UC researchers awarded $7.2 million from Marsden Fund
Published by Communications and Development
23 September 2008
University of Canterbury researchers have been awarded more than $7 million in funding in this year’s Marsden Fund round.
The awards are government funded and are administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Marsden Fund Council.
Canterbury University has received grants for 11 research projects totalling $7,239,062, which is just over $3 million more than UC researchers received in last year’s round.
Projects receiving funding cover a range of topics such as carbon neutrality, aquatic ecosystem dynamics, building sustainable peace in the South Pacific, and gravitational energy and cosmic structure.
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Town says the projects reflect the breadth of UC’s research strengths and its research aspirations.
“For example, some of these projects have a very strong focus on sustainability. The University has recently started discussions about establishing a Sustainability Institute with a view to becoming a leader in sustainability issues."
He says it is an excellent result for the University, and a significant endorsement of the world-class research being done at Canterbury.
“The grants awarded to UC in this round total more than $7 million and represent a major increase on last year. It is the largest total amount awarded to UC in a single Marsden round. On behalf of the University I would like to congratulate our researchers and our team in the Research and Consultancy Office."
The UC principal investigators awarded funding are: Professor Jacob Berkovitch (Political Science and Communication), Professor Richard Blaikie (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Professor Markus Milne and Professor Amanda Ball (Accountancy, Finance and Information Systems), Associate Professor Angus McIntosh (Biological Sciences), Dr David Wiltshire (Physics and Astronomy), Associate Professor Jen Hay (Linguistics), Professor Les Oxley (Economics), Dr Jason Tylianakis (Biological Sciences), Dr Michael Plank (Mathematics and Statistics), Dr Karen Pollard (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr Raphael Didham (Biological Sciences).
For further information please contact:
John MacDonald
Corporate Affairs Manager
University of Canterbury
Ph: (03) 364 2910
Mob: 021 417 289
john.macdonald@canterbury.ac.nz