Endeavour Fund — Smart Ideas

Smart Ideas is one of the two mechanisms inside MBIE's Endeavour Fund, aimed at smaller investments that rapidly test promising research ideas with high potential for benefit to New Zealand. It sits within a fund designed to back excellent science that can improve the country's economy, environment, and society, and the 2026 round is being run through contract extension rather than an open contest. The stream is a grant mechanism for universities, Crown Research Institutes, and independent research organisations. MBIE says the wider fund can provide up to $59.3 million of new funding through the 2026 contract extension round, and the 2027 round is being replaced by Transition Research Fund 2027. Smart Ideas is the route for smaller projects inside that umbrella, while Research Programmes carries the larger, more defined investments. The best fit is a proposal that can prove value quickly, refresh the science portfolio, and connect clearly to New Zealand benefit. Applicants need to satisfy the Gazette Notice criteria, and the Science Board makes decisions on the basis of assessed excellence and impact. Vision Mātauranga applies across the fund where relevant, so proposals that treat Māori knowledge and participation as substantive rather than decorative are better aligned.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.