Scientists warn of N.Z. brain drain

A lack in government funding for scientists in New Zealand is reportedly driving top researchers from the country.

The New Zealand Herald reported Monday that 460 of New Zealand's leading scientists and academics have urged the government to augment the Marsden Fund, the country's core basic research fund.

The scientists, from the public and private sectors, made their plea in an open letter to Science Minister Pete Hodgson, the newspaper reported.

Hodgson said recently that there were "no plans to dramatically increase the Marsden Fund, any more than there are plans to raise the health research fund, or other funds."

Victoria University Professor Jeffery Tallon, who penned the letter to Hodgson, said New Zealand spends just over 1 percent of its gross domestic product on science research. By comparison, the letter said, Denmark spends more than three percent of its GDP on scientific endeavors.

"We need to wake up. Collectively in New Zealand we haven't got our heads around that we're in direct competition with the rest of the world," Tallon said. "We're falling behind. It's a slow-burning catastrophe."

The government Marsden Fund disperses $39 million to researchers each year, which is enough money to fund seven percent of the fund's applicants, the newspaper said.