Endeavour Fund asks applicants to identify ‘sensitive’ research

Changes to New Zealand fund in 2022 include “dual use” disclosures and a climate focus

Applicants to the Endeavour Fund’s 2022 funding round will need to identify potentially sensitive uses of their research—including, for the first time, military uses.

In a briefing on 12 October, officials from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which manages the country’s largest contestable research fund, said that the “technologies of special interest” list now included “military and security” applications. “We ask researchers to consider the full use” of what they are working on, an official said. “What we’re trying to do is take measures that could limit any direct or indirect harm.”