Investigating whether a ‘sin’ tax would reduce consumption of things that are bad for our health is the subject of one of four projects led by University of Waikato researchers that has been supported in the latest round of Marsden Funding.
The grants total $2.8 million (including GST) and were announced on Tuesday, November 4.
The Marsden Fund
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Alister Jones says he is delighted with the research funding for the University.
“Marsden Fund grants are highly competitive, and I’m delighted with our success. These projects reflect the breadth of exciting research being conducted by our researchers that has clear relevance to New Zealand’s social, cultural and environmental well-being.”
The Marsden Fund supported projects at the University of Waikato are:
- ‘Maintaining stable mangrove swamps’, Associate Professor Karin Bryan, Dr Julia Mullarney - $816,500.
- ‘Will ‘sin’ taxes reduce consumption?’, Professor John Gibson - $805,000.
- ‘Te Mauria Whiritoi: the sky as a cultural research’, Dr Rangi Matamua - $816,500.
- ‘The Terrestrial carbon cycle in transition: tracking changes using novel tracers on multiple timescales’, Dr Adam Hartland - $345,000.
In addition, University of Waikato Professor Vic Arcus is Associate Investigator on a University of Canterbury Marsden project looking at “Allosteric regulation and the dynamics of a molecular pendulum that controls a catalytic clock”. That project is worth $874,000.
The Marsden Fund has announced it will distribute $63.9 million (including GST) to fund 101 research projects nationwide, each for a three-year period.
The Marsden Fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Marsden Fund Council, and funded by the New Zealand Government. It supports projects in the sciences, technology, engineering and maths, social sciences and the humanities.