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The group advising the government on its overhaul of the science sector is pleased most of its recommendations are being implemented.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon revealed that the country's seven Crown Research Institutes would be merged into three entities.
The changes follow a long-awaited first report by the Science System Advisory Group.
The committee was "delighted" by the government's announcement, chair Sir Peter Gluckman said.
"There's a very strong alignment between what we've suggested and ... what Cabinet's approved, so I feel that the effort that the panel has put in and the hundreds of submissions we've read and heard from have been listened to by the government."
Now that Cabinet had decided on the "architecture" of the system, Gluckman said the group would begin to look at the finer details as early as Friday.
"The reason we have not progressed the work in recent months is simply that we needed Cabinet decisions on the overall direction before we could move forward."
The group's second report would be ready by mid-year, he said.
While the sector clearly needed reform, those changes should have come with a guarantee that no jobs would be lost, the Public Service Association said.
Workers at Callaghan Innovation - which is set to be disestablished - were shocked and distressed, acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said.
"The reforms announced [on Thursday] have been done in a chaotic and uncoordinated way, with many science workers asking whether they will have a job.
"If the government is committed to science, it should have guaranteed all the jobs, and committed to the increased investment that New Zealand needs in our science sector."
Increased funding was needed to attract and retain scientists. Instead the current plan risked losing experts to overseas, she said.
It came on top of the 500 scientist and researcher roles which had already been axed across various agencies last year, she said.
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