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The Government has recently announced the replacement of the PBRF with the Tertiary Research Excellence Fund.
Development of the Tertiary Research Excellence Fund#
The Government has announced that the PBRF will be replaced with the Tertiary Research Excellence Fund. This will replace the PBRF’s Quality Evaluation component with a metric-based assessment of tertiary providers’ research performance.
Final decisions on the design of the Tertiary Research Excellence Fund will be taken in the first half of 2026, following further engagement with the sector and experts.
About the PBRF#
The Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) started in 2003.
Since then, there have been:
- increases in the average quality of research
- higher completion rates for postgraduate research degrees
- growth in world-indexed publications and citations.
This contributes to the global rankings of our universities and enhances New Zealand’s international reputation for providing a high-quality educational experience.
Components of the PBRF#
The PBRF has 3 funding components:
- Quality Evaluation (QE) - 55% of the fund.
- Research Degree Completions (RDCs) - 25% of the fund.
- External Research Income (ERI) - 20% of the fund.
Minute of DecisionInformation about changes to the PBRF, including the cancellation of the next QE, is on the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) website.
Performance-Based Research Fund – Tertiary Education Commission
