Marsden grants are the main form of contestable funding for fundamental, 'blue skies' research in New Zealand. Grants are made in all areas of research, in both science and the humanities. The grants are made from the Marsden Fund, which was established by the New Zealand Government in 1994. The Fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Most of the grants go to researchers at New Zealand universities, but some go to researchers at Crown Research Institutes and elsewhere. The grants are named after English-New Zealand physicist Ernest Marsden (1889–1970).