News and Updates

New Zealand Crown Research Institutes (CRIs)

Formed by the New Zealand Government in 1992, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are the largest providers of science research in New Zealand:

• CRIs undertake blue-sky and applied science and technology R&D
• Their clients/funders include both central and local government and private sector markets in New Zealand and abroad.
• New Zealand’s eight CRIs are represented by Science New Zealand
• New Zealand’s CRIs are monitored by the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU)

New Zealand’s eight CRIs are as follows:

	AgResearch is a life sciences research organisation with an increasing emphasis on product development and commercialisation. Its expertise in modern biotechnologies is founded on a legacy in the biological sciences of agriculture.
	Industrial Research Limited (IRL) undertakes world-class science, development and technology commercialisation in areas of communication, information and electronic technologies, advanced materials and performance, intelligent devices and systems, biochemicals technologies, energy technologies, complex measurements and analysis.
	Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) provides specialist science solutions related to public health, environmental health and forensic science. Its particular capabilities are in chemical and microbiological contaminants, and surveillance of diseases and hazards.
	Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) is an earth systems science enterprise whose focus includes geological hazards and tectonics, environment and land use, and earth and ocean resources for economic growth.
	Landcare Researchis New Zealand's foremost environmental research organisation specialising in sustainable management of land resources optimising primary production, enhancing biodiversity, increasing the resource efficiency of businesses, and conserving and restoring the natural assets of NZ communities.
	National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) provides a scientific basis for the sustainable management and development of New Zealand's atmospheric, marine and freshwater systems and associated resources.
	Scion has a legacy of expertise in forestry and biomaterials science and provides research and technology solutions to all levels of forest and wood products industries, including biomaterials science, alternative species and plantation resources. Scion's forestry R&D capability now resides in Ensis, a joint venture between Scion and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
	The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited was formed in 2008 through the merger of CRIs HortResearch and Crop & Food Research. Plant & Food Research provides research and development and adds value to fruit, vegetable, crop and food products. Key science areas include elite cultivar development, sustainable production systems, bioprotection and the design and development of new and novel functional foods.