The Influencers: Science's renaissance man
The Prime Minister's science advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, is overseeing a shakeup of the research and technology sector
Monday, July 26 2010 || Features || BY Caitlin Sykes
If New Zealand science is undergoing a renaissance, then Sir Peter Gluckman must be its man.
Just a year into the job as the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser and there’s palpable evidence of a shakeup in the sector.
Out goes the competitive and time-consuming funding system for our Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) in favour of a hopefully more collaborative regime; science agencies MoRST and FRST are combining with the aim of streamlining science administration; research, science and technology was a major focus of this year’s Budget, receiving a $225 million funding boost, with a focus on business; and New Zealand is the driving force behind a global alliance looking at ways to produce more food with fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
So how influential has Gluckman been in pushing science centre stage?
“I’m trying to encourage a national dialogue and I think that dialogue has changed … the mantra has shifted from research being seen as a cost, to research now being seen as an important long-term investment. Now if I’ve had some part to play in that, great.”
Next is a centre of excellence in technology transfer, signalled in the Budget with few details.
“We’re seeing some quite exciting initiatives between the universities and the CRIs,” says Gluckman. “A year ago that wouldn’t have happened. They were all out there fighting their own piece of turf. What we’re seeing is a much more collaborative ‘New Zealand Inc’ approach starting to emerge. That’s one of the key messages I’ve tried to give, that New Zealand is too small for the purely competitive model to operate in science.”
Gluckman has “a brain bigger than Texas”, says Phil O’Reilly, chief executive of Business New Zealand. And he has learned to take advice in areas he’s less comfortable with. He plays politics and influence well, says O’Reilly, and is one of a very small group who have persuaded government that science should be at the centre of its agenda.
Gluckman says significant cultural changes need to occur in the private and public sectors, but change is vital if we’re to survive and be relevant to the rest of the world.
New Zealand’s investment in research — around 1.2% of GDP — is pitifully low, particularly in the private sector, where R&D spend typically has more impact on productivity. Our competitive funding models have stifled a New Zealand Inc attitude that would give us critical scale in international markets, we have a low uptake of publicly funded research by the private sector and technology transfer is an underdeveloped skill here.
“We need to change the way this country operates if we’re going to survive and be relevant to the rest of the world. My appointment is part of that process,” Gluckman says.
Encouraging better dialogue across the cultures of science and business, seeking out more international partnerships and embracing a more diverse directorate are among Gluckman’s messages for the private sector.
Originally trained as a paediatrician with an interest in endocrinology (hormonal biology), Gluckman spent two years as a doctor before embarking on a research career. After a number of years at the University of California in San Francisco, he returned to New Zealand in 1980 to set up a research group funded by the then Medical Research Council.
He became dean of Auckland University’s faculty of medical and health sciences in 1991, while still continuing research that led to several biotech spinouts as well as developing the first effective therapy for brain damage at birth.
He left to set up the multidisciplinary Liggins Institute in 2001, to get a critical mass of scientists doing world class research into how a poor start to life impacts on health and disease risk throughout life.
Gluckman now leads the Epigen Consortium of six centres in three countries working in the area of developmental epigenetics to improve the human condition, and also works part-time developing the Centre for Growth and Development and Metabolism at Singapore’s Institute for Clinical Sciences. He received New Zealand’s top science prize, the Rutherford Medal, in 2001, was named World Class New Zealander in 2006 and is a fellow of the Royal Society of London.
But Gluckman says the chief science adviser’s role, which is part-time, is “the hardest and best job I’ve ever had”. His role is to present and interpret evidence for politicians but he’s clear to distinguish himself from their ranks.
“An effective science adviser knows when to stop and when it becomes a matter for others to make decisions and take into account public opinion, the financial priorities, political ideology and the ballot box,” he says.
Bronwyn Dilley, chief executive of NZBio, says Gluckman has contributed to a greater understanding and support of science and innovation in government. He’s also become a much-needed public figure to provide a focus point for the sector, she says.
Dr Garth Carnaby, president of the Royal Society of New Zealand, says Gluckman has been a great success, influencing everything from the P debate, to environmental issues, to science sector reforms that are potentially game changing for our economy.
When asked how he hopes to help maintain the positive energy currently enjoyed in the sector, it’s his research work that he hopes will continue to be influential.
“I’ll lead from the front,” he says. “I’d die if I didn’t do research; it’s my lifeblood. If there’s enough there to keep me positive about what’s going on in New Zealand, hopefully that’s infective.”
The 2010 Influencers
• Who are they?
• Trading up
• Ones to watch and back-room influencers
• Who influences the Influencers?
• Net influence
• Wise counsel and outside the tent
