• Individuals or teams are invited to enter for this Prize. For a team entry, one person must be designated as the ‘Team Representative’. This person will need to be prepared to be the public face of the discovery or achievement. This will include receiving the Prize, speaking with the media, and carrying out tasks appropriate for a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize.

• The individual applicant or nominated team representative must be either a New Zealand citizen or a New Zealand permanent resident, currently domiciled in New Zealand, and be active in their field of science.

• The research behind the discovery or achievement must have met current standards of ethical practice and have been carried out largely in New Zealand.

• Re-application by individuals or teams from previous years is encouraged as long as the eligibility criteria continue to be met. However, past winners of the Prize will not be eligible to enter a second time.

Adjudication for the prize will be based on one criteria which is the extent to which a transformative scientifc¹ discovery or achievement has led to significant economic, health, social and/or environmental impact on or for New Zealand, or internationally. This may be evidenced in a variety of ways, for example;

• Successful development and deployment of new or improved products, processes, or services (including public services) based on the research.

• Advancement of Mātauranga Māori.

• Major changes to practice in an important professional community or an industrial, business, infrastructural or service sector, at least at a national level.

• Major changes in relevant public policy and/or government investment or operational strategy, for example in health, social policy, environmental protection, conservation, education, justice or emergency management.

• Significantly increased investment in the research programme over an extended period of time by potential or actual technology transfer partners or end users.

• Significant changes in the way a body of knowledge is organised and used (as a result of challenging previous conventional wisdom).

• Development of new methods that have advanced research practice in the relevant discipline.

• A high level of recognition through peer review processes, for example through publication in leading journals and the award or prizes.

This list is non-exclusive, and not all evidence forms will be appropriate for any particular application. Each applicant should set out in the application statement the nature of the transformative scientifc¹ discovery/achievement, and of the impact. The statement should cross-reference to an attached evidence portfolio (maximum ten pages).

Assessment may include, at the judges’ discretion, consideration of referees’ statements, interview of key personnel or a site visit.

¹ Scientific should be interpreted broadly to include natural, physical, mathematical and information sciences, applied science, technology, engineering, social science and multi-disciplinary science

• All entries must be complete and received by 5pm (NZ time), Wednesday 20 September 2017.

• The on-line entry form for the Prime Minister’s Science Prize will be completed by the individual applicant or the team representative. It must include qualitative and quantitative evidence explaining how it meets the various selection criteria.

•  Evidence might include, for example, patents (pending or granted) and/or seminal papers published (including impact factor and citations)  and/or clinical trials (and what stage they are at) and/or outcomes from the industry or sector the entry is working in.

• Applicants will be asked to agree to a declaration that any information on the entry form may be used in publicity for the Prize (see Confidentiality).

Referees

• The entry must be endorsed by two international referees and two New Zealand referees who will give their expert opinion about the impact of the discovery for a transformative scientific¹ discovery or achievement. This may be evidenced in a variety of ways (see selection criteria).

• These four referees will be required to complete an on-line form/ A link will be emailed to all referees once the entry section has been completed.

• They will also need to include a short CV (maximum of one page) to demonstrate that they are able to comment on the entry.

• Please note that comments from referees must be evidence based.

• Referees must not be collaborators.

• The Selection Panel at its sole discretion, may request further referees or make contact with outside parties.  The panel  also reserves the right to hold interviews to help inform their decision.

Please note that information submitted on the entry form may be subject to the Official Information Act.

¹ Scientific: should be interpreted broadly to include natural, physical, mathematical and information sciences, applied science, technology, engineering, social science and multi-disciplinary science

The secretariat gives no undertaking to keep confidential any information provided in the on-line entry form unless this is identified as information that should be treated as such. Information may, for example, be used to prepare promotional material for the Prize in future years.