The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (Māori: Te Manatū Pūtaiao) was a government agency within the New Zealand government.

Its main responsibilities were to: The role of Chief Scientist for the Ministry was held by Don McGregor between 1992 and 1997.

Initiatives through his tenure included a landmark assessment of the value of science in supporting land management in New Zealand.

[1] In 2011 the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) was merged with the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to create the new Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI),[2] which took over the policy and investment functions of both agencies.

MSI became fully operational on 1 February 2011,[3] at which point MoRST and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology were disestablished.