Marsden Fund

Marsden Fund Standard Grant

Funds investigator-led basic research in New Zealand for both established scientists and emerging researchers.

The Marsden Fund Standard Grant is the flagship investigator-led research grant administered by Royal Society Te Apārangi on behalf of the New Zealand government. It supports fundamental, curiosity-driven research across the physical, biological, and engineering sciences; humanities and social sciences were excluded from eligibility in December 2024, narrowing the scope to physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, and biomedical sciences. Grants run for three years and are awarded through a single annual competitive round. In 2025, the Marsden Fund distributed more than NZ$80 million across 107 projects in total, including 68 Standard grants — figures that reflect its position as New Zealand's pre-eminent basic research funding instrument.

Eligibility is restricted to researchers affiliated with New Zealand institutions: universities, Crown Research Institutes, and other recognised NZ research bodies. The principal investigator must hold an active NZ-based appointment. For-profit organisations and individuals without institutional affiliation cannot apply. Success rates across more than 1,000 annual applications run at approximately 10 percent, making the Marsden Standard one of the most selective grant competitions in the New Zealand research system. Per-project award amounts are set individually within the overall annual budget and are not publicly pre-announced.

The 2026 round follows the same annual calendar as prior years; specific submission deadlines and portal details are published by Royal Society Te Apārangi typically in the first quarter of the year. Applicants are assessed on scientific merit, originality, and the quality of the research plan. Because the fund explicitly targets basic research with no commercial-application requirement, proposals that frame inquiry as purely applied or that cite commercial endpoints are considered out of scope. Researchers with career interruptions should verify eligibility-clock rules with Royal Society Te Apārangi before the 2026 round opens.