Research projects attract $7.1 million

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin On Nov 9, 2022

Twelve projects led by researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington have been awarded funding this year from Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden, the Marsden Fund.

The funding will support a range of projects including research on honey bee colony loss, glacier melt due to climate change, and the philosophy of mental health.

Total funding for the projects is $7.1 million over three years.

Six of the 12 receive fast-start grants of $360,000. These grants are designed to support early career researchers. The remaining six receive standard grants, which provide funding of up to $960,000.

The researchers and projects receiving funding this year are:

Antoine Felden, School of Biological Sciences. Project: Virus-virus interactions: a key to unravel global honey bee colony losses? ($360,000)
Baptiste Auguié, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences. Project: UV-visible spectroscopy of ultra-small scattering samples and individual micro-particles ($940,000)
Chloe Parton, School of Health. Project: The invisibility of mothering with chronic illness: Embodied relationships, entangled feelings ($360,000)
Daniel Berry, Ferrier Research Institute. Project: What transcription factors activate expression of symbiosis-related genes in symbiotic fungi? ($360,000)
Heitor Gomes, School of Engineering and Computer Science. Project: Exploring disagreement-based learning for partially labelled data stream classification ($360,000)
Lauren Vargo, Antarctic Research Centre. Project: How much are glaciers melting due to climate change? ($360,000)
Maja Zonjić, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences. Project: Big things, complex shadows: investigating intersecting stories of place, identity, and erasure through large roadside sculptures in Aotearoa ($360,000)
Patricia Hunt, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences. Project: Unravelling the electronic structure of highly charged hydrogen and halogen bonds; rational chemical design and the creation of novel ionic liquid materials ($937,000)
Rob McKay, Antarctic Research Centre. Project: Past abrupt Antarctic ice sheet melt events and impacts on sea level and climate ($929,000)
Simon Keller, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations. Project: Do you have a healthy mind? The philosophy of mental health ($647,000)
Spencer Lilley, School of Information Management. Project: Empowering Indigenous knowledge: Decolonisation and Indigenisation of gallery, library, archival, museum and records (GLAMR) institutions ($575,000)
Zhenan Jiang, Robinson Research Institute. Project: Underpinning high temperature superconducting nuclear fusion reactor technology ($932,000).

The Marsden Fund is administered by the Royal Society Te Apārangi on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. In 2022, total funding awarded nationally was $77,391 million.