities this month, including at Nelson’s Cawthron Institute on Wednesday.
The EU ambassador to New Zealand, Lawrence Meredith, was in Nelson for the event and said New Zealand companies had been successful in winning bids for 20 projects in the 20 months it’s been a partner in the programme.
He was here to encourage some of the “excellent” scientists at Cawthron, the country’s largest independent science organisation, to get involved.
As well as the Nelson groups, other Kiwi partners included Lincoln Agritech collaborating on developing an early warning system to help protect apple crops, and Auckland University Distinguished Professor Peter Hunter, the founder of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, who is working with a Belgian university on a biotech project.
“You’ve got new areas of expertise that we don’t necessarily have in Europe, and I think that’s exciting for European scientists to partner with these top New Zealand scientists,” Meredith said.
For New Zealand partners it provided access to cutting-edge scientific facilities that were not available here.
Meredith said the programme was not just pure science, but science that could make a commercial difference and transform lives.
He said the ties between the 27-member European Union and New Zealand continued to build.
A free trade agreement came into effect in May last year, and New Zealand had reported that its exports to the EU had increased by $2 billion since.
“That’s phenomenal and it’s predominantly in areas such as horticulture, seafood and wine, which are important here in Nelson.”
Meredith said EU companies were also looking at major investment in New Zealand. There was a European component to the consortiums bidding for the Northland Expressway roading corridor, for example.
He said five “really exciting” areas of co-operation were agritech, aerospace defence, advanced AI, infrastructure and clean tech and renewable energy.
“I don’t know what the next level up from No 8 wire is, but I see some really innovative people in New Zealand in science and business, and that’s where I see the greatest potential for partnership between the European Union and New Zealand.”
Meredith, who describes his heritage as Yorkshire-Irish and speaks six languages, is two years into his four-year term as ambassador in New Zealand. He was previously based in Brussels, responsible for managing relations with eastern European partnership countries.
He saw his role as being out on the road rather than stuck in a Wellington office. After Nelson, he headed to Christchurch to engage in some European “cheese diplomacy” at the EU’s Canterbury A&P Show stall.
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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