Research Consortia

ALLAN WILSON CENTRE FOR MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION

The Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology & Evolution undertakes research into New Zealand and Pacific plant and animal life, and human history in New Zealand and the Pacific, with a commitment to securing the future of our biodiversity, and improving human and environmental health through local engagement. 

BIO-PROTECTION RESEARCH CENTRE

The Bio-Protection Research Centre brings together New Zealand’s leading plant protection scientists from four partner institutes. Multidisciplinary research and development focuses on the biosecurity and pest management needs of NZ’s plant-based primary industries and natural ecosystems. The Bio-Protection Research Centre is hosted by Lincoln University.

Brain Research New Zealand; Rangahau Roro Aotearoa 

Brain Research New Zealand-Rangahau Roro Aotearoa aims to unlock the secrets of the ageing brain and develop new therapies and better clinical and community care to enhance brain health throughout life. This will be achieved by applying world class neuroscience research, in partnership with outstanding clinicians and our diverse relationships with the community, to develop a national, collaborative response to the increasing number of New Zealanders with ageing-related brain disorders. It is directed by Distinguished Professor Richard Faull, University of Auckland and Professor Cliff Abraham, University of Otago and is co-hosted by the Universities of Auckland and Otago, in partnership with Auckland University of Technology and the University of Canterbury. 

GRAVIDA: NATIONAL CENTRE FOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development brings together leading scientists from six partner organizations to address a single overarching question of what makes a healthy start to life. Their internationally-recognised research seeks to reveal how events in early life affect mammalian development, with both short and long-term consequences for health and disease.

MAURICE WILKINS CENTRE FOR MOLECULAR BIODISCOVERY

The Maurice Wilkins Centre targets major human diseases and focuses on cancer, diabetes and infectious disease. The Centre brings together leading biologists, chemists and computer scientists  in a multidisciplinary network linking researchers from six Universities, three Crown Research Institutes and two private research institutes. As the national hub for molecular biodiscovery the centre provides a point of contact for a broad range of local scientific expertise. It cultivates collaborations with international researchers and research institutions and also engages with industry and the medical profession.

NGĀ PAE O TE MĀRAMATANGA – NEW ZEALAND’S INDIGENOUS CENTRE OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga consists of 16 participating research entities and is hosted by The University of Auckland. It conducts excellent research of relevance to Māori communities and is an important vehicle by which New Zealand continues to be a key player in global indigenous research and affairs. Its research is underpinned by the vision to realise the creative potential of Māori communities and to bring about positive change and transformation in the nation and wider world.

Te Pūnaha Matatini

Te Pūnaha Matatini - the Centre for Complex Systems and Networks - is a Centre of Research Excellence that will develop methods and tools for transforming complex data into knowledge about the biosphere, the economy, and the marketplace.

Research programme

The purpose of Te Pūnaha Matatini is to bring together New Zealand’s leading researchers in physics, economics, mathematics, biology, computer science, operations management, statistics, and social science to study complex systems and networks. Our research is focussed upon three complementary themes:

Complex Data Analytics: To develop and apply advanced analytics methods including network analysis, methods from dynamical systems and statistical physics, graph theory, generative and agent-based modelling, advanced visualisation techniques and optimisation, to understand, manage, and utilise complex data.

Complexity and the Economy: To use organisational-level data sets to understand the role of innovation at a regional level in productivity growth, and to assess the importance of knowledge, network, and supply-chain spillovers on firm performance.

Complexity and the Biosphere: To understand the inter-relationships between species and how biodiversity depends on the environment, and to develop models that couple the interactions between biodiversity, the economy, and human decision-making.

Hosted by University of Auckland in partnership with Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University, the university of Canterbury and Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

Director: Professor Shaun Hendy

The Dodd-Walls Centre

The Dodd-Walls Centre is a world class collaborative research network building on New Zealand’s strength in the fields of quantum optics, photonics and precision atomic physics.

Our research centres around photonics, the manipulation of light at the most fundamental, quantum level, and the control and manipulation of matter at the atomic scale, through the use of light.

Our aim is to generate fundamental knowledge about how the physical universe is composed and behaves and to undertake cutting-edge research with the potential to underpin advanced technological development. Alongside this research focus, the Centre educates and mentors highly skilled individuals and provides pathways for commercialisation of research and career development.

The Dodd-Walls Centre has existed as a collaborative centre between the Universities of Otago and Auckland since 2006, and is named after two of New Zealand's pioneering researchers in quantum physics, Professors Jack Dodd and Dan Walls. The new Centre of Research Excellence is much larger, encompassing researchers from five universities as well as partners from government, local businesses and overseas research institutions.

THE MACDIARMID INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Hosted by Victoria University, The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology has leading researchers working towards a greater knowledge of Nano-engineered materials and Devices, Novel Electronics, Electro-Optic and Superconducting Materials, Conducting Polymers, Soft Materials and Advanced Materials.

The Medical Technologies CoRE 

Hosted by the University of Auckland in partnership with the universities of Canterbury, AUT, Otago and Victoria and Callaghan Innovation.

Director: Distinguished Professor Peter Hunter

The Medical Technologies CoRE will apply bioengineering technologies to healthcare by producing new knowledge of physiological processes in health and disease, by developing novel bio-instrumentation and computational physiological models, and by designing innovative medical devices and technologies using these results to improve healthcare and to create economic opportunities for New Zealand companies.

THE RIDDET INSTITUTE

The Riddet Institute is hosted by Massey University, and brings together leading researchers from around NZ to carry out world-class research in foods and digestive processes. It is dedicated to the food industry, which is NZ’s most significant economic sector and accounts for over half of NZ’s export earnings.