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Merit allocations

This is the highest award given for use of NeSI services. A Merit allocation is intended for highly skilled research teams carrying out high quality research funded via a peer review process that supports the New Zealand Government's Science Goals. Merit allocations may be made for the HPC Compute & Analytics and Consultancy services.

To be eligible for consideration for a Merit allocation, the application must meet the following criteria:

  • The underpinning research programme (that requires access to NeSI HPC services to achieve the objectives of the research) must support the Government’s Science Goals.
  • To demonstrate research quality and alignment with national research priorities, the research funding must have come from a peer-reviewed, contestable process at an institutional, regional or national level.
    • The following funding sources are likely to qualify:
      • Research funds managed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
      • Health Research Council funding
      • Royal Society of New Zealand funding, e.g. Marsden grants
      • SSIF programme funding (previously known as CRI Core funding)
      • Research programmes forming part of a National Science Challenge
      • Research programmes forming part of a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE)
      • Other similar funding sources
    • The following funding sources are unlikely to qualify:
      • Privately funded research
      • Research funded by a foreign government
  • The research grant or contract must cover the entire period for which an allocation of NeSI resources is sought.
  • The applicant must be a named investigator on the peer reviewed research grant or contract. If you are a student, we may at our discretion consider your application for a Merit award if your supervisor is a named investigator.

Read more about how we review applications.

To learn more about NeSI Projects or to apply for a new project, please read our article Applying for a NeSI Project.