New Centre of Research Excellence based at Auckland following funding announcement
9 October 2020
The Tertiary Education Commission has announced today that the University of Auckland will be hosting four of the 10 Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs), including one of two new Centres.
The new Centre is Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand - Manaaki Mānawa, a national and international collaboration designed to work in partnership with iwi, hāpu, whanau and aiga to create a vibrant world-class centre for research into heart and respiratory diseases to improve outcomes, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples who are the groups most affected by these diseases in New Zealand.
It will be directed by Professor Julian Paton from the Department of Physiology in the School of Medical Science. Dr Anna Rolleston, Co-Chair, Māori Advisory Group Department of Physiology, is co-director.
The re-funded Centres are the Maurice Wilkins Centre, Te Pūnaha Matatini, and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.
University of Auckland Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Jim Metson said the funding was a tribute to the many staff throughout the University who contribute to world class academic research, as well as those who were part of the highly competitive submission process.
“We are delighted to see the Healthy Hearts Centre funded for the first time; its area of research is a significant issue for Aotearoa New Zealand. The broad and comprehensive range of national and international partners and collaborators demonstrates how far-reaching the benefits are likely to be.”
Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater added her congratulations, noting that the recent contribution of researchers from Te Pūnaha Matatini to the Covid-19 response underlines how important these Centres are.
“CoRE research is leading edge and of a world class standard. We constantly see how the Centres contribute to the advancement of knowledge and to well-being locally and internationally.”
CoRE research is leading edge and of a world class standard. We constantly see how the Centres contribute to the advancement of knowledge and to well-being locally and internationally.
Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand - Manaaki Mānawa
Hosted by the University of Auckland in partnership with: University of Otago, University of Canterbury, Auckland University of Technology, University of Waikato, and Massey University
Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand - Manaaki Mānawa strives towards equity in heart health for Māori and Pacific Peoples and to improve cardiovascular health and well-being in this country. Employing a life course approach guided by Māori values and principles the CoRE will address the nation’s crisis of equity for cardiovascular health in Aotearoa by earlier, more precise and personalised prevention, prediction, detection/diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
The Maurice Wilkins Centre
Hosted by the University of Auckland in partnership with the Universities of Otago, Canterbury, Victoria, and Waikato, and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.
The Maurice Wilkins Centre targets major diseases affecting New Zealanders, particularly cancer, diabetes and infectious disease, by delivering world-class research that enables the discovery of new therapies, diagnostics and vaccines.
Te Pūnaha Matatini
Hosted by the University of Auckland in partnership with Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Canterbury, Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua and Motu Public Policy and Economics Research.
Established in 2015 this CoRE aims to develop methods and tools for transforming complex data into knowledge for better decision-making. Research themes include complex data analytics, complex economic and social systems, and complexity and the biosphere.
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga – New Zealand’s Indigenous Centre of Research Excellence
Hosted by the University of Auckland with 20 partners including: AUT, Lincoln, Massey, Waikato, Canterbury, Otago and Victoria Universities; Eastern Institute of Technology; Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and Unitec; Auckland War Memorial Museum; Cawthron Institute;Eco Research Associates; Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua; Te Atawhai O Te Ao; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Te Tapuae o Rēhua; Whakauae Research Services; and Waikato-Tainui College of Research and Development.
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) is New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence, established in 2002.
Ko te Māori e arataki ana i a Aotearoa ki te ao kei mua.
Ko ā mātau mahi rangahau he whakaea i nga wawata o te iwi Māori kia whai wāhi nui ai ia i roto i ngā whakaritenga mō te whenua katoa, he whakapiki ake i te hiranga o ngā wānangatanga ā te Iwi Taketake, ā, he hura rongoā mō ngā wero nui kei mua i te aroaro o te tangata i konei, i te ao whānui hoki.
Māori leading New Zealand into the future: NPM research realises Māori aspirations for positive engagement in national life, enhances our excellence in Indigenous scholarship and provides solutions to major challenges facing humanity in local and global settings.
The CoREs, established in 2001, are inter-institutional research networks, with researchers working together on commonly agreed work programmes to encourage excellent tertiary education-based research that is collaborative, strategically focused and creates significant knowledge transfer activities. They build research capacity and capabilities through post-graduate programmes and the training of new researchers.
They represent long term, world leading collaborative research programmes, and are amongst the most significant investments in research by government. Of 31 proposals assessed ten were successful and will receive a share of $373.5 million in funding from 2021 to 2028.