Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand)

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) is a now-defunct government science agency in New Zealand, founded in 1926 and broken into Crown Research Institutes in 1992.

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Agency overview
Formed1926 (1926)
Preceding agencies
  • Geological Survey
  • Magnetic Survey
  • Meteorological Office
  • Hector Observatory
  • Samoan Scientific Service
Dissolved1 April 1992 (1992-04-01)
Superseding agency
Employees2,000 in 1976[1]

Foundation

DSIR was founded in 1926 by Ernest Marsden[1] after calls from Ernest Rutherford for government to support education and research[2] and on the back of the Imperial Economic Conference in London in October and November 1923, when various colonies discussed setting up such departments.[3] It initially received funding from sources such as the Empire Marketing Board.[4] The initial plans also included a new agricultural college, to be jointly founded by Auckland and Victoria University Colleges, Palmerston North was chosen as the site for this and it grew to become Massey University.[5]

Structure

DSIR initially had five divisions:[6]

The later Antarctic Division became Antarctica New Zealand in 1996.[8]

Dissolution

Reconstituted into initially 10 semi-independent entities called Crown Research Institutes by the Crown Research Institutes Act 1992, with some further consolidation since.[9]

See also

  • Category:People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) (56)

Further reading

  • Galbreath, Ross (1998). DSIR: Making Science Work for New Zealand: Themes from the History of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1926–1992. Wellington [N.Z.]: Victoria University Press. ISBN 0864733542. OCLC 44633299.

References

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