University receives additional Centre of Research funding

7 May 2015

University of Auckland receives additional Centre of Research Excellence funding

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), has been selected to receive a further five years of funding from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).

This means that Ngā Pae will continue to undertake excellent research across New Zealand, along with the other four CoREs hosted by the University: the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery; the Medical Technologies CoRE; Te Pūnaha Matatini – The Centre for Complex Systems and Networks; and Brain Research New Zealand – Rangahau Roro Aotearoa (co-hosted with the University of Otago).

In addition, the University is a partner in two existing CoREs, the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (hosted by Victoria University of Wellington), and The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies (hosted by the University of Otago), and in two of the newly announced CoREs, the Riddet Institute (hosted by Massey University) and the QuakeCore (hosted by the University of Canterbury).

University of Auckland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Distinguished Professor Jane Harding says the University is pleased with the announcement of funding for these important research collaborations, that will see the University host or partner with nine of New Zealand’s ten Centres of Research Excellence.

Professor Harding adds: “Ngā Pae is inclusive of all Māori researchers, and following this decision, will continue to be a key player in global indigenous research and affairs.”

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga’s Director, Associate Professor Tracey McIntosh (Tūhoe), says: “We are delighted by this announcement as it allows us to significantly extend the impact of Māori research in all domains and to address the many opportunities and challenges our communities and the nation face.

“We will employ a new distributed leadership model co-led by myself and Associate Professor Jacinta Ruru (University of Otago) with wide engagement of researchers and teams from universities, wānanga, Crown Research Institutes, museums, polytechnics, iwi research groups and commercial entities.”

Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development, a long-standing CoRE hosted by the University, was not selected for further funding. Professor Phil Baker, Gravida Director, comments: “The decision by TEC not to provide CoRE funding, despite a positive assessment, is disappointing.

“I have much sympathy for any panel that has to assess such diverse scientific areas and I wish each of the funded CoREs every success.”

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