Top appointment for Gerrard
Published by Communications and Development
20 March 2009
UC biochemist Professor Juliet Gerrard has been appointed to the Marsden Fund Council.
Professor Gerrard is one of three new members named today by the Minister for Research, Science and Technology Wayne Mapp.
Professor Gerrard’s role is to provide guidance on investments made by the fund in leading-edge research projects. She will convene the Cellular, Molecular and Physiological Biology Panel.
“I am honoured to have been appointed to the Council; the opportunity to make a contribution to curiosity driven research in New Zealand is very exciting,” Professor Gerrard said.
Also joining the council are principal adviser in The Treasury Dr Grant Scobie (Economics and Human and Behavioural Science Panel) and Victoria University professor Rod Downey (Mathematical and Information Sciences Panel).
"I am pleased to appoint these three leading researchers to the Marsden Fund Council. I have great confidence in their ability to help guide Marsden Fund investments," Dr Mapp said.
Professor Gerrard is Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Canterbury. She is a Principal Investigator for the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and associate investigator on the Maurice Wilkins and Riddet Centres of Research Excellence. She was previously a member of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) Food Domain Review and Strategy Expert Panels and has undertaken CCMAU governance training. In 2004 she won a National Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Education.
The Marsden Fund Council comprises 10 eminent researchers - a chair and nine convenors. Each heads a panel in their academic field. Panels work to assess applications for funding of research projects.
Research supported by the fund is investigator-initiated, and awarding of funds is based on the research merit of the proposal, the potential to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the enhancement of research skills in New Zealand. The fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand and funded through the Government's Research, Science and Technology portfolio. In 2008/09, the Council invested $54 million in research projects.
For further information please contact:
Professor Juliet Gerrard
Ph: (03) 364 2987 ext. 7302
juliet.gerrard@canterbury.ac.nz