$5.1m in Marsden grants for Massey researchers

Tuesday, November 4, 2014
$5.1m in Marsden grants for Massey researchers

Ten Massey University-led research projects will receive research funding worth more than $5.1 million from the Government's Marsden Fund this year.

Four of the projects received Marsden Fund Fast-Start grants ranging from $250,000 to $300,000 for young researchers.

University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey congratulated the successful researchers who attracted a total of $5,156,000 in funding and thanked all those who had submitted research proposals.

Competition for Marsden funding is fierce. The total 101 projects funded this year represented just 8.3 per cent of the proposals put forward to the Royal Society of New Zealand, which administers the fund. Massey's share is close to 10 per cent of the total funding of $55 million.

"Massey University's goal is to promote the highest standards of research and scholarships," Mr Maharey says. “Massey University is committed to defining the future of New Zealand and taking on the big issues that confront the world in the 21st century.

“Among those issues are feeding growing and sometimes ageing populations, dealing with land and water use issues, pollution and sustainable energy use, climate change and public health. Our researchers are among New Zealand's best and many are world-class in their specialist fields."

Ecology

Dr David Aguirre, Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (Albany), Dr Aguirre’s research will investigate the effects habitat-providing kelp species have on the surrounding community, and aims to uncover the far-reaching effects of kelp genetic variation on biodiversity, $300,000 (fast-start)

Dr Kee Sohn, Institute of Agriculture and Environment (Manawatu), Investigating how plants defend themselves against a diverse range of microbes in nature, $300,000 (fast-start).

Feeding the World

Associate Professor Murray Cox, Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatu), improving grass growth by making it naturally insect repellent with a symbiotic fungus that means farmers don’t need to spray and can maximise production, $808,000

Computer Modelling:

Professor Martin Hazelton, Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatu), modelling, inference and prediction for dynamic traffic networks to examine how knowledge of drivers’ behaviour today might be used to predict patterns of traffic flow in the future, and how traffic systems will adapt to changes to the road network, $380,000.

Dr Rachel Blagojevic, School of Engineering and Advanced Technology (Manawatu), making it easier to draw diagrams on computers by finding algorithms that help computers quickly recognise what people intend to convey when they draught a sketch on a screen, $300,000 (fast-start)

Health and Wellbeing

Dr Austen Ganley, Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (Albany), exploring the way ribosomal DNA is regulated in both normal and malignant cancer cells. The goal is to identify the structure in malignant cells and why cancer cells are dependent on it. Such clarification may lead to a novel target for the development of further chemotherapy drugs. To achieve this Dr Ganley’s team will use their combined expertise in rDNA genomics, rDNA cancer biology and bioinformatics, $820,000.

Professor Paul Rainey, New Zealand Institute of Advanced Study (Albany), this research continues work by Distinguished Professor Paul Rainey using primitive organisms to perform a combined experimental and theoretical analysis of the earliest events that underpin the evolution of cancer, and the mechanisms that prevent it, $808,000.

Dr Aisling Gallagher, School of People, Environment and Planning (Manawatu), The business of care: constructing a childcare market in Aotearoa/New Zealand, $250,000 (fast-start)

Other recipients (with departments, campus, project name and total funding) are:

Professor Robert McLachlan, Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatu), Geometric numerical integration: new structures and applications, $440,000

Distinguished Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger, Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (Albany), putting the squeeze on atoms and molecules: accurate quantum simulations of atomic and molecular phases under high pressures and temperatures, $750,000

© Scoop Media