The New Zealand Life Sciences Grant Ecosystem: An exploration into the grant application processes and insights into funding organisation selection criteria

Abstract

New Zealand has a growing life science field, with exceptional skills and strengths in agriculture, healthcare and biotech (BioTechNZ, 2020). New firms are entering the life science field in New Zealand, particularly start-ups and early-stage firms, and grants are one of the main forms of funding for these types of firms (Mas and Hsueh, 2017). However, firms in the mature stage also apply for grants to help with market commercialisation or the development of upcoming products. New Zealand’s life science grant ecosystem is an underexplored area. There is a lack of literature on the challenges firms face when applying for grants and strategies to overcome those challenges. The available literature focuses on explaining the steps involved in grant application and advice for writing attractive grant proposals (Shoja et al., 2021). Furthermore, no studies investigate the selection criteria used by New Zealand funding organisations to assess grant applicants. Through a case-study analysis of four New Zealand life science firms, which included interviews, the research aims to understand the challenges firms face during grant application and their strategies to obtain grant funding successfully. The study uses Shoja et al. (2020) grant life cycle theory as its primary framework. The second section of the study investigates the selection criteria used by eight life science grant programmes in New Zealand to understand funders' expectations. The study found that the most common challenges for New Zealand life science firms were a lack of resources and time delays. The main strategies firms employed were creating a ‘Gono-go’ selection criteria, creating a grant information repository, forming partnerships with external stakeholders, and communicating with key internal stakeholders. The secondary data showed that more research-based grant programmes prioritised the ‘Significance’, ‘Feasibility’ and ‘Innovation’ selection criteria domains. Comparatively, commercial-based grants prioritised ‘Cost-effectiveness’ and ‘Feasibility’. New Zealand funding organisations also appeared to strongly value grant applications that consider ‘Māori Impact’. The study adds knowledge to the grant life cycle literature on particular challenges firms face and novel strategies to overcome challenges in the pre-award phase. The study further provides firms with a greater understanding of selection criteria used by funding organisations to provide a funder perspective in the grant life cycle.