Marsden funding for NZ's best and brightest

MEDIA RELEASE

06 September 2007

Marsden funding for New Zealand's best and brightest

Alpine faults, colonial literature, sexuality in the media and anti-cancer enzymes are research topics among 18 Victoria projects awarded just under $6m in the prestigious Marsden funding round.

The total awarded to cutting-edge research at Victoria is up from $4.7m last year to $5.97 in this latest round, a boost that Professor Charles Daugherty, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) attributes to the high quality of research across a range of disciplines spanning sciences, the humanities, social sciences and commerce.

"This is one of the most competitive and rigorous rounds of Government funding awarded to projects of the highest calibre," Professor Daugherty says.

"More than half of our researchers invited to submit a full proposal were successful in the final round."

He says the University's up-and-coming researchers did especially well, with nine receiving Marsden Fast-Start grants.

Administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Marsden fund received a $2.25m budget boost from the Government this year, enabling a greater investment in New Zealand’s early career researchers.

The recipients of full Marsden grants distributed over three years are:

- Professor Kim Sterelny, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations: Human uniqueness: a bio-cultural synthesis. $495,000
- Dr Sue Jackson, School of Psychology: Too sexy too soon? Girls' everyday experiences of sexualised media. $481,137
- Dr Paul Jose, School of Psychology: How do positive events lead to greater happiness and wellbeing? $600,000
- Professor Rod Downey, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science: Computability, complexity and randomness. $500,000
- Dr John Townend, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences: Imaging New Zealand's geological roots using ocean-generated seismic noise. $600,000
- Professor Tim Stern, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences: Putting a stethoscope on the Alpine Fault. $810,000
- Dr Deborah Jones, Victoria Management School: Glamour and grind: new creative workers. $420,000
- Dr Jane Stafford, School of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies: Native empire: colonial literature and the indigenous author. $250,000
- Dr Phil Lester, School of Biological Sciences: Observing evolution in action and changing its trajectory in wasp and ant communities of South Island beech forests. $285,000

The recipients of Fast-Start grants, worth $85,000 per annum for two years, are:

- Dr Jo Smith, School of English, Film, Theatre & Media Studies: Unsettled states: settler-native-migrant media in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
- Dr Teresia Teaiwa, Va'aomanu Pasifika: What are we fighting for? Fijian women soldiers at home and abroad.
- Dr David Ackerley, School of Biological Sciences: New and improved: anti-cancer enzymes from bacteria.
- Dr Rhonda Shaw, School of Social and Cultural Studies: Perceptions of bio-identity in organ donation and transplantation.
- Dr Maria Bargh, School of Maori studies: Indigenous corporations: the new tribe?
- Dr Todd Bridgman, Victoria Management School: In search of the business school public intellectual.
- Dr Noam Greenburg, Centre of Mathematics and Science Education: Computability theory and its interactions with set theory.
- Dr Gavin Dunbar, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences: Collapse of the Ross Ice Shelf in a warmer world.
- Dr Sandra Grey, School of Social and Cultural Studies: Activist Aotearoa: welfare reform and revolution

ENDS

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