Five AUT Marsden Fund grants
Five projects led by AUT researchers have been granted funding totalling $3.58 million in new research for the university, in this Marsden Fund round.
The Marsden Fund grants support New Zealand’s best investigator-initiated research in the areas of science, engineering, maths, social sciences and the humanities. It is regarded as a hallmark of excellence, allowing New Zealand’s best researchers to explore their ideas.
AUT recipients
Dr Cameron Weber, School of Science - Structure and Reactivity in Nanostructured Ionic Solvents
Associate Professor Sharyn Graham Davies, School of Social Sciences and Public Policy- Accessing Assisted Reproduction: Social Infertility and Family Formation
Associate Professor Albert Refiti, School of Art and Design - Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity
Professor R Siegert, School of Public Health and Psychosocial Studies - Untangling Inflammation and Depression in a Pacific Youth Cohort
Dr Katey Thom, Law School - Responding to citizens in mental distress: Exploring the preventative role of community police
Vice-Chancellor, Derek McCormack congratulates the recipients. “It’s extremely pleasing to see five successful applications come through in this Marsden round, especially after several very dry years at Marsden for AUT researchers. Last month two world university ranking agencies (Times Higher Education and the US News) each rated AUT highly in the world and first in New Zealand for the quality of our research based on citation impact scores.
“Gaining external funds that can extend our capacity for high quality research is an essential factor in securing our international standing and in creating the climate of curiosity, creativity, discovery and critical analysis that we need our higher education to flourish within. The success of these applications is a further sign that we are moving in the right direction. Congratulations to the lead researchers on their successes.”
About the Marsden Fund
The Marsden Fund is named after physicist Sir Ernest Marsden. It was established by the government in 1994.
Marsden Fund Council Chair Professor David Bilkey says: “The Marsden Fund is designed to enable our top researchers to develop their most ambitious and exciting ideas. This ‘blue-sky’ funding is vital to ensuring a vibrant research culture in our country, and the resulting work will help us better understand our environment and society. Some of these fundamental discoveries will also lead to new, and sometimes unexpected, solutions to current problems, in areas as diverse as health care, sustainability and social policy.”