New Zealand’s PBRF system ‘heaps pressure on academics’

Accounting academics outline Performance-Based Research Fund’s impacts on recruitment, teaching and workloads

The Performance-Based Research Fund in New Zealand puts institutions and academics under immense pressure, a paper has found.

The assessment of research under the PBRF affects the amount of research funding flowing to universities, with total funding currently worth around NZ$315 million a year. The system is undergoing reforms, with the next quality evaluation process due in 2026.