The Association of Scientists wants fewer but bigger grants to be made available for research.
It says the current systems for applying for funding mean that a scientist's attention is diverted from the lab as large amounts of time are spent applying for a multitude of small grants.
Association president James Renwick says the cost of processing an application for smaller grants is often the same as those for more substantial funding and more money should be pooled into larger grants.
He says that having to compete for piece-meal funding is stopping New Zealand scientists from competing internationally.
