The University of Auckland is celebrating the success of 28 of its researchers and research groups, who have won $15.2 million in the prestigious Marsden Fund round, amounting to 27.3 percent of the total awarded this year. The research supported by the fund will address a wide range of topics, from getting inside the earthquake machine, to 8000 years of hunter-gatherer adaptation, and axioms and algorithms for multi-winner elections. "The Marsden Fund supports leading-edge research and these awards reflect the breadth and depth of research at the University of Auckland", says Distinguished Professor Jane Harding, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). "The University prides itself on the excellence of its research and we congratulate all our researchers on the calibre of their work." Twelve research groups led by investigators from the Faculty of Science have been awarded a total of $7.3 million. Amongst them Dr Anna Santure will predict the adaptive potential of small populations: a case study in the endangered hihi. Four researchers or teams from the Faculty of Arts received a total of $2.7 million, including Professor Margaret Mutu who will research What do the claimants say? Reconceptualising the treaty claims settlement process. Dr Marama Muru-Lanning from the James Henare Research … Continue reading →

A robotic device to monitor muscle development in children with cerebral palsy and research into the biomechanics of the lung are just two engineering research projects at the University of Auckland to attract Marsden Fund grants for 2014. Dr Andrew McDaid from the Department of Mechanical Engineering is developing robotic therapy that incorporates a robotic wrist that manipulates muscles as therapy for children affected by cerebral palsy. The project, which has been awarded $300,000 in Fast-Start funding, will advance intelligent robotic therapies and has the potential to postpone or even reduce the need for orthopaedic surgery for children suffering from cerebral palsy. Associate Professor Merryn Tawhai of the Universitys Auckland Bioengineering Institute and a team of international researchers have been awarded $765,000 in funding for a project which follows blood as it moves through the lungs. The team has also developed novel methods for mapping the distribution of inhaled air in the lung. Other engineering projects awarded grants from the 2014 Marsden Fund round include: Dr Heide Friedrich Civil & Environmental Engineering Uncovering the hidden secrets of rivers: the role of interlayer structures $300,000 Read more: Engineering research attracts $2.1m new funding … Continue reading →