Issue 103 – Monday 3 July 2023

July 3, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

I write as I dash out the door to Wellington. In my capacity as a Board member of Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZ Geographic Board) I’m going to a launch by the Minister of Land Information at Parliament of new tangata whenua place names maps of our two larger islands, Te Ika-a-Maui and Te Waipounamu. These have been updated and made more comprehensive from the earlier 1995 versions and will be sent to all schools and marae in the country, funded by the Ministry of Education.

What interesting public engagement activities are any of you getting up to? Please let me know – it would be good to include mention of them here in p-cubed in the way we do publications, grant acquisition etc.

Three quick points in haste.

First, thanks to all who have contributed to exam marking, results processing etc. There are few activities in the annual cycle of events as important to the careers of students and the integrity of our academic standards. It can be a grind, but its essential work ultimately rewarded when we see students cross the stage and graduate.

Second, it’s a basic, but sometimes overlooked, tenet of social science that you don’t collect data from a population without offering some feedback on the results in return. Hence, with many from ENV having competed the Employee Experience survey earlier in the year, I am required to present some of the results with the goal of generating discussion on what we’re doing well and not so well in the School. This session will be on Monday 10^th July 1pm in 302-104 (the room where we’ve had staff meetings this year) and will begin with a light lunch. Do come along!

Third, another forthcoming opportunity for generative conversations is an initiative of Equity Committee. In my view, the scope of health and safety concerns can be too easily limited to physical wellbeing. To redress this situation, and broaden awareness and response skills, a one-day course on Mental Health First Aid will be offered in-School by St Johns on 7th September, with registrations open now.

Keep warm as this wild weather continues and, for those attending, enjoy the School tree-planting trip on Thursday.

Robin Kearns, Head of School

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Te Korowai o Waiheke is looking for a Social Researcher!

Te Korowai o Waiheke is a charitable trust working towards a predator free Waiheke Island and we have an opportunity for a Social Researcher to join our small professional team to be a part of this unique and exciting project. You can find more information here: https://tekorowaiowaiheke.org/latest-news/te-korowai-o-waiheke-is-looking-for-a-social-researcher?fbclid=IwAR1T-1sZX6jn0TTLUobWcBCdWpSyrx96qaNwEew12QCToKXr4_IlQZoMAEA

MBIE Endeavour Support Sessions 2024 – Smart Ideas and Research Programmes

Support for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour round is currently underway. UniServices have organised a number of events to support your application, please refer to the Research Hub for further details and register at the links below:

· Industry Engagement with Howard Zheng scheduled on July 6^th at 10:00am to 11:30am

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-industry-engagement-for-mbie-endeavour-proposals-tickets-645528712757

· MBIE Real Stores with Johan Verbeek scheduled on 11^th July at 10:00am

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/real-stories-panel-sesssion-tickets-641679459537

We anticipate that the round will open in October, however if you do intend to apply this year for either a Smart Idea or Research Programme please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin asap so we can keep you up to date with support offerings and changes for the 2024 round.

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Forum

This is an invitation to the 2023 Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Forum on Monday July 10^th at 10am. The idea for this is to connect with others interested in this space, to share what we are doing, and to increase the profile and understanding of what Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity actually are. We would love for you to join us to meet, connect, share, and learn.

Workshops will be run by our different working groups who focus on targeted equity groups. This will be an opportunity to choose two sessions that interest you to learn more about engaging with people with disabilities, rainbow staff and students, people from refugee backgrounds, constrained economic backgrounds, and diverse genders. We are looking forward to seeing you there, feel free to share with your friends, colleagues or networks in the faculty

We will also be celebrating our inaugural Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity awards which you are able to nominate your colleagues and postgraduate students for, more information on these will follow

School of Environment Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023 ent Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023

The Faculty of Science will be holding their 3MT hear on Thursday, 6 July.

About 3MT

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an exciting, fast-paced research communication competition. It was developed by the University of Queensland and is now held annually in over 900 universities across the globe. Participants take up the challenge to share the story of their research with a general audience in under three minutes, supported by nothing more than a single, static slide.

Entries are open to all currently enrolled research masters students and doctoral candidates.

Date: Thursday, 6 July

Time: 1pm

Registrations close: 10am, Thursday 1 June

Event registration: https://www.forms.auckland.ac.nz/en/student/science/three-minute-thesis-2023.html?_gl=1*mj8aiw*_ga*MTUxMzc1Njc0NC4xNjY1NjA4NzUw*_ga_SJ5FRP7YTL*MTY4MzA3MDQ3NC45NS4xLjE2ODMwNzE3MjQuMC4wLjA

Event webpage: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/postgraduate-students/doctoral/doctoral-opportunities/3-minute-thesis-competition.html

Webinar: Writing Workshops with Write Ltd

We invite you to join us for a three-part online workshop series with Write Ltd, who will share tips and techniques to help you make your proposal and academic paper writing more effective and engaging for your readers. They’ll deliver three short, focused sessions to the group, mostly focussing on clarity of messaging and quality of writing. Feel free to register for all 3 or just the 1 or 2 topics of your choice.

Key Information

Workshop #3: 10 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: 8 tips on emphasising the impact of your research.

Location: Online via Zoom link

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/writing-workshops-2023-registration-636251143297

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Funding

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Unlocking Curious Minds Contestable Fund
This fund aims to encourage quality projects that reach and inspire a broader base of New Zealanders through initiatives that bring science and technology to audiences that have less opportunity to learn about and to engage with science and technology.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• The grant value ranges from $50,000 to $150,000 · Project can be up to 11 months (from 1 February 2024 until 31 December 2024)	• Registration: 12noon, Monday, 10 July 2023 • Full Proposal: 12noon, Monday, 7 August 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): • Funding call • Guidelines • Website Submission process: • Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. • Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. • New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Toka Tū Ake EQC 2024 Biennial Research Funding Programme – Expressions of Interest
Toka Tū Ake EQC invites experienced and emerging researchers to submit research proposals for public good. The Biennial grants focus on individual projects that provide exceptional research quality, targeted to the areas of research interest explained in Toka Tū Ake EQC’s Research Investment Priorities Statement 2023
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• The grant value ranges from $50,000 to $100,000 • Project can be up to 24 months	• EOI Deadline: 5pm, Wednesday, 5 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): • Funding call • Guidelines • Website Submission process: • All applicants must be registered on SmartyGrants to access the Expression of Interest and Full Proposal forms. If you need help using SmartyGrants, please visit the “Help Guide for Applicants” page here. If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

The Prime Minister’s Science Prize
This Prize is for a transformative scientific advance, which has had a significant economic, health, social, political, cultural and/or environmental impact on New Zealand, or internationally. It will be awarded to a team or an individual instrumental in creating the impact. The transformative scientific advance may have occurred over any time-period and there must be a clear indication that the impact on New Zealand or internationally has taken place.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is $500,000. · $100,000 of this will go directly to the team or individual with no expectations. · $400,000 will be used to support ongoing research.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

The Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize
The Prize is for an outstanding emerging scientist who has had their PhD conferred within the past eight (8) years.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is $200,000. · $50,000 is for the recipient and can be used with no conditions. · $150,000 must be used for the recipient’s ongoing research.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

The Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize
This Prize is for either a practising scientist who can demonstrate an interest, passion and aptitude for science communication and public engagement, or to a person who has developed expertise in public engagement or communication of complex scientific or technological information to the public.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is worth $75,000. · $55,000 of the Prize money is to be used to support the recipient to carry out a programme of activities/professional development to further their understanding of science communication. · $20,000 of the Prize money is available to the recipient with no expectations on its use.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships
These fellowships aim to build human capability in research, science and technology, including social sciences and the humanities, by providing early career support for New Zealand’s brightest and most promising researchers.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Per annum, the 2-year Fellowship will award $80,000 towards the researcher’s salary and $40,000 for research related expenses (GST exclusive).	Internal Deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 25 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If you are interested, please communicate with Robin Kearns in the first place for a preliminary assessment.

Te Tahua Taiao Ngā Taonga – Lottery Environment and Heritage grants (Round One)
Lottery Environment and Heritage grants are available for projects that will help protect, conserve or care for our natural, cultural and physical heritage, or allow us to better understand and access these resources.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• Small projects, where the grant requested is for less than $250,000. • Large projects, where the grant requested is for $250,000 or more.	Internal Deadline: 5pm, Monday 24 July, 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Website If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Funding for Research Retreats

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funding set aside to sponsor Research retreats (e.g grant writing workshops, paper writing). This can be up to 2k per team, with a minimum 2 SoE participants.

If you have an idea that you would like considered, please submit a short paragraph explaining the intention and benefits of the retreat to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz.

John Templeton Foundation – Core Funding Areas, Small and Large Grants
The Foundation invests in bold ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge conventional assumptions. The Small and Large Grants are addressed under the 8 focus areas including Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Science, and Human Sciences.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small grants can be up to US$234,800 (circa NZD373,000) and Large Grants are in excess of US$235,000 (circa NZD374,000). •Project can be up to 36 months. •No more than 15% can be claimed for overheads. The overhead cost must be included in the total amount you requested	Internal Deadline for First Stage: 12pm noon, Friday 11 August 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2)

Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:

Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award)

Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

Duration: Up to 3 years

Value:

$20,000 stipend

$20,000 research and travel allowance

$10,000 host institution administration

10 July 2023, 5pm

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

· Funding call

· Guidelines

· Website

Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent.

Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2)
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: $80,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China. MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: $300,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Publications

Dalinghaus, C., Coco, G., and Higuera, P.: A predictive equation for wave setup using genetic programming, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2157–2169, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2157-2023, 2023.

Luthfian, A., Eccles, J. D., & Miller, C. A. (2023). Gravity and magnetic models at Rangitoto Volcano, Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand: Implications for basement control on magma ascent. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 439, 107824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2023.107824

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Issue 102 – Monday 19 June 2023

June 19, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

This week sees the winter solstice roll around on the 21^st June and Matariki to follow shortly after on 14^th July. Time flies as they say, but the darker shorter days of winter also bring delights….the crispness of the stars on clear nights, the fog that enveloped the harbour this morning, the clarity of the sea.

Being Environment people

After heavy rain it was great conditions for tree planting on Waiheke on Saturday. The commitment of some environment-focussed citizens inspires me. We were planting 4 year old saplings raised by a neighbour of mine from seed he’d collected on the island. And this was the 30^th anniversary of the reserve near Matiatia (Atawhai Whenua) being established by Don Chapple, another visionary resident.

While a morning’s planting is not necessarily going to change the world, it can nonetheless change one’s own world. After the reclusiveness that winter can bring, the conviviality and cross-generational conversations were heartening. There is always a social dimension to environmental action. To that end, please consider taking time out of your usual Thursday routine and come along (registering first!) on the School of Environment tree planting trip (organised by Emma Sharp with the support of Outreach Committee). Details by earlier email and below.

Congratulations

I am delighted to announce that Dr Rachael Boswell has accepted a position of PTF in the School after an international search. Rachael will be known to some of you. She recently completed her award-winning PhD in Geography in our School (on DIY urbanism in post-quake Christchurch) and has had a distinguished career teaching high school Geography at Rangitoto and Taylors Colleges. Most recently, Rachael has been working with me on a postdoctoral fellowship. She will be involved in a range of undergraduate courses but particularly the TFC programme. We will especially value Rach’s enthusiasm, fresh ideas and knowledge of the secondary school system. Please join me in welcoming Rachael.

In other congratulations, Neil Lindsay, a recent MSc graduate of our School (supervised by Tara Coleman and myself) has been awarded the accolade of the best NZ Masters thesis in Geography by the New Zealand Geographical Society for his exploration of “Music festivals: Geographies of place-creation and attendee experience”.

Teaching

I am happy to report than some of the most glowing SET results and comments I have seen recently have been in response to the work of two recent appointments. Big congratulations to Anthony Gampell and Salene Schloffel-Armstrong on your dedication, commitment and creativity.

Research

Anyone interested in applying for MBIE funding this year please contact Kelly Kilpin.

Leave

As Head of School, I am always learning about policies and processes. It appears I have been rather too liberal in my signing off on leave of absence. This is a category of Leave that, if granted, allows academic staff to attend conferences; conduct research-related field work such as supervising graduate students; undertake other research activities; conduct approved professional activity; and be away on compassionate grounds.

The part I was unaware of and that I now need to maintain closer scrutiny over is

“For absences exceeding:

Two weeks, approval must be given by the dean on the recommendation of the academic head
Three weeks, it is unlikely to be approved unless an especially strong case is made
Four weeks, staff will be expected to utilise their research and study leave entitlement by taking condensed leave (for leave other than compassionate leave) or else to take leave without pay.”

Please take these guidelines into account in your future planning.

Till next time. Have a good wintery fortnight.

Robin Kearns, HoS

General Announcements

As you will have seen in the news in recent weeks, New Zealand’s University sector is facing a financial crisis. Plans to cut staff and teaching recently announced at Victoria University of Wellington and Otago University will have a significant negative impact on the country’s science teaching and research capability.

Statements have been released by the Geoscience Society of New Zealand, New Zealand Institute of Physics and New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (all constituent societies of the RSNZ). You can read these here.

Financial Crisis facing New Zealand Universities » Geoscience Society of New Zealand (gsnz.org.nz)

https://nzip.org.nz/the-new-zealand-institute-of-physics-nzip-responds-to-proposed-cuts-to-academic-staffing-levels-at-te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington/

https://nzic.org.nz/press-releases

What can you do to help?

The Tertiary education Union have started a petition calling for action to staffing and teaching programme cuts. You can sign it here:

https://www.together.org.nz/provide_tertiary_institutions_a_funding_boost_to_enable_good_long_term_staffing_decisions

There is also an open letter to the TEC and the Minister of Education which you can sign as well.

https://www.savingtertiary.nz/

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

MBIE Endeavour Support Sessions 2024 – Smart Ideas and Research Programmes

Support for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour round is currently underway. UniServices have organised a number of events to support your application, please refer to the Research Hub for further details and register at the links below:

· Research Impact with Dr Faith Welch scheduled on June 20^th at 10:00am to 11:00am.

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-impact-session-with-orsi-tickets-624976671047

· Industry Engagement with Howard Zheng scheduled on July 6^th at 10:00am to 11:30am

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-industry-engagement-for-mbie-endeavour-proposals-tickets-645528712757

· MBIE Real Stores with Johan Verbeek scheduled on 11^th July at 10:00am

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/real-stories-panel-sesssion-tickets-641679459537

We anticipate that the round will open in October, however if you do intend to apply this year for either a Smart Idea or Research Programme please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin asap so we can keep you up to date with support offerings and changes for the 2024 round.

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

ResBaz Aotearoa 2023, 26-30th June – register for sessions

ResBaz Aotearoa is designed for postgraduate students, researchers and those that support them in any discipline (all of the Aotearoa NZ research community). This is a free, online, week-long series of 40+ digital research skills sessions. Topics will include designing posters, programming languages, LaTeX, impact of ChatGPT in research, and using NVIVO, Qualtics, Dropbox, and Google Colab.

Key Information

– Date: Monday 26^th of June – Friday 30^th of June (5days)

– Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm (please check the scheduled sessions via the registration link below)

– Location: Online via Zoom

Registration Link: Event schedule • Research Bazaar Aotearoa (auckland.ac.nz)

Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Forum

This is an invitation to the 2023 Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Forum on Monday July 10^th at 10am. The idea for this is to connect with others interested in this space, to share what we are doing, and to increase the profile and understanding of what Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity actually are. We would love for you to join us to meet, connect, share, and learn.

Workshops will be run by our different working groups who focus on targeted equity groups. This will be an opportunity to choose two sessions that interest you to learn more about engaging with people with disabilities, rainbow staff and students, people from refugee backgrounds, constrained economic backgrounds, and diverse genders. We are looking forward to seeing you there, feel free to share with your friends, colleagues or networks in the faculty

We will also be celebrating our inaugural Faculty of Science Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity awards which you are able to nominate your colleagues and postgraduate students for, more information on these will follow

The School of Environment and Ngā Ara Whetū – Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society, are excited to invite you for not just one, but two extraordinary seminars.

Seminar 2:

Professor Rachael James, School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, UK, will deliver a thought-provoking talk titled “Negative Emissions: Removing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere.”

Don’t miss this important discussion on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, in the Federation Room, OGH. To ensure your participation, kindly reserve your spot by registering through Eventbrite using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/636264292627 .

These seminars offer a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights and engage with leading experts in their respective fields. Save the dates and join us for these incredible talks.

Auckland Dialogues – Tuesday 20 June Building 302, Room 551 Ontology Lab – 4.00pm to 5.30pm

Gender and Disaster JC Gaillard with Aditi Sharan and Louise Baumann

Nowadays, disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) must be ‘inclusive’, ‘accessible’ and ‘non-discriminatory’. This is, for example, an expectation of the 2019 NZ National Disaster Resilience Strategy that encourages disaster practitioners to pay special attention to ‘people disproportionately affected by disasters.’ This injunction reflects the broader institutional discourse embedded in international disaster legal frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) that calls for a “whole-of-society” approach to Disaster Risk Reduction. Gender and ‘gender-mainstreaming’ are often associated with this idea of building ‘inclusive’ DRRM practices. In practice, the approach to questions of gender and inclusion in DRRM policies and practices is often characterized by binary and narrow understanding of factors influencing disaster experience, including gender, and by largely arbitrary lists of supposedly homogeneous ‘vulnerable groups’. During this presentation, we will discuss the inbuilt incoherence of this mainstream approach, looking at its disconnection with people’s understanding and experience of emergency situations and at how its underpinning narrative, by reproducing Eurocentric/Western normative practices of othering, tends to reinforce hegemonic modes of power identified as conditions of violence, risk and vulnerability by queer, feminist and radical disaster scholars worldwide.

School of Environment Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023 ent Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023

The Faculty of Science will be holding their 3MT hear on Thursday, 6 July.

About 3MT

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an exciting, fast-paced research communication competition. It was developed by the University of Queensland and is now held annually in over 900 universities across the globe. Participants take up the challenge to share the story of their research with a general audience in under three minutes, supported by nothing more than a single, static slide.

Entries are open to all currently enrolled research masters students and doctoral candidates.

Date: Thursday, 6 July

Time: 1pm

Registrations close: 10am, Thursday 1 June

Event registration: https://www.forms.auckland.ac.nz/en/student/science/three-minute-thesis-2023.html?_gl=1*mj8aiw*_ga*MTUxMzc1Njc0NC4xNjY1NjA4NzUw*_ga_SJ5FRP7YTL*MTY4MzA3MDQ3NC45NS4xLjE2ODMwNzE3MjQuMC4wLjA

Event webpage: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/postgraduate-students/doctoral/doctoral-opportunities/3-minute-thesis-competition.html

Webinar: Writing Workshops with Write Ltd

We invite you to join us for a three-part online workshop series with Write Ltd, who will share tips and techniques to help you make your proposal and academic paper writing more effective and engaging for your readers. They’ll deliver three short, focused sessions to the group, mostly focussing on clarity of messaging and quality of writing. Feel free to register for all 3 or just the 1 or 2 topics of your choice.

Key Information

Workshop #1: 26 June 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Top five things you can do to improve your writing.

Workshop #2: 3 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Engaging your readers, explaining the science.

Workshop #3: 10 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: 8 tips on emphasising the impact of your research.

Location: Online via Zoom link

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/writing-workshops-2023-registration-636251143297

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 29^th and Friday 30^th of June 2023. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.

What’s covered in the workshop?

Introduction

Getting familiar with R

Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
Basic functions using R
Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)

Working with data(sets)

Cleaning and subsetting
Merging datasets and reformatting
Grouping variables and summarising

R graphics

Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)

Data analysis

Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models

As per our previous introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff.

You can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account.

You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we will have to also add GST for this type of payment and payment can only be made at the Student Resource Centre on main campus).

The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

Location

We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 190.

Time and schedule

The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).

We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.

Computers

We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab.

You are also welcome to use your own laptop. However, please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).

We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.

Access to computers and the internet

We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.

We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.

UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

I hope you can make it on the 29th and 30^th June 2023, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi (Kind regards),

Joei Mudaliar | Group Services Coordinator

Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science

The University of Auckland | Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Funding

The Prime Minister’s Science Prize
This Prize is for a transformative scientific advance, which has had a significant economic, health, social, political, cultural and/or environmental impact on New Zealand, or internationally. It will be awarded to a team or an individual instrumental in creating the impact. The transformative scientific advance may have occurred over any time-period and there must be a clear indication that the impact on New Zealand or internationally has taken place.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is $500,000. · $100,000 of this will go directly to the team or individual with no expectations. · $400,000 will be used to support ongoing research.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

The Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize
The Prize is for an outstanding emerging scientist who has had their PhD conferred within the past eight (8) years.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is $200,000. · $50,000 is for the recipient and can be used with no conditions. · $150,000 must be used for the recipient’s ongoing research.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

The Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize
This Prize is for either a practising scientist who can demonstrate an interest, passion and aptitude for science communication and public engagement, or to a person who has developed expertise in public engagement or communication of complex scientific or technological information to the public.
Value/Duration:	Deadlines:
· The total value of the Prize is worth $75,000. · $55,000 of the Prize money is to be used to support the recipient to carry out a programme of activities/professional development to further their understanding of science communication. · $20,000 of the Prize money is available to the recipient with no expectations on its use.	Internal Deadline: N/A External Deadline for applications: 5th of September 2023 (by 1pm)
More details about this process can be found here: The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes (pmscienceprizes.org.nz) If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships
These fellowships aim to build human capability in research, science and technology, including social sciences and the humanities, by providing early career support for New Zealand’s brightest and most promising researchers.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Per annum, the 2-year Fellowship will award $80,000 towards the researcher’s salary and $40,000 for research related expenses (GST exclusive).	Internal Deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 25 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If you are interested, please communicate with Robin Kearns in the first place for a preliminary assessment.

Te Tahua Taiao Ngā Taonga – Lottery Environment and Heritage grants (Round One)
Lottery Environment and Heritage grants are available for projects that will help protect, conserve or care for our natural, cultural and physical heritage, or allow us to better understand and access these resources.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• Small projects, where the grant requested is for less than $250,000. • Large projects, where the grant requested is for $250,000 or more.	Internal Deadline: 5pm, Monday 24 July, 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Website If you are interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Funding for Research Retreats

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funding set aside to sponsor Research retreats (e.g grant writing workshops, paper writing). This can be up to 2k per team, with a minimum 2 SoE participants.

If you have an idea that you would like considered, please submit a short paragraph explaining the intention and benefits of the retreat to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz.

John Templeton Foundation – Core Funding Areas, Small and Large Grants
The Foundation invests in bold ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge conventional assumptions. The Small and Large Grants are addressed under the 8 focus areas including Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Science, and Human Sciences.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small grants can be up to US$234,800 (circa NZD373,000) and Large Grants are in excess of US$235,000 (circa NZD374,000). •Project can be up to 36 months. •No more than 15% can be claimed for overheads. The overhead cost must be included in the total amount you requested	Internal Deadline for First Stage: 12pm noon, Friday 11 August 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2)

Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:

Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award)

Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

Duration: Up to 3 years

Value:

$20,000 stipend

$20,000 research and travel allowance

$10,000 host institution administration

10 July 2023, 5pm

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

· Funding call

· Guidelines

· Website

Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent.

Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2)
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: $80,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China. MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: $300,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

The test and tag audit almost completed, thanks for your assistance. Please get items that have failed testing fixed or discard. Please remove all fan heaters from our facilities.

If you are cold please put a request with Property Services.

- Create Service Request (auckland.ac.nz)
- What service area is affected?
- Choose “Heating, cooling & ventilation”.

They will try to solve it. If you are still feeling uncomfortably cold after the request has been action, you may be allowed a personal heater. Remember they will need to be electrically tested.

First Aid Kits are being restocked this week. Please return any you have on loan so they can be restocked!

Happy to announce there were no significant incidents in the last quarter.

Remember to report all incidents and near misses in Damstra.

There was an incident at the Erionite Lab which resulted in an investigation from Worksafe. It was discovered the lab occupants were using bags labelled asbestos to store samples which did not contain asbestos. It was identified as a minor incident but highlights the need to use correctly labelled bags. Worksafe reviewed the Erionite procedure and were happy with them, only making a couple of minor suggestions. A big thank you to the tech team and lab users who produced such a robust set of procedures.

Health and Safety Committee joining with the Equity committee in their Mental First Aid training initiative. We will organise as many training sessions as possible. Alternatively, you can attend Mental Health 101 (OD) coming dates June 28^th, July 28, Sept 28, Nov 24.

MIBE require all large organisations to participate in safe+. Please take part in this exercise to help the University improve its HSW practices. Not sufficient staff participating on this will impact our ACC accreditation.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing newsletter

Please find here the newly revamped newsletter from the Central HSW team.

Publications

PhD candidate, Angus Dowell, recently went on RNZ as part of radio series designed by the New Zealand Geographical Society The series aims to bring a geographical lens to important issues and last week Angus talked about the geographies of artificial intelligence. You can catch the interview here. here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018893291/artificial-intelligence-and-geography

Categories: Uncategorised

Comments (1)

Issue 101 – Tuesday 6 June 2023

June 6, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

Gratitude

I am grateful to George Perry for ‘holding the fort’ as Acting Head while I was away in North America for 2.5 weeks. And to Michael Groom for assistance in diverting various delegations so that I didn’t need to be typing that ‘approve’ word quite so much while being away. Further thanks to George for steering the appointment process for our PTF vacancy, for which there will be an announcement very soon. As Head it is reassuring that one can step away and the ship sails on.

Congratulation

I have returned to some extraordinarily excellent news. Paul Williams, an Emeritus Professor of our School, has been awarded the honour of Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit. This is a rare accolade in the history of our School and warrants hearty congratulation. Paul studied at Bristol and Cambridge and worked in Dublin and Australia before moving to New Zealand in 1972 to join the Department of Geography here at Auckland University.

His international reputation on karst processes, terrain and related hydrology is towering. The combined editions of his text (with Derek Ford, McMaster) Karst and Geomorphology have almost eight thousand citations. In addition to his plethora of journal articles, his 2017 book New Zealand Landscape: Behind the Scene (published by Elsevier) is a beautifully illustrated account of our land through the lens geomorphology. As contributing to fundamental science well, Paul’s work has been local and applied. I had the privilege of encountering him in Geography 101 in 1978 and his lectures on the Upper Waitemata Harbour catchment and the culverting of the Wairau Creek were a key contribution to convincing me of geography’s relevance. We will find an opportunity soon to congratulate Paul in person.

Connecting

As I met with colleagues from University of Toronto, McMaster and UBC while in Canada, one common observation that arose was the challenge of staying connected as an academic unit. To that end I want to thank Sonia and team for the informative and enjoyable Pacific language-themed morning teas (see pics of the recent Solomon Islands event).

Further, I look forward to seeing everyone at this Wednesday’s staff meeting which, by popular request, will include a simple lunch to follow. I emphasise the ‘seeing’ because in these times of varied work schedules, no dedicated School-specific meeting place and the usual diaspora for field work, RSL etc, these meetings offer an important opportunity to simply be in each other’s company for a short time to exchange news, discuss issues and be reminded that we are a School not a collection of individuals.

Have a good fortnight. Till next time.

Robin Kearns

General Announcements

Update from Research Support

Dianne Sennoga has resigned from her position as an RPC supporting the school of Environment. We thank Dianne for all her hard work supporting researchers within the School and wish her well in her new position at UniServices. Dianne’s last day with the Faculty will be 6 June. Please continue to contact either Kelly Kilpin or Sophie Yu for any research queries you may have.

Importance of keeping up to date with Doctoral continuation reviews for scholarships or change of enrolment requests

Every year on the anniversary of a PhD candidates start there is some reporting to do. Everyone remembers Year 1 (confirmation) but after that there should be a “continuation” review in Wahapu which is the equivalent of the old annual reports. These are flagged as milestones in Wahapu but reminders aren’t actively pushed out.

This paperwork is important to facilitate an annual “state of the PhD” allowing problems to be flagged but are also operationally important because continuing scholarship payments and the ability to apply for extensions etc may depend upon it! SGS have started getting more stringent and not being up to date is already actively catching people out for University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship Extensions. Doing one report is not be enough to catch up and all the missing ones would need to be done in quick succession which is soul destroying to several people in the signoff chain so it is definitely easiest and more effective on many fronts just to keep ~up to date.

Some more information re the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship Extension for 3-3.5 years

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/scholarship-types/postgraduate-scholarships/doctoral-scholarships/doctoral-scholarship-extension.html
This is for students on a UoADS or those externally funded for three years only at a level >80% of the current UoADS level. Please note with the 2023 large increase in the UoADS if candidates are currently on a full scholarship <$26.4k/pa please have a discussion about financial plans as that 80% clause we have just lost the battle appealing may have changed expectations of eligibility for this extra 6 months support cf when the project started. With the UoADS now inflation adjusted each year this threshold will also continue to move.
There is a narrow window to apply for this so please keep track of dates
The student’s GPE on entry had to be > 7. Jennifer Eccles can check the number if you aren’t sure what you were. If admissions got it wrong we can get it reassessed but if you are actually <7 I’m afraid there is no point even applying. Please note for new students entering since the new scheme there is not GPE criteria but this continues to be applied for our more senior students.
Continuation Report 2 needs to be completed (please check milestones to check the report is the number you think it is and 2 can’t be done without previously having done 1)
Please put Jennifer Eccles as the reference in the HoD (nominee) box rather than Robin.

PhD candidate Alec Wild successfully defended his PhD thesis on 29^th May. Alec’s thesis was entitled: Exploring the use of quantitative modelling approaches to support volcanic crisis management in the Auckland Volcanic Field. He was supervised by Jan Lindsay and Mary Anne Thompson Clive.

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

ENV EQUITY COMMITTEE

Welkam! Halo! Gud moning! Welcome!

Please join us for a light morning tea to celebrate Vanuatu Language Week. This event will be held on Wednesday, June 7^th at Level 6 (302) in the breakout space! come and grab a quick bite to eat and let us know what Vanuatu words you know. There will be a pop quiz and a prize to win! Welkam and join in on the fun!

Tangkyu

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the Solomon Language Week with a morning tea and a quiz.

The School of Environment and Ngā Ara Whetū – Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society, are excited to invite you for not just one, but two extraordinary seminars.

Seminar 1:

Professor Damon Teagle, School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, UK, will present a talk on “Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute – Opportunities for Collaboration.”

This insightful session will take place on Thursday, June 15, 2023, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm in the Federation Room, OGH. To secure your spot, please register via Eventbrite using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/637621562257 .

Seminar 2:

Professor Rachael James, School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, UK, will deliver a thought-provoking talk titled “Negative Emissions: Removing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere.”

Don’t miss this important discussion on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, in the Federation Room, OGH. To ensure your participation, kindly reserve your spot by registering through Eventbrite using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/636264292627 .

These seminars offer a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights and engage with leading experts in their respective fields. Save the dates and join us for these incredible talks.

NZGS Auckland Branch June Newsletter

You can read the Newsletter here

Auckland Dialogues – Tuesday 20 June Building 302, Room 551 Ontology Lab – 4.00pm to 5.30pm

Gender and Disaster JC Gaillard with Aditi Sharan and Louise Baumann

Nowadays, disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) must be ‘inclusive’, ‘accessible’ and ‘non-discriminatory’. This is, for example, an expectation of the 2019 NZ National Disaster Resilience Strategy that encourages disaster practitioners to pay special attention to ‘people disproportionately affected by disasters.’ This injunction reflects the broader institutional discourse embedded in international disaster legal frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) that calls for a “whole-of-society” approach to Disaster Risk Reduction. Gender and ‘gender-mainstreaming’ are often associated with this idea of building ‘inclusive’ DRRM practices. In practice, the approach to questions of gender and inclusion in DRRM policies and practices is often characterized by binary and narrow understanding of factors influencing disaster experience, including gender, and by largely arbitrary lists of supposedly homogeneous ‘vulnerable groups’. During this presentation, we will discuss the inbuilt incoherence of this mainstream approach, looking at its disconnection with people’s understanding and experience of emergency situations and at how its underpinning narrative, by reproducing Eurocentric/Western normative practices of othering, tends to reinforce hegemonic modes of power identified as conditions of violence, risk and vulnerability by queer, feminist and radical disaster scholars worldwide.

School of Environment Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023 ent Tree Planting Day – 6th July 2023

Honours and Taught Masters Presentations

Wednesday 7 June, 9 – 11 am, Room 302-G20

The Semester 1 cohort of Honours and Taught Masters students will be presenting their research on Wednesday 7 June, 9-11 am, in Room 302-G20.

9.00 am BSCHons Earth Science (2 students).
9.20 am Master of Environmental Science (5 students)
10.15 am Geography and Environmental Management (4 students)

I encourage staff and PG students to come support those presenting their work. The presentation schedule will appear soon on a notice board near you.

Thanks,

Gretel

2024 MBIE Endeavour Real Stories Session

Join us for a real story session with special guest speaker Johan Verbeek. Johan is trained as a chemical engineer and has done his PhD in polymer composites. He is a professor in mechanical engineering and a co-director of the Centre of Advanced Materials Manufacturing and Design with several years of experience developing bio-based polymers and polymer processing methods. He is actively working on the circularity of plastics in New Zealand and was recently awarded an MBIE Endeavour grant to further work in this field in collaboration with the Business School, RMIT’s design school and several other partners around NZ.

This Real Story Panel Session provides an interview-style discussion with Johan, a successful MBIE Endeavour applicant. Participants will experience “live exemplars” as he shares his journey from research idea to application process for Endeavour, describing obstacles, successes, support, and key takeaways throughout the process.

Key Information:

– Date: Tuesday the 11^th of July 2023

– Time: 10:00am – 11:00am.

– Location: UoA City Campus, Faculty of Engineering Building, 3 Grafton Road, Room 405-430

– Audience: Open to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST)

Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/real-stories-panel-sesssion-tickets-641679459537 – We ask that researchers and staff complete the registration to guarantee their spot on the day.

Please reach out to aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz if you have any questions and/or concerns.

The Faculty of Science will be holding their 3MT hear on Thursday, 6 July.

About 3MT

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an exciting, fast-paced research communication competition. It was developed by the University of Queensland and is now held annually in over 900 universities across the globe. Participants take up the challenge to share the story of their research with a general audience in under three minutes, supported by nothing more than a single, static slide.

Entries are open to all currently enrolled research masters students and doctoral candidates.

Date: Thursday, 6 July

Time: 1pm

Registrations close: 10am, Thursday 1 June

Event registration: https://www.forms.auckland.ac.nz/en/student/science/three-minute-thesis-2023.html?_gl=1*mj8aiw*_ga*MTUxMzc1Njc0NC4xNjY1NjA4NzUw*_ga_SJ5FRP7YTL*MTY4MzA3MDQ3NC45NS4xLjE2ODMwNzE3MjQuMC4wLjA

Event webpage: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/postgraduate-students/doctoral/doctoral-opportunities/3-minute-thesis-competition.html

Webinar: Writing Workshops with Write Ltd

We invite you to join us for a three-part online workshop series with Write Ltd, who will share tips and techniques to help you make your proposal and academic paper writing more effective and engaging for your readers. They’ll deliver three short, focused sessions to the group, mostly focussing on clarity of messaging and quality of writing. Feel free to register for all 3 or just the 1 or 2 topics of your choice.

Key Information

Workshop #1: 26 June 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Top five things you can do to improve your writing.

Workshop #2: 3 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Engaging your readers, explaining the science.

Workshop #3: 10 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: 8 tips on emphasising the impact of your research.

Location: Online via Zoom link

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/writing-workshops-2023-registration-636251143297

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

[INVITATION] MBIE Endeavour Kick-Off Session with Max Kennedy and Rebecca Adams – 7th June 9:30 – 12:00pm

We invite you to join us for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour Kick-off Session on the 7th of June 2023, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, with special guest speakers Max Kennedy (former director of MBIE contestable funding) and Rebecca Adams (Director of Government Relations, Auckland UniServices).

Following his five and a half years as the Manager for Contestable Investments at MBIE, Max is now available to help researchers build on their awareness about MBIE Endeavour and use that knowledge to take their proposals to the next level. Teaming up with Max this year, Rebecca Adams will focus on giving an overview and practical advice around areas of research that align with the current Government priorities for the MBIE Endeavour Fund.

This session is a strategic value-add for those already familiar with the contestable funding world in Aotearoa. The information provided in this session aims to help researchers gain a better understanding of how the Endeavour fund can be used to meet the grand challenges researchers face to make life better for New Zealanders, how research can be better positioned to issues at the centre of government policy and strategy, and will provide additional insight from Max’s vast experiences at the heart of NZ’s science investment strategy.

The session will be primarily presentation based and followed by a Q&A interview, guided by questions received from registrants in advance email toaul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

Key Information

– Date: Wednesday the 7^th of June 2023

– Time: 9:30am – 12:00pm.

– Location: Unleash Space – City Campus, Engineering Building (402) – 20 Symonds Street.

– Audience: Targeted to participants who already have a general understanding of the MBIE Endeavour and contestable funding environment in Aotearoa. Open to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST).

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-kick-off-session-tickets-606914285967 –

[INVITATION] MBIE MBIE Endeavour 2024 – Research Impact Webinar & Workshop with Dr Faith Welch

Research Impact Manager, Dr Faith Welch, will be hosting a webinar to give you practical advice on how to plan your MBIE Endeavour funding application to achieve maximum impact. She will cover how to articulate the benefits of your research, and how to develop an implementation plan to ensure those benefits can occur. The session will be an hour, questions are encouraged and there will be at least 15 minutes of Q&A at the end. Following the webinar, if you would like to have a discussion about the impact of your research, please contact Faith at researchimpact@auckland.ac.nz.

Key Information:

Date: Tuesday the 20^th of June 2023

Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am.

Location: Online via zoom link.

Audience: Targeted to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST)

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-research-impact-with-dr-faith-welch-tickets-624976671047

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 29^th and Friday 30^th of June 2023. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.

What’s covered in the workshop?

Introduction

Getting familiar with R

Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
Basic functions using R
Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)

Working with data(sets)

Cleaning and subsetting
Merging datasets and reformatting
Grouping variables and summarising

R graphics

Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)

Data analysis

Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models

As per our previous introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff.

You can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account.

You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we will have to also add GST for this type of payment and payment can only be made at the Student Resource Centre on main campus).

The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

Location

We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 190.

Time and schedule

The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).

We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.

Computers

We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab.

You are also welcome to use your own laptop. However, please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).

We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.

Access to computers and the internet

We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.

We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.

UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

I hope you can make it on the 29th and 30^th June 2023, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi (Kind regards),

Joei Mudaliar | Group Services Coordinator

Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science

The University of Auckland | Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Funding

Funding for Research Retreats

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funding set aside to sponsor Research retreats (e.g grant writing workshops, paper writing). This can be up to 2k per team, with a minimum 2 SoE participants.

If you have an idea that you would like considered, please submit a short paragraph explaining the intention and benefits of the retreat to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz.

John Templeton Foundation – Core Funding Areas, Small and Large Grants
The Foundation invests in bold ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge conventional assumptions. The Small and Large Grants are addressed under the 8 focus areas including Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Science, and Human Sciences.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small grants can be up to US$234,800 (circa NZD373,000) and Large Grants are in excess of US$235,000 (circa NZD374,000). •Project can be up to 36 months. •No more than 15% can be claimed for overheads. The overhead cost must be included in the total amount you requested	Internal Deadline for First Stage: 12pm noon, Friday 11 August 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2)

Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:

Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award)

Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

Duration: Up to 3 years

Value:

$20,000 stipend

$20,000 research and travel allowance

$10,000 host institution administration

10 July 2023, 5pm

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

· Funding call

· Guidelines

· Website

Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent.

Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2)
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: $80,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China. MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: $300,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

A reminder that field activity plans need to be comprehensive and the contingency plans should be followed, unless there are risks not taken into account before the trip.

TestnTel will be doing the test and tag from June 6th, please provide them any assistance when required.

The first aid kit audit is being done on June 23rd. If you have any first aid kits that need to be re-stocked please return them ASAP. Holding first aid kits only increases our compliance costs, since we need to buy new ones to keep the required number of kits.

Publications

Gunn, K.L., Rintoul, S.R., England, M.H., Bowen, M.M., Recent reduced abyssal overturning and ventilation in the Australian Antarctic Basin. Nat. Clim. Chang. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01667-8

Some news items on it:

https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2023/May/Antarctic-bottom-water

https://theconversation.com/antarctic-alarm-bells-observations-reveal-deep-ocean-currents-are-slowing-earlier-than-predicted-206289

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/antarctic-deep-ocean-circulation-already-slowing/102400480

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/25/slowing-ocean-current-caused-by-melting-antarctic-ice-could-have-drastic-climate-impact-study-says

Categories: Uncategorised

Comments Off

Issue 100 – Tuesday 23 May 2023

May 23, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

Robin is away (last I heard, sampling the delights of north-eastern Mississippi), so he has asked me to write a piece for P3. It’s the pointy end of the semester when marking ramps up, as do requests for extensions, so I will keep this short. First, I hope that everyone came through the recent deluges unscathed. If you haven’t noticed, it has been wet! Tāmaki Makaurau has experienced nearly the entire average annual rainfall in the first five months of the year, as this remarkable graph from the Metservice shows. Unfortunately, however, the challenges of a changing climate aren’t limited to Auckland, as this sobering study demonstrates. Anyway, on a more positive note, congratulations to the three colleagues who progressed to the second round of the Marsden fund (Mila Adams, James Muirhead, and Leane Makay) – all the best for writing your full proposals. Commiserations to those who were unsuccessful; I know all too well the hard work involved. So, I will sign off there – noho ora mai, and I hope the inevitable end-of-semester flurry is not too burdensome.

George

General Announcements

Master and Honours Short Extensions

Grace periods are no longer considered for postgraduate degrees, but supervisors can approve 1 month extensions (students are required to pay fees) for Hons and MSc. projects.

Student support for exams S1 2023 – Information for academics

Revising course content and practicing exam questions

Exam prep workshops from 16^th May – 1 June. Held at Epsom and City campuses plus online.

Covers preparing for your exam (organising, clarifying and revising), surviving the exam (before the exam, how to find your exam on Canvas, direction to Inspera support), during the exam (reading time, time management, understanding instructions, types of exam questions).

Self-paced learning via Learning essentials: Preparing for exams, on exam day, types of exam questions.
Workshop recording: Exam success: preparing for and surviving your exams.

Study events and support

AUSA are running a Study Wananga open to all students.
Study fono are run for Pacific first year students staying in accommodation – eligible students will be contacted directly. This group meets every Monday evening from 7 – 9pm at O’Rourke Hall.
UniBound are running pastoral sessions for UniBound students from this year – this includes catch ups and some other initiatives where lecturers come to these sessions to support students learning.

Information about exam modes and technical support for exams

Students will need to check their Exam modes for semester 1 2023.
Preparation will be different for each mode – suggest students visit on exam day for more information.
Encourage students to check the FAQs including technical support for during an exam.
Specifically for online assessments students can find information here: Computer based exams, getting started with Inspera, and preparing for an online exam.

Open Access Agreements – staff email address needed!

Authors must use their staff email address (name@auckland.ac.nz) when using the agreements. The staff email address is needed for affiliation verification purposes. Student email addresses (name@aucklanduni.ac.nz) and other non-university email addresses will not work. Students who are not employed as RA/TA/GTA will need to apply for this ‘staff’ email address from IT – the group services co-ordination or supervisor should do this on their behalf for sub-doctoral students. Alternatively the supervisor or other member of the research team can submit the paper as corresponding author – but they must also use the correct form of their staff email address. Corrections cannot be made retrospectively.

https://research-hub.auckland.ac.nz/open-access/open-access-publishing-agreements

University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship Programme 2023

A reminder the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship is now competitive in four rounds a year. Less scholarships have been awarded by the faculty to date than expected so give it a go in the remaining two rounds of the year!

Application Closes	Scholarship Offer	Enrolment Date: Domestic Candidate/ Domestic Qualifying Programme	Enrolment Date: International Candidate with International Qualifying Programme
1 November 2022	1 February 2023	1 March or 1 June 2023	1 March, 1 June or 1 September 2023
1 March 2023	1 May 2023	1 June or 1 September 2023	1 June, 1 September or 1 December 2023
1 June 2023	1 August 2023	1 September or 1 December 2023	1 September or 1 December 2023 or 1 March 2024
1 September 2023	1 November 2023	1 December 2023 or 1 March 2024	1 December 2023, or 1 March or 1 June 2024

Once awarded the turn around time for students to accept PhD places and scholarships is really tight – 2 weeks. Please ensure that students are checking their nominated email account and student email account near the time of the results announcement. Also please remind them it is necessary to accept both their place in the programme and the scholarship separately. It is a two-step process.

Te Akoranga Kairangi programme for staff – starting 15 June

There is a new cohort starting in June on Thursdays 8.30-10.30 (see these dates below), and we would like to offer the places in this cohort to members of your department.

Cohort 11-23	Thursday, June 15, 2023
	Thursday, June 22, 2023
	Thursday, June 29, 2023
	Thursday, July 6, 2023
	Thursday, July 13 18, 2023
	Thursday, July 20, 2023
	Thursday, July 27, 2023
	Thursday, August 3, 2023

We can take up to 20 people. These classes are in person, in the Fisher Building on Waterloo Quadrant.

We ideally want participants to commit to attending all sessions, but we know this is not always possible due to other commitments, so we have some wriggle room there.

Find here the general information about Te Akoranga Kairangi.

Kind regards, ngā mihi nui,

Alison Jones

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

From the Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar team

We would like to kindly extend out an invitation to attend our next in-person major DPM Seminar event. Special guest speaker Iresh Jayawardena, who specialises in ecological-based planning, climate change adaptation, and environmental ethics in urban planning, from Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland will be joining us. He will join us in the Ontology Lab (302-551), in level 5 of the Science Building at the University of Auckland City Campus, to share his insights on mitigating risk through land use.

We hope you can make it! If not, we hope you continue having a wonderful rest of your week.

Ngā mihi,

Martin

ENV EQUITY COMMITTEE

Mālō, Talofa lava, Afio mai, Welcome!

Please join us for a light morning tea to celebrate Samoan Language Week. This event will be held on Wednesday, May 24^th at Level 6 (303) in the break-out space! Afio mai! come and grab a quick meaai (food) and let us know what Samoan words you know. There will be a pop quiz and a prize to win! Sau (come) and join on the fun!

Fa’afetai lava.

The Equity Commitee is planning to organise for St John New Zealand to come to the School of Environment to run its Mental Health First Aid training course that any staff member or tutor can sign up to participate in.

The Mental Health First Aid is a full-day long course that teaches you skills and knowledge to recognise and respond to someone experiencing mental health concerns and gives you the confidence to provide initial help and guide a person towards professional help.

As I said previously, any staff member (both permanent and causal) who is involved with students can sign up to do the course as it is designed to help you feel better equipped to recognise the signs of mental distress amongst students (and colleagues) and also help you know what you should do to assist them.

But we only have a limited number of spots available (for twenty people) this time around and we also need to make sure that we get enough people able to attend the course.

Therefore, if you are interested in attending the course, please complete the following doodle poll to register your interest and your availability.

https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/bojrPxBa

Not everyone will be able to do the course this time around, but hopefully we can run the course (if it is popular) later in the year as well.

Ngā mihi,

Meg

Honours and Taught Masters Presentations

Wednesday 7 June, 9 – 11 am, Room 302-G20

The Semester 1 cohort of Honours and Taught Masters students will be presenting their research on Wednesday 7 June, 9-11 am, in Room 302-G20.

9.00 am BSCHons Earth Science (2 students).
9.20 am Master of Environmental Science (5 students)
10.15 am Geography and Environmental Management (4 students)

I encourage staff and PG students to come support those presenting their work. The presentation schedule will appear soon on a notice board near you.

Thanks,

Gretel

Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Talofa ni, Ni sa bula, Fakafeiloaki, Fakatalofa atu, Halo, Gude, Greetings, Tēnā koutou katoa

Abi, ‘Ema and I wanted to invite you to our next He Vaka Moana Talatalanoa.

If you haven’t already been, you are very welcome to come – it’s focused on Māori student and Moana Pacific student success and is offered in the form of a talatalanoa – a continued open discussion – about this topic.

This session we have a guest speaker, Tim Baice, who has been working on the CFT with respect to Pacific.

We were so thrilled to be holding this HVMT, and hope you are able to join us.

Please RSVP if you are wanting to enjoy the light lunch we are catering (there will be vegan and gluten free food but if you have other dietary requirements please email h.seal@auckland.ac.nz to let her know).

Mālō ‘aupito,

Sonia

The Faculty of Science will be holding their 3MT hear on Thursday, 6 July.

About 3MT

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an exciting, fast-paced research communication competition. It was developed by the University of Queensland and is now held annually in over 900 universities across the globe. Participants take up the challenge to share the story of their research with a general audience in under three minutes, supported by nothing more than a single, static slide.

Entries are open to all currently enrolled research masters students and doctoral candidates.

Date: Thursday, 6 July

Time: 1pm

Registrations close: 10am, Thursday 1 June

Event registration: https://www.forms.auckland.ac.nz/en/student/science/three-minute-thesis-2023.html?_gl=1*mj8aiw*_ga*MTUxMzc1Njc0NC4xNjY1NjA4NzUw*_ga_SJ5FRP7YTL*MTY4MzA3MDQ3NC45NS4xLjE2ODMwNzE3MjQuMC4wLjA

Event webpage: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/postgraduate-students/doctoral/doctoral-opportunities/3-minute-thesis-competition.html

Webinar: Writing Workshops with Write Ltd

We invite you to join us for a three-part online workshop series with Write Ltd, who will share tips and techniques to help you make your proposal and academic paper writing more effective and engaging for your readers. They’ll deliver three short, focused sessions to the group, mostly focussing on clarity of messaging and quality of writing. Feel free to register for all 3 or just the 1 or 2 topics of your choice.

Key Information

Workshop #1: 26 June 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Top five things you can do to improve your writing.

Workshop #2: 3 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: Engaging your readers, explaining the science.

Workshop #3: 10 July 2023, 12pm – 1pm: 8 tips on emphasising the impact of your research.

Location: Online via Zoom link

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/writing-workshops-2023-registration-636251143297

Please reach out if you have any questions: aul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

[INVITATION] MBIE Endeavour Kick-Off Session with Max Kennedy and Rebecca Adams – 7th June 9:30 – 12:00pm

We invite you to join us for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour Kick-off Session on the 7th of June 2023, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, with special guest speakers Max Kennedy (former director of MBIE contestable funding) and Rebecca Adams (Director of Government Relations, Auckland UniServices).

Following his five and a half years as the Manager for Contestable Investments at MBIE, Max is now available to help researchers build on their awareness about MBIE Endeavour and use that knowledge to take their proposals to the next level. Teaming up with Max this year, Rebecca Adams will focus on giving an overview and practical advice around areas of research that align with the current Government priorities for the MBIE Endeavour Fund.

This session is a strategic value-add for those already familiar with the contestable funding world in Aotearoa. The information provided in this session aims to help researchers gain a better understanding of how the Endeavour fund can be used to meet the grand challenges researchers face to make life better for New Zealanders, how research can be better positioned to issues at the centre of government policy and strategy, and will provide additional insight from Max’s vast experiences at the heart of NZ’s science investment strategy.

The session will be primarily presentation based and followed by a Q&A interview, guided by questions received from registrants in advance email toaul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

Key Information

– Date: Wednesday the 7^th of June 2023

– Time: 9:30am – 12:00pm.

– Location: Unleash Space – City Campus, Engineering Building (402) – 20 Symonds Street.

– Audience: Targeted to participants who already have a general understanding of the MBIE Endeavour and contestable funding environment in Aotearoa. Open to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST).

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-kick-off-session-tickets-606914285967 –

[INVITATION] MBIE MBIE Endeavour 2024 – Research Impact Webinar & Workshop with Dr Faith Welch

Research Impact Manager, Dr Faith Welch, will be hosting a webinar to give you practical advice on how to plan your MBIE Endeavour funding application to achieve maximum impact. She will cover how to articulate the benefits of your research, and how to develop an implementation plan to ensure those benefits can occur. The session will be an hour, questions are encouraged and there will be at least 15 minutes of Q&A at the end. Following the webinar, if you would like to have a discussion about the impact of your research, please contact Faith at researchimpact@auckland.ac.nz.

Key Information:

Date: Tuesday the 20^th of June 2023

Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am.

Location: Online via zoom link.

Audience: Targeted to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST)

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-research-impact-with-dr-faith-welch-tickets-624976671047

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 29^th and Friday 30^th of June 2023. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.

What’s covered in the workshop?

Introduction

Getting familiar with R

Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
Basic functions using R
Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)

Working with data(sets)

Cleaning and subsetting
Merging datasets and reformatting
Grouping variables and summarising

R graphics

Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)

Data analysis

Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models

As per our previous introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff.

You can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account.

You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we will have to also add GST for this type of payment and payment can only be made at the Student Resource Centre on main campus).

The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

Location

We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 190.

Time and schedule

The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).

We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.

Computers

We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab.

You are also welcome to use your own laptop. However, please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).

We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.

Access to computers and the internet

We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.

We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.

UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

I hope you can make it on the 29th and 30^th June 2023, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi (Kind regards),

Joei Mudaliar | Group Services Coordinator

Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science

The University of Auckland | Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Undergrad research experience

We are now recruiting undergrads who would like to gain a research experience with a post-grad student in our School (30-40 hours, they get paid $800). The aim is to promote research and increase enrolment in our research programmes. Feel free to make an announcement in your courses and collect nominations. We have 10 places. We are hoping to match students by the end of the month.

If you would like to nominate an undergrad student who could be part of this programme, please email their name and research interest to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

ENV Masters research seminars 6 June 2023 (rm 302-140)

The seminars are an opportunity for students to present their research and for members of our school to give feedback. To help develop a school culture, staff and students are encouraged to attend. The sessions are grouped loosely by topic.

Phil Shane (DGA)

(6 June)	Chair Nick Richards
9.00	Ema	Nersezova
9.15	Kerensa	Jennings
9.30	Amy	Barclay
9.45	Shreya	Gounder

10.00	Fei	Guo
10.15	Niamh	Galligan
10.30	Kaiqi	Li
10.45	Sophie	Mansell

11.00	Saima	Sakik
11.15	Laurence Lorenza	Suarez
11.30	Georgia	Woodside
11.45	Samuel	Scott
	Chair: George Perry
1.00	Olivia	Avery
1.15	Hannah	Sussex
1.30	Charlotte	Ko
1.45	Grace	May

Funding

John Templeton Foundation – Core Funding Areas, Small and Large Grants
The Foundation invests in bold ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge conventional assumptions. The Small and Large Grants are addressed under the 8 focus areas including Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Science, and Human Sciences.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small grants can be up to US$234,800 (circa NZD373,000) and Large Grants are in excess of US$235,000 (circa NZD374,000). •Project can be up to 36 months. •No more than 15% can be claimed for overheads. The overhead cost must be included in the total amount you requested	Internal Deadline for First Stage: 12pm noon, Friday 11 August 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please inform your FIRST team (Kelly or Sophie).

Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2)

Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:

Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award)

Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

Duration: Up to 3 years

Value:

$20,000 stipend

$20,000 research and travel allowance

$10,000 host institution administration

10 July 2023, 5pm

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

· Funding call

· Guidelines

· Website

Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent.

Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2)
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: $80,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China. MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: $300,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

E Update April 2023

Find below the E Update from the HSW team for April 2023

e-update-april-2023.pdf (auckland.ac.nz)

Categories: Uncategorised

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Issue 99 – Monday 8 May 2023

May 8, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

One of the perks of knowing someone in the corporate sector is learning of various quirky attempts to sharpen the delivery of service. Some seem cheesy but on occasions something resonates. Like that word ‘perk’ as an acronym. Once capitalised, PERK is apparently Purpose, Engagement, Resilience and Kindness. Helpful words to keep front of mind as we continue through challenging times.

What is our purpose as a School? As educators and/or researchers? What at one level might seem a banal question – like most of life’s questions – warrants reconsideration and revisiting from time to time. Perhaps a good discussion-starter for a School retreat!

Engagement demands we move out of the comfort zone of our own preoccupations and research expertise. Embracing the potentials of transdisciplinarity comes to mind. As does engaging with, rather than just lecturing to, students. Teaching at its best is surely engagement.

Resilience is a reminder we are in precarious times and need to act accordingly. We have, for example, ‘soft’ enrolments across many of our courses, and need in such times to be ready to act for the collective good rather than simply for personal gain. Course rationalisation, restoration of a suite of summer school offerings and developing responses to the CFT and School Review all demand we go the extra kilometre. As does agreeing to in-school service roles. To not do so weakens our collective as well as individual futures as a School.

And kindness. It’s too easily regarded as an extra, that dessert of workplace values. Something we all know is important and think we know how to practice. But unlike desserts, there’s never too much consideration, empathy, and mutual care.

So, perks of the workplace can be more that a sly bit of photocopying or piggybacking a family visit onto an international conference. Let’s keep PERKS – purpose, engagement, resilience and kindness – to the fore. And I’ll keep an open mind to what might be of value coming from a certain glass tower down the road.

Contracting

One insight in being responsible for approving contracts in the School is how many are set up by Patricia in any one week. I was saying to the other FoS Heads recently that the most frequent words I seem to write these days are ‘Happy to Approve’. One wit retorted that I could cut my effort by two thirds and just write ‘Approved’!

Seriously, though. Michael (School Manager) and I need to state some reminders.

No one should be asked, or agree, to start work before a contract is signed.
A casual contract is one where there is no regular set of hours or pattern of work
Allow 2 weeks for a casual contract and 4 weeks for a Fixed term contract.
If a contracted employee resigns, activate a termination of their contract immediately. Situations of overpayment are embarrassing, potentially expensive and time-consumptive to deal with.

If you have any uncertainties about any of the above points, contact Patricia or Michael.

Graduation

Thank you to those (few, unfortunately) other academic staff who attended graduation. It was somewhat embarrassing to see PhD graduands cross the stage with neither supervisor present. Let’s up our numbers for next time, please. It’s a fundamental act of kindness to students and supporters that we are present to acknowledge their achievements. If access to robes from your home (ie PhD-granting) university is an issue, we are happy to sign off purchasing them from your PD account.

HoS absence

I’ll be away 18 May – 2 June. George Perry will be Acting HoS in my absence. Please direct queries to him during that time as my access to email will be irregular.

Have a good week

Robin Kearns

General Announcements

Changes to Research Support

Sophie Yu has recently joined the team as an RPC as cover for Franca Peverelle while she is on parental leave. Sophie has previously been working as a GSA in the Business School, and will be located in 302 Level 6. We will be getting in touch with any PI’s impacted by this change, but if you passing by Level 6 do drop in and say hi. Franca’s last working day will be 9 June.

SBS Snr Technician Role

SBS are advertising for a Senior Technician – Ecology to fill ranks in the fieldwork technical team. This is a permanent position. Candidates with either terrestrial or marine backgrounds are welcome to apply.

Links to advertisement:

On UoA Jobs Page
On SEEK (NZ)

For any questions please contact me.

Regards,

Blair Sowman
Technical Manager | School of Environment

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

[INVITATION] MBIE Endeavour Kick-Off Session with Max Kennedy and Rebecca Adams – 7th June 9:30 – 12:00pm

We invite you to join us for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour Kick-off Session on the 7th of June 2023, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, with special guest speakers Max Kennedy (former director of MBIE contestable funding) and Rebecca Adams (Director of Government Relations, Auckland UniServices).

Following his five and a half years as the Manager for Contestable Investments at MBIE, Max is now available to help researchers build on their awareness about MBIE Endeavour and use that knowledge to take their proposals to the next level. Teaming up with Max this year, Rebecca Adams will focus on giving an overview and practical advice around areas of research that align with the current Government priorities for the MBIE Endeavour Fund.

This session is a strategic value-add for those already familiar with the contestable funding world in Aotearoa. The information provided in this session aims to help researchers gain a better understanding of how the Endeavour fund can be used to meet the grand challenges researchers face to make life better for New Zealanders, how research can be better positioned to issues at the centre of government policy and strategy, and will provide additional insight from Max’s vast experiences at the heart of NZ’s science investment strategy.

The session will be primarily presentation based and followed by a Q&A interview, guided by questions received from registrants in advance email toaul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz

Key Information

– Date: Wednesday the 7^th of June 2023

– Time: 9:30am – 12:00pm.

– Location: Sir Owen G Glenn Building – 260-051 (12 Grafton Road Auckland, Auckland 1010)

– Audience: Targeted to participants who already have a general understanding of the MBIE Endeavour and contestable funding environment in Aotearoa. Open to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST).

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-kick-off-session-tickets-606914285967 –

[INVITATION] MBIE MBIE Endeavour 2024 – Research Impact Webinar & Workshop with Dr Faith Welch

Research Impact Manager, Dr Faith Welch, will be hosting a webinar to give you practical advice on how to plan your MBIE Endeavour funding application to achieve maximum impact. She will cover how to articulate the benefits of your research, and how to develop an implementation plan to ensure those benefits can occur. The session will be an hour, questions are encouraged and there will be at least 15 minutes of Q&A at the end. Following the webinar, if you would like to have a discussion about the impact of your research, please contact Faith at researchimpact@auckland.ac.nz.

Key Information:

Date: Tuesday the 20^th of June 2023

Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am.

Location: Online via zoom link.

Audience: Targeted to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST)

Registration Link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-research-impact-with-dr-faith-welch-tickets-624976671047

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 29^th and Friday 30^th of June 2023. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.

What’s covered in the workshop?

Introduction

Getting familiar with R

Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
Basic functions using R
Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)

Working with data(sets)

Cleaning and subsetting
Merging datasets and reformatting
Grouping variables and summarising

R graphics

Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)

Data analysis

Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models

As per our previous introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff.

You can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account.

You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we will have to also add GST for this type of payment and payment can only be made at the Student Resource Centre on main campus).

The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

Location

We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 190.

Time and schedule

The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).

We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.

Computers

We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab.

You are also welcome to use your own laptop. However, please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).

We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.

Access to computers and the internet

We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.

We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.

UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

I hope you can make it on the 29th and 30^th June 2023, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi (Kind regards),

Joei Mudaliar | Group Services Coordinator

Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science

The University of Auckland | Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Undergrad research experience

We are now recruiting undergrads who would like to gain a research experience with a post-grad student in our School (30-40 hours, they get paid $800). The aim is to promote research and increase enrolment in our research programmes. Feel free to make an announcement in your courses and collect nominations. We have 10 places. We are hoping to match students by the end of the month.

If you would like to nominate an undergrad student who could be part of this programme, please email their name and research interest to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

ENV Masters research seminars 6 June 2023 (rm 302-140)

The seminars are an opportunity for students to present their research and for members of our school to give feedback. To help develop a school culture, staff and students are encouraged to attend. The sessions are grouped loosely by topic.

Phil Shane (DGA)

(6 June)	Chair Nick Richards
9.00	Ema	Nersezova
9.15	Kerensa	Jennings
9.30	Amy	Barclay
9.45	Shreya	Gounder

10.00	Fei	Guo
10.15	Niamh	Galligan
10.30	Kaiqi	Li
10.45	Sophie	Mansell

11.00	Saima	Sakik
11.15	Laurence Lorenza	Suarez
11.30	Georgia	Woodside
11.45	Samuel	Scott
	Chair: George Perry
1.00	Olivia	Avery
1.15	Hannah	Sussex
1.30	Charlotte	Ko
1.45	Grace	May

Funding

Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2)

Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:

Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award)

Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

Duration: Up to 3 years

Value:

$20,000 stipend

$20,000 research and travel allowance

$10,000 host institution administration

10 July 2023, 5pm

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

· Funding call

· Guidelines

· Website

Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent.

Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2)
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: $80,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China. MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: $300,000	5pm, Monday 10 July 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Internet Society Foundation – Research Grant Program
This scheme supports global research collaborations that advance understanding of the Internet and its value for all. Statements of interest and subsequent proposals should address topics related to one of the following thematic areas: 1. Greening the internet: The Internet both affects and is affected by the environment and climate change. Having a critical awareness of this impact is key to the Internet’s resilience and ensures its sustainability for generations to come. 2. The Internet Economy 3. A Trustworthy Internet 4. Decolonizing the Internet: We acknowledge that the Internet’s development depended on industrial societies that, by their nature, used resources from lands dispossessed from Indigenous people and communities throughout the world. Research on Decolonizing the Internet should explore practices and other methods toward an Internet for everyone.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: Each individual project from the university may be capped at US$500,000(circa NZ$790,000).	5pm, Monday 22 May 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

James Cook Research Fellowships
The James Cook Research Fellowships are awarded to researchers who have achieved national and international recognition in their area of scientific research. The fellowships allow them to concentrate on their chosen research for two years without the additional burden of administrative and teaching duties.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Grant Value: Up to $110,000 (plus GST) per year up to two years. The Fellowships consist of: − $100,000 (plus GST) contribution toward researcher’s salary; and − $10,000 (plus GST) contribution towards relevant expenses.	5pm Tuesday 9 May 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Health and Safety reminder

A wall mounted office book shelf partially collapsed last week in B301. Fortunately for the occupant, it happened out of hours. An investigation is underway and we are following up with property services. It is a good reminder that we should be mindful of heavy items stored at height. Reduce weight on the upper shelves and try not to overload wall mounted book shelves. Facilities can also provide floor standing bookshelves where there is space, speak to your facilities coordinator for more information.
A reminder not to bring your uncovered cup of hot drink with you during an evacuation. Spills in the staircase or evacuation route can lead to slips and trips.
Make sure you report concerns, incidents and hazards (no matter how minor) as soon as possible. Please bookmark the following link. It’s essential information for the University and helps keep everyone safe.

Let’s all work together to ensure that we maintain a safe and healthy work environment.

Publications

Thomas P.F. Dowling – Assessing landscape fire risk in Ukraine and Belarus (Polesia) temperate wetland conservation areas with remote sensing, with a paper titled: Landscape fires disproportionally affect high conservation value temperate peatlands, meadows, and deciduous forests, but only under low moisture conditions . https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723024701

Categories: Uncategorised

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Issue 98 – Monday 24 April 2023

April 24, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

I trust everyone managed a bit of a ‘breather’ over the Easter break as well as perhaps catching up on fieldwork and teaching prep, marking etc. Somehow over the last two days I managed to write a book chapter and now am about to head for the hills for three days before the busy-ness begins again. Small victories and necessary get-aways. We can tire of the exhortations about wellbeing, but the need is real

The absence of students and the quietness of walkways across campus has certainly been very noticeable over the break. And its sobering to recall that next week it will be a year since our School’s May 1st back-into-our-buildings celebration. Time flies when you’re (mostly) having fun.

As we head into the second half of the semester, may there be neither interruptions that keep us from campus nor significant declines in student attendance in lectures.

Staff meeting

We were scheduled to have a staff meeting last week but with a range of absences due to fieldwork, annual leave/school holidays and a professional staff forum, we decided to reschedule this to the end of semester. In keeping with a collectively expressed wish as the last such meeting, this will include a catered lunch. The next meeting will therefore be in 302-140 on Wednesday, 07 Jun, 11am-1 pm.

The irregularity of our all-school meetings is all the more reason to ensure that Discipline Group meetings are well-attended and that this newsletter is read!.

Congratulations!

Big congratulations to Murray Ford, Mark Dickson, Emma Ryan and Megan Tuck on funding success for a quick-to-be formulated project titled “Mapping cyclone-driven erosion of North Island’s east coast beaches”. This was ‘kick-started’ with ENV’s Rangahau contributing some seed funding within days of Gabrielle’s devastating touch-down and led to MBIE encouraging further development as an extension of the National Science Challenge work. This is a great example of both being nimble with a project idea and the way internal funding can set the ball rolling so to speak.

Annual Leave

Please look at what leave you will have accumulated by year’s end and book leave for suitable times later this year. I know I sound like a proverbial squeaky wheel on this ..but at last look, a whole 27 of us have over 100 hours un-booked and a couple of people have significantly higher accumulations that have prompted messaging from HR to me.

Internships

Do you have a project in which a talented student could assist you as well as gain some experience at no cost to you? I’ve been contacted by Bob Alagh bob@internnzoz.com who’s organisation has two 4^th year students in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University who are seeking full time, unpaid work for a few months. Please email Bob directly if interested.

Graduation

Autumn graduation comes around again soon (on Thurs 4^th May). Congratulations are due in the first instance to completers of degrees and diplomas…but given the challenges of these times, in this forum I would like to congratulate all in our teaching teams who have shown such tenacity and adaptability over the duration of study for those graduating this year.

Robin Kearns, HoS

General Announcements

Ontology lab key

To the person who picked up the Ontology lab key 302-551 and log book from facilities 302 – level 6

Please return ASAP.

Thank you. Lynette Carter |Facilities Coordinator| Faculty of Science

Ethics Applications

The Ethics and Integrity Team invites researchers intending to submit an ethics application to training sessions ( held fortnightly) exploring the process for creating and submitting applications at the University of Auckland.

Training sessions discuss core ethical concepts and policies which should be considered during an application’s creation, as well as provide an in-depth review of the online Infonetica Ethics RM platform used during submission.

Please see the links below for information and to sign up to a session:

https://research-hub-preview.auckland.ac.nz/event/research-ethics-workshop

https://uoa.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/event/266d7c0e-2db1-4c98-a933-25423d26e847

Training_Sessions_timetable_2023.pdf (ctfassets.net)

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Seminar Series
Join us for our fortnightly seminars where we hear from researchers about their work in the Coastal and Marine Geosciences.
We will have a mix of students, staff, and visitors to the School of Environment speaking throughout the year.
When: 12 pm, fortnightly on Mondays (beginning on the 24th of April)
Where: Ontology Lab (302.551)

The School of Environment teamed up with DEVORA at the MOTAT STEM fair on Sunday 2 April. It was a busy day, with more than 1000 people through the gates! Thanks to all those who helped out!

The Equity Commitee is sponsoring a special morning tea for staff and PG students on Wednesday 26 April at 10.30am.

So, you are all invited to come along to eat some delicious cakes (gluten-free and vegan options catered for too). The Equity Committee will be to explain the purpose of the Quiet Room and their plans to improve its facilities. Plus, they will update everyone on their forthcoming Equity Committee-sponsored morning teas and other events. And if you don’t know what the Equity Committee does, then come along to find out and ask any questions you have.

The Quiet Room is now available for those PG students seeking a quiet place to study. There are rules for the Quiet Room designed to make it a peaceful place to work for students needing a low-sensory environment. You can find more information here.

Sponsored by the Outreach Committee, the School of Environment is partnering with the Community Engagement Team at Kaituitui Kaupapa Taiao (Auckland Council) to do some community tree planting (they need people to get trees in the ground, we all need oxygen and birds, urban greening, flood resilience, the list goes on!) 🙂

We already have a date and time booked – if you’re keen, get this in your calendars!

Date: Thursday 6th July

Timing: 9:15am – Bus departs UoA campus,

10am to 1pm – On site for a welcome, introduction to place, planting and kai

1:45pm – Arrive back at campus

Please email Emma on el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz if you’re interested in taking part in this (more-than) community building activity. All School participants welcome!

Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme

1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/

2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.

3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

Undergrad research experience

We are now recruiting undergrads who would like to gain a research experience with a post-grad student in our School (30-40 hours, they get paid $800). The aim is to promote research and increase enrolment in our research programmes. Feel free to make an announcement in your courses and collect nominations. We have 10 places. We are hoping to match students by the end of the month.

If you would like to nominate an undergrad student who could be part of this programme, please email their name and research interest to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

ENV Masters research seminars 6 June 2023 (rm 302-140)

The seminars are an opportunity for students to present their research and for members of our school to give feedback. To help develop a school culture, staff and students are encouraged to attend. The sessions are grouped loosely by topic.

Phil Shane (DGA)

(6 June)	Chair Nick Richards
9.00	Ema	Nersezova
9.15	Kerensa	Jennings
9.30	Amy	Barclay
9.45	Shreya	Gounder

10.00	Fei	Guo
10.15	Niamh	Galligan
10.30	Kaiqi	Li
10.45	Sophie	Mansell

11.00	Saima	Sakik
11.15	Laurence Lorenza	Suarez
11.30	Georgia	Woodside
11.45	Samuel	Scott
	Chair: George Perry
1.00	Olivia	Avery
1.15	Hannah	Sussex
1.30	Charlotte	Ko
1.45	Grace	May

Funding

HFSP – Postdoctoral Fellowships
The HFSP fellowship program supports proposals for frontier, potentially transformative research in the life sciences. Applications for high-risk projects are particularly encouraged. The projects should be interdisciplinary in nature and should challenge existing paradigms by using novel approaches and techniques. Scientifically, they should address an important problem or a barrier to progress in the field. HFSP postdoctoral fellowships encourage early career scientists to broaden their research skills by moving into new areas of study.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 3 years Value: For NZ there is a Living Allowance of NZD90,564 for Y1, NZD92.064 for Y2, and NZD93,576 for Y3. There is a Research and Training Allowance to support the project of NZD10,932 per year.	For the Letter of Intent – 5pm Wednesday, 3 May, 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent. Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

Internet Society Foundation – Research Grant Program
This scheme supports global research collaborations that advance understanding of the Internet and its value for all. Statements of interest and subsequent proposals should address topics related to one of the following thematic areas: 1. Greening the internet: The Internet both affects and is affected by the environment and climate change. Having a critical awareness of this impact is key to the Internet’s resilience and ensures its sustainability for generations to come. 2. The Internet Economy 3. A Trustworthy Internet 4. Decolonizing the Internet: We acknowledge that the Internet’s development depended on industrial societies that, by their nature, used resources from lands dispossessed from Indigenous people and communities throughout the world. Research on Decolonizing the Internet should explore practices and other methods toward an Internet for everyone.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Duration: 24 Months Value: Each individual project from the university may be capped at US$500,000(circa NZ$790,000).	5pm, Monday 22 May 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding Call · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly).

James Cook Research Fellowships
The James Cook Research Fellowships are awarded to researchers who have achieved national and international recognition in their area of scientific research. The fellowships allow them to concentrate on their chosen research for two years without the additional burden of administrative and teaching duties.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
Grant Value: Up to $110,000 (plus GST) per year up to two years. The Fellowships consist of: − $100,000 (plus GST) contribution toward researcher’s salary; and − $10,000 (plus GST) contribution towards relevant expenses.	5pm Tuesday 9 May 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust has a new award: Women in Science Award in Memory of Sylvia Tredwell of $2000.

“This award in memory of Sylvia Tredwell was made possible by a generous donation from her family, who wish to pay tribute to her determination in pursuing her career despite the barriers she faced, and to support other women to pursue the qualifications and career of their choice. The Award is intended to help support a woman studying towards an undergraduate or postgraduate science degree at a tertiary institute in the Auckland or Northland regions. The funding may be used for fees or living costs.”

Further details are at: https://www.academicdresshire.co.nz/Academic%20Awards/Discipline%20Specific%20and%20Other%20Awards?mv_pc=3238.

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Rangahau – Research

Python for Research Science

The Rangahau/Research Committee has organized “Python for Research Science course”.

Dr. Irene Wallis will be delivering the course, which will run for five consecutives Mondays and it will be divided in two parts:

Five lectures that include discussion and code-along components
Five tutorials.

The dates are the following:

1^st Monday: 27/March

2^nd Monday: 03/April

BREAK-Eastern April 10/April

3^rd Monday: 17/April

4^th Monday: 24/April

5^th Monday: 01/May

There are 5 sessions. Each session starts with a lecture/discussion/code-along (1.5 – 2 hrs) followed by a tutorial during which participants can work on their own data or specific issues they are having. The lecture can be hybrid (in person and with video conference for remote attendees). However, Tutorials will ideally be in-person only because it allows for a more fluid setting focused on the participants’ interest (unless our covid levels change).

The room is booked from 9:00 to 13:00 h. Not every session will take this long, but it allows for flexibility.

It is open to postdoc, staff, and also last-year PhD students.

If you are interested, send me an email and a short motivation letter at joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz. There are few spots left and they will assigned on a first-come, first-served basis

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

HSW committee meeting minutes

No major incidents and two minor incidents
Safety inductions, the faculty is going to roll out the use of Canvas for safety inductions following the model already used by the SoE.
University is considering deploying GPS tracking/dash cams to further reduce traffic incidents, they are also rolling out driver assessment following the current standard at the school. Victoria University is also adopting this measure.
Undergrad students can apply for access to research facilities/postgrad labs as long as there is a PI supporting their application, this will be subjected to supervision. Time delays for obtaining access must be considered.
People requiring vaccinations to undertake research could access PD, or RD accounts. PhD candidates could access PrESS accounts.
Get First Aid certified, it is a lifesaving skill.
Test and tag in labs will be undertaken in May/June

Publications

Cornwall, C., Carlot, J., Branson, O., Courtney, T., Harvey, B., Perry, C., Andersson, A., Diaz-Pulido, G., Johnson, M., Kennedy, E., Krieger, E., Mallela, J., McCoy, S., Nugues, M., Quinter, E., Ross, C., Ryan, E., Saderne, V. and Comeau, S. 2023 Crustose coralline algae can contribute more than corals to coral reef carbonate production, Communications Earth and Environment, 4:105. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00766-w

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Issue 96 – Monday 13th March 2023

March 13, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

The semester is well and truly underway, with weather-related interruptions hopefully behind us. I for one have been enjoying brushing up my lectures and engaging with a refreshingly enthusiastic class of students. It’s been an enjoyable counterbalance to some of the more usual HoS preoccupations!

At a Faculty leadership retreat last week, a highlight was being led on a hikoi (walk) around parts of campus by Teariki Tuiono our Science Kaiarahi. It was a reminder that significant histories dwell within the ordinary landscapes of everyday life. There is always something to learn. To my shame, I hadn’t realised we had a symbol ion campus through which to remember the Christchurch mosque victims. Yet so many times I will have paced past nearby on a preoccupied A to B mission, unaware of Ngā Roimata o Ranginui, which was erected in solidarity with Muslim staff and students and paying tribute to lives lost. Mea culpa. Slow down and learn from others…

Relatedly, as we move deeper into the semester, it’s been heartening to witness 18 ENV staff signing up for the eight-week Te Akoranga Kairangi course which aims to help meet University of Auckland staff competency requirements for the university’s new strategic plan, Taumata Teitei. Important mahi but it will be fun and, especially so, undertaking the journey as a cohort.

Heartening too to see further staff engagement with the media. Well done to Jon Tunnicliffe for an appearance on RNZ’s Saturday Morning. Getting onto these wide- audience platforms can only be good for our profile and relevance, as well of course for individual careers.

As we seek to raise our profile and address our strategic goals as a school, let us all be vigilant to opportunities to deepen our learning and share our perspectives in the public domain.

Robin Kearns, HoS

General Announcements

Field trip student payments

Just a reminder that since the Student Centre closed a couple of years ago, student payment for field trips are made through the Science University Store page https://store.auckland.ac.nz/science-faculty/ (nb the webpage is currently being updated). You can upload the Field trip to the store via the UOA Store Product Upload Request FS-54 form.

Kia ora Everyone,

A few things:

1/ A reminder I have PhD Advisor office hours everyone Monday at 4pm. Either in my office 302-735 or on zoom https://auckland.zoom.us/j/91470429035?pwd=amkxWm51ZDJWWTc1anBGTFU3SWpYQT09. You are also very welcome to email or catch me at other times.

2/ The School of Environment has a morning tea every Wednesday at 10.30 am in the Level 6 tearoom. This is a great opportunity to mix and mingle so please make this part of your routine! I generally try to go so it is also a good chance to catch me (except when like tomorrow I’m at a first aid refresher etc).

3/ Particularly for the more Earth Science/Geology amoung you (but all welcome) Thursday 16^th March is Hector’s Day and time for our annual Geobake again! See attached. Come and share any geology inspired baked goods entries at 10.30 am Thursday in the 7^th floor tearoom!

4/ SGS send out the Doctoral News on Fridays (see below). Hopefully you get (and read) these as they are great to point out possible development opportunities. If you aren’t on the list for some reason and want to be please let me know.

5/ If it has been more than a year since you have done a annual report or continuation review please check in on Wahapu and catch up on your overdue continuation review milestones as having these done makes it easier to help if/when you need it re suspensions, extensions etc.

Regards,

Jennifer

School of Environment PhD Advisor

Doctoral Supervision Matters

PhD Applications are now administered through Student Services Online and you will need access to see the application and all its associated documents. The timelines around University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship rounds are tight so if you have never served in a service role that required this please request access in advance of needing it (i.e. now) at https://uoaprod.service-now.com/sp?id=sc_cat_item&sys_id=f5046f59dbe710102bd110a01496191f&sysparm_category=4d08f12bdb59730029f117564a9619ef. The process will ask who you need access similar to – say Ludmila Adam.

Ever had a good PhD applicant where their previous institution ruined their GPE conversion or made a lot of work getting theses assessed? The list of equivalent institutions is being reviewed and changed to the top 500 on any of the Shanghai Ranking, Times Higher Education or QS lists. However this may still not include some discipline favourites (particularly for young universities) and will see some of the current UoA list drop off. Email j.eccles@auckland.ac.nz for a copy of the spreadsheet if you want to have your say about where else may need to be on the list!

SGS have had a huge amount of staff turnover recently and are trying their best to come up to speed and get on top of the back log. So that they don’t resign and we go back to scratch again please keep all comms polite and patient. If something is urgent please let PhD advisor Jennifer Eccles know so she can contact someone directly; emailing the hub every day expecting a quick result is just adding to the inbox backlog they are wading through.

Ngā mihi,

Jennifer

Meet Visiting Scientist Dr. Beth Lawrence

Who: Beth is an ecosystem ecologist interested in wetland restoration, plant communities, and biogeochemistry. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut (USA), Department of Natural Resources & the Environment, and Center for Environmental Science & Engineering. Learn more about her research here: https://lawrencelabuconn.weebly.com/

What: Beth is a visiting scientist in the School of Environment hosted by Dr. Luitgard Schwendenmann

When: She’s visiting Aotearoa for six months and will be here until early July 2023

Where: She’ll be on campus a few days a week this semester. If you see her wandering the halls of 302 please stop and introduce yourself!

CapEx Requests for 2024

Applications are now open for 2024 CapEx requests. We have decided to give a longer time frame than usual, so more staff have the opportunity to submit. This link will remain active until April 15^th 2023.

If you have an item that isn’t on the list for this year (P2) then please submit a request so we know its still needed. Blair will email those staff directly.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJXjoluewgiVizs

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

3k writing grant available for students

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.

Kia ora Social Science colleagues

The Politics, Economies and Place research group in the School of Environment, in conjunction with the Public Policy Institute, are organising an event around Paris Marx’s book Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation @ 1-2pm Friday 17 March in 106-100.

See poster below and RSVP link here.

Journalist and urban commentor Simon Wilson will be a discussant for Paris’ talk, and I’ll likely moderate some questions/discussion.

Even if your research doesn’t align with transportation or urban issues, there’s a lot in the book for you (incl. the need to develop collective, community-embedded ways out of climate and social crises).

Feel free to spread the word to students/colleagues etc!

Hope to see you there.

Tom

Undergrad research experience

We are now recruiting undergrads who would like to gain a research experience with a post-grad student in our School (30-40 hours, they get paid $800). The aim is to promote research and increase enrolment in our research programmes. Feel free to make an announcement in your courses and collect nominations. We have 10 places. We are hoping to match students by the end of the month.

If you would like to nominate an undergrad student who could be part of this programme, please email their name and research interest to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

ENV Masters research seminars 6 June 2023 (rm 302-140)

The seminars are an opportunity for students to present their research and for members of our school to give feedback. To help develop a school culture, staff and students are encouraged to attend. The sessions are grouped loosely by topic.

Phil Shane (DGA)

(6 June)	Chair Nick Richards
9.00	Ema	Nersezova
9.15	Kerensa	Jennings
9.30	Amy	Barclay
9.45	Shreya	Gounder

10.00	Fei	Guo
10.15	Niamh	Galligan
10.30	Kaiqi	Li
10.45	Sophie	Mansell

11.00	Saima	Sakik
11.15	Laurence Lorenza	Suarez
11.30	Georgia	Woodside
11.45	Samuel	Scott
	Chair: George Perry
1.00	Olivia	Avery
1.15	Hannah	Sussex
1.30	Charlotte	Ko
1.45	Grace	May

Fame and cash for sharing your best School of Environment mini vlog (videos)

The ENV Outreach Committee is looking for exciting, funny and engaging mini vlogs (i.e. video collage) to upload to the soon to launch School of Environment Instagram account. We would love to receive mini vlogs from studies of our environment and people, field work, lab experiments, data analysis or a mix of it all!

Videos from students, academic and technical staff are all welcome!

Think of the mini vlog as “A day in the life of …” related to school of environment research or careers. Of course you could record material over several days. Here is an example -of many- on how to make a mini vlog (you can also make them directly in the Instagram or TikTok apps).

Prizes (prezzy cards):

1st place: $200

2nd place: $100

3rd place: $75

4th -10th place: $ 30

Rules:

– The mini vlog has to be under 15 seconds.

– If filming others, make sure you don’t see their faces or you have their consent (model consent form). Avoid having under 18-year olds in the video.

– You don’t have to be in the mini vlog if you don’t want to, neither do you have to talk.

– Keep all mini vlogs G-rated as they may be made public. This includes no swearing or alcohol consumption, and also conforming with all University regulations.

– Some guidelines are found here, including the use of music.

Submissions may be uploaded (with credit) to the School of Environment Instagram account.

Please email env-comms@auckland.ac.nz that you have submitted. Submit the mini vlog by April 28th to this google drive link.

Shanice, Thomas and Mila

Are you actively researching in energy or decarbonisation?

The university if compiling a list of researchers working on energy and decarbonisation that they will share with government, industry and communities.

If you are interested to be listed please send Mila Adam a one line description or keywords of your research.

Funding

Rutherford Discovery Fellowships
Rutherford Discovery Fellowships (RDF) are to support the development of future research leaders, and to assist with the retention and repatriation of New Zealand’s talented early- to mid-career researchers. The scheme will support early- to mid-career researchers to develop a strong track record, allowing them to compete with the best researchers in New Zealand and the world for mainstream research funds.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
10 Fellowships, up to $160,000 p.a. each for 5 years in length will be awarded in 2023	5pm Monday 17 April 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Roadshow Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust has a new award: Women in Science Award in Memory of Sylvia Tredwell of $2000.

“This award in memory of Sylvia Tredwell was made possible by a generous donation from her family, who wish to pay tribute to her determination in pursuing her career despite the barriers she faced, and to support other women to pursue the qualifications and career of their choice. The Award is intended to help support a woman studying towards an undergraduate or postgraduate science degree at a tertiary institute in the Auckland or Northland regions. The funding may be used for fees or living costs.”

Further details are at: https://www.academicdresshire.co.nz/Academic%20Awards/Discipline%20Specific%20and%20Other%20Awards?mv_pc=3238

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Matakitenga Research Round
The NPM Matakitenga research fund supports impactful research that contributes to their vision of building the foundations for flourishing Māori Futures. This is a Request for Proposals for multi-institutional Māori led research that contributes to specific outcomes and the overall mission of the CoRE
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•The funder expect to support up to 10-12 projects valued between NZ$10,000-60,000 (out of a total funding pool of NZ$600,000). Applicants must be prepared to spend their fully allocated budget by 31st December 2024 and complete all project objectives.	5pm, Wednesday, 22 March 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Climate Impacts Awards
The aim of the Climate Impacts Awards is to make the impacts of climate change visible across a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes in order to drive urgent climate policy and practice change at scale. This scheme will fund transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high-impact projects, combining evidence generation with communications and/or public engagement.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• Project duration is up to 3 years. • Funding level is up to GBP2.5M (circa NZD4.6M). • Indirects for the UOA will be limited to 15% of the direct research costs.	5pm Wednesday 5 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

RSNZ- Catalyst Fund Seeding
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
A maximum of NZ$80,000 (excl. GST) is available per proposal for projects lasting up to two years.	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

RSNZ- Catalyst Leaders
Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1: International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards) Supports exceptional individuals from any country outside New Zealand to catalyse science and innovation capability and capacity development in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years. JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards) Supports excellent post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards) Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
International Leader Fellowship Up to $50,000 per annum for up to three years. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme NZ$3,000 travel grant JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships •Round trip air-ticket + approx. $6690 allowances	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Toka Tū Ake EQC University Research Programme (URP 2024-26)
Since the 1990s, Toka Tū Ake EQC has provided funding to tertiary institutions across New Zealand. This funding has helped to support research capability in natural disaster risk reduction. From 2020, Toka Tū Ake EQC funding introduced a three-year University Research Programme for tertiary institutions focused on: Research that is targeted to Toka Tū Ake EQC’s goals and priorities Contribution to better outcomes for New Zealanders Developing research capability that is aligned with programme delivery End user and/or stakeholder collaboration and partnerships A greater partnership approach with Toka Tū Ake EQC
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Projects can be up to a maximum duration of 36 months · The award is up to NZD150,000/annum	· EOI Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 2 November 2022. · Full Proposal Deadline: Wednesday 22 March 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Rangahau – Research

Python for Research Science

The Rangahau/Research Committee has organized “Python for Research Science course”.

Dr. Irene Wallis will be delivering the course, which will run for five consecutives Mondays and it will be divided in two parts:

Five lectures that include discussion and code-along components
Five tutorials.

The dates are the following:

1^st Monday: 27/March

2^nd Monday: 03/April

BREAK-Eastern April 10/April

3^rd Monday: 17/April

4^th Monday: 24/April

5^th Monday: 01/May

There are 5 sessions. Each session starts with a lecture/discussion/code-along (1.5 – 2 hrs) followed by a tutorial during which participants can work on their own data or specific issues they are having. The lecture can be hybrid (in person and with video conference for remote attendees). However, Tutorials will ideally be in-person only because it allows for a more fluid setting focused on the participants’ interest (unless our covid levels change).

The room is booked from 9:00 to 13:00 h. Not every session will take this long, but it allows for flexibility.

It is open to postdoc, staff, and also last-year PhD students.

If you are interested, send me an email and a short motivation letter at joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz. There are few spots left and they will assigned on a first-come, first-served basis

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

February Health, Safety and Wellbeing E-Update

Find the latest Health, Safety and Wellbeing E-Update here

Publications

Bowen, M.M., Fernandez, D., Gordon, A.L. et al. Tides regulate the flow and density of Antarctic Bottom Water from the western Ross Sea. Sci Rep 13, 3873 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31008-w
Auckland landslides. Some recent commentary on legal and planning aspects of the recent landslides by Martin Brook in 2 further articles in The Conversation, as well as an appearance on “The Lentil Intervention” podcast discussing the same issues:

https://theconversation.com/landslides-and-law-cyclone-gabrielle-raises-serious-questions-about-where-weve-been-allowed-to-build-200250

https://theconversation.com/the-red-and-yellow-sticker-dilemma-how-do-we-balance-safety-with-the-desire-to-return-home-after-a-disaster-201283

https://www.thelentilintervention.org/podcast/episode/79b56584/associate-professor-martin-brook-climate-change-and-geological-hazards

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Issue 95 – Monday 27th February 2023

February 27, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

Well, it’s been a bumpy start with rain, wind and power outages, but we’re underway. Semester 1 is upon us. Expect the unexpected should, perhaps, be our motto.

This last week brought three moments in which I caught myself feeling unexpectedly buoyed by occasions we hosted in the School.

First, the staff meeting. “The people had spoken” as they say, and we are serially retreating no more. Instead, we have scheduled two staff meetings per semester. And what a turnout at the first! The issuing of a Teams link had me concerned whether people would come in person. Yet we filled the large room and the buzz of conversation was palpable. There is clearly a pent up will to engage in person and that has to be good. Interestingly in the group discussion on what might enhance a sense of community, the resounding message was food. I doubt it’s because academics go hungry or need a School lunch programme! But clearly there’s a recognition that kai and korero have a strong synergy. Rest assured we’ll do what we can to support this wish, the first instance of which is Monday’s back to semester staff lunch. Let’s see if we fill the Ontology Lab!

Second, we had the Bartrum Lecture at which Julio Friedmann spoke on carbon removal. A buzz of palpable excitement as an accessible talk dived into a pressingly relevant topic for these times. Attendees from all over. Retired academics, people from consultancies, postgrad students, academics from across the campus. This is environment in action.

Third, we had orientation events for Postgrads and Undergrads on consecutive days. Impressive to see such a strong turnout of staff and senior students speaking to their portfolios, enthusiastically proclaiming our virtues as a collective learning environment. Its banal, I know, but as Head of School, it can feel moving just to see a host of colleagues stepping up and speaking in their roles. And speaking to eager-looking incoming students. Our future as they step into their future as students.

My request – if you see new students around (or returning ones for that matter), greet them, speak with them, help them feel welcome. And connected.

Two reminders:

If you’re a P, AP or PTF 4, please return your spread sheet to me asap. I can’t offer an informed recommendation in the salary review process in the absence of knowledge of your achievements.
A reminder. If someone helps you with a task, you are likely to thank them. If they have drawn on their professional expertise, all the more so. So, if a member the Technical Services team significantly assists you in your research, please acknowledge them in your published papers. Its courtesy and good professional practice.

Till next time, enjoy your teaching and the buzz of engaging in the workplace in person.

Robin Kearns

General Announcements

Laboratory Survey for Staff

The Technical Services team would like to undertake a small survey to understand the expectations around school laboratories and support.

This link will remain active until March 1^st 2023.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qPEWuhBB0BxR1s

CapEx Requests for 2024

Applications are now open for 2024 CapEx requests. We have decided to give a longer time frame than usual, so more staff have the opportunity to submit. This link will remain active until April 15^th 2023.

If you have an item that isn’t on the list for this year (P2) then please submit a request so we know its still needed. Blair will email those staff directly.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJXjoluewgiVizs

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Anonymisation Of Movement Data: Privacy Over Utility?
Maike Gatzlaff (PhD Proposal)

Movement data are often either not shared or shared in unregulated and unscrutinised ways. While geomasking methods have successfully been established for location data, no suitable anonymisation method for movement data has been established yet. In addition, the complex nature of movement data is challenging and results in high re-identification risks after anonymisation. To contribute to the advancement in trajectory anonymisation methods, this project aims to answer the need for context-dependent anonymisation algorithms that maintain the utility of trajectory data. Based on an evaluation of existing anonymisation methods, a new anonymisation algorithm will be developed – focusing on significant locations and critically assessing the role of synthetic data in preserving privacy around the most sensitive information. By reliably anonymising movement data and minimising the trade-off between privacy preservation and data utility, more human movement data will be releasable for the public good.

Monday, 6 March 2023 · 10am · Ontology Lab
https://auckland.zoom.us/j/91715569231?pwd=L3NVa204MG1sZEFHYnp2NjFFaElxdz09

Fame and cash for sharing your best School of Environment mini vlog (videos)

The ENV Outreach Committee is looking for exciting, funny and engaging mini vlogs (i.e. video collage) to upload to the soon to launch School of Environment Instagram account. We would love to receive mini vlogs from studies of our environment and people, field work, lab experiments, data analysis or a mix of it all!

Videos from students, academic and technical staff are all welcome!

Think of the mini vlog as “A day in the life of …” related to school of environment research or careers. Of course you could record material over several days. Here is an example -of many- on how to make a mini vlog (you can also make them directly in the Instagram or TikTok apps).

Prizes (prezzy cards):

1st place: $200

2nd place: $100

3rd place: $75

4th -10th place: $ 30

Rules:

– The mini vlog has to be under 15 seconds.

– If filming others, make sure you don’t see their faces or you have their consent (model consent form). Avoid having under 18-year olds in the video.

– You don’t have to be in the mini vlog if you don’t want to, neither do you have to talk.

– Keep all mini vlogs G-rated as they may be made public. This includes no swearing or alcohol consumption, and also conforming with all University regulations.

– Some guidelines are found here, including the use of music.

Submissions may be uploaded (with credit) to the School of Environment Instagram account.

Please email env-comms@auckland.ac.nz that you have submitted. Submit the mini vlog by April 28th to this google drive link.

Shanice, Thomas and Mila

Are you actively researching in energy or decarbonisation?

The university if compiling a list of researchers working on energy and decarbonisation that they will share with government, industry and communities.

If you are interested to be listed please send Mila Adam a one line description or keywords of your research.

Horizon Europe Roadshow – Virtual Event – 2 March at 10 am

In light of New Zealand’s recent successful negotiations to become an Associate member of Horizon Europe (the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation) MBIE and EURAXESS are conducting a roadshow to provide more information about the opportunities and prepare the New Zealand research community to engage with the programme.

Horizon Europe Pillar II

Pillar II of Horizon Europe focuses on science and technologies that addresses major global challenges, such as climate change, energy and health, and addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It has funding of €53.5 billion (approximately NZD$90 billion) over the 2021–2027 period. Pillar II funds are distributed across six themes (‘clusters’), with a number of topic areas (‘destinations’) within each cluster. Work programmes for each cluster for the 2023–2024 period are available from the European Commission website..

Proposals under Pillar II of Horizon Europe must be made by multinational consortia (typically at least three partners) from EU Member States or Associated countries. Researchers are encouraged explore the work programmes and reach out to European collaborators as early as possible.

Register here

Funding

The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust has a new award: Women in Science Award in Memory of Sylvia Tredwell of $2000.

“This award in memory of Sylvia Tredwell was made possible by a generous donation from her family, who wish to pay tribute to her determination in pursuing her career despite the barriers she faced, and to support other women to pursue the qualifications and career of their choice. The Award is intended to help support a woman studying towards an undergraduate or postgraduate science degree at a tertiary institute in the Auckland or Northland regions. The funding may be used for fees or living costs.”

Further details are at: https://www.academicdresshire.co.nz/Academic%20Awards/Discipline%20Specific%20and%20Other%20Awards?mv_pc=3238

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Matakitenga Research Round
The NPM Matakitenga research fund supports impactful research that contributes to their vision of building the foundations for flourishing Māori Futures. This is a Request for Proposals for multi-institutional Māori led research that contributes to specific outcomes and the overall mission of the CoRE
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•The funder expect to support up to 10-12 projects valued between NZ$10,000-60,000 (out of a total funding pool of NZ$600,000). Applicants must be prepared to spend their fully allocated budget by 31st December 2024 and complete all project objectives.	5pm, Wednesday, 22 March 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Guidelines · Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

L’Oréal Australia – Women in Science Fellowship
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Australia & New Zealand Fellowships are designed to provide support for women to continue their research and rise to leadership positions in their field of expertise. There is one Fellowship available for a New Zealand citizen/permanent resident researcher. Funds are provided to enable them to undertake research in their chosen field(s). •Applicants must have been awarded a PhD within the last 5 years (or FTE). PhD conferred date must be before close of applications.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
NZD$25,000 – funding is intended to help finance the Fellow’s scientific research. The Fellowship lasts for 12 months	1pm, Wednesday, 1 March 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Funding call · Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Climate Impacts Awards
The aim of the Climate Impacts Awards is to make the impacts of climate change visible across a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes in order to drive urgent climate policy and practice change at scale. This scheme will fund transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high-impact projects, combining evidence generation with communications and/or public engagement.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• Project duration is up to 3 years. • Funding level is up to GBP2.5M (circa NZD4.6M). • Indirects for the UOA will be limited to 15% of the direct research costs.	5pm Wednesday 5 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ngā Ara Whetū 2023 Doctoral Scholarships

Ngā Ara Whetū is delighted to announce that we have three UoA doctoral stipends to award in 2023. The purpose is to support the mission of our centre, particularly fostering transdisciplinary research. Therefore, the supervisors must be affiliated to Ngā Ara Whetū and come from at least two different Faculties/large scale research institutes. It’s easy to become an affiliate, UoA academics just need to email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz and you will be added to our list. We invite students to apply for the scholarships by 1 March 2023.

More information, including the application form, can be found on the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships page in the Faculty/LSRI/USC Doctoral Scholarship Strategies and Opportunities section:

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/scholarship-types/postgraduate-scholarships/doctoral-scholarships.html

If you have any questions, please email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz.

RSNZ- Catalyst Fund Seeding
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
A maximum of NZ$80,000 (excl. GST) is available per proposal for projects lasting up to two years.	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

RSNZ- Catalyst Leaders
Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1: International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards) Supports exceptional individuals from any country outside New Zealand to catalyse science and innovation capability and capacity development in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years. JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards) Supports excellent post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards) Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
International Leader Fellowship Up to $50,000 per annum for up to three years. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme NZ$3,000 travel grant JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships •Round trip air-ticket + approx. $6690 allowances	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

2023 MBIE Endeavour Fund – Research Programmes
The Endeavour Fund supports excellent research with the potential to positively transform New Zealand’s economy, environment and society Research Programmes are intended to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Value: $0.5 million or more per year · Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years	· Registration: 12 noon, Friday 25 November 2022 · Full proposal: 12 noon, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Toka Tū Ake EQC University Research Programme (URP 2024-26)
Since the 1990s, Toka Tū Ake EQC has provided funding to tertiary institutions across New Zealand. This funding has helped to support research capability in natural disaster risk reduction. From 2020, Toka Tū Ake EQC funding introduced a three-year University Research Programme for tertiary institutions focused on: Research that is targeted to Toka Tū Ake EQC’s goals and priorities Contribution to better outcomes for New Zealanders Developing research capability that is aligned with programme delivery End user and/or stakeholder collaboration and partnerships A greater partnership approach with Toka Tū Ake EQC
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Projects can be up to a maximum duration of 36 months · The award is up to NZD150,000/annum	· EOI Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 2 November 2022. · Full Proposal Deadline: Wednesday 22 March 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Rangahau – Research

Visitors

We would like to introduce our recent visitors to the School of Environment.

Professor Rachael James – host by JR Rowland – visiting ends mid-July 2023

Rachael James is Professor of Geochemistry and until recently Deputy Head of School (Research and Enterprise) in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton, UK. She obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Oceanography and Chemistry from the University of Southampton and a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Earth Science). After 8 years at the Open University as Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Oceanography, she returned to Southampton in 2008 as Principal Geochemist at the National Oceanography Centre before joining the University in 2013.

Rachael’s expertise lies in the development and application of novel chemical and isotopic techniques to improve understanding of ocean and Earth (and extra-terrestrial) processes and to address critical environmental and societal challenges. A key current focus is on the development of methodologies for removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. Rachael is conducting field trials on CO₂ removal by enhanced rock weathering and mineral carbonation, and she is developing methodologies for monitoring and verification of potential leakage from sub-seafloor CO₂ storage sites. Rachael is also using novel isotopic tracers, including iron, chromium and lithium, to locate new sources of metals and elements that are critical for supporting the transition to green technologies.

Rachael is an Associate Editor for Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and sits of the scientific advisory councils of the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, the UK CLASS programme and the German CDRMare Program. She was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2006, EAG Distinguished Lecturer in 2014 and gave the annual Marie Tharp Lecture at GEOMAR in Germany in 2022.

Professor Damon Teagle – host by JR Rowland – visiting ends mid-July 2023

Damon Teagle is Director of the University of Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) and Professor of Geochemistry in the School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton. He is an Earth scientist principally interested in fluid-rock interactions in a variety of tectonic settings including mountain belts and mid-ocean ridges and their impact on global chemical cycles and held a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award from 2014-2018. Much of his work involves scientific ocean drilling and he has served as Co-Chief Scientist on 4 expeditions (ODP Leg 206, IODP 309/312, 335, 390/393) including the recent South Atlantic Transect (Apl-Aug, 2021) to study the aging of slow spreading ocean crust. Other recent research investigates serpentinization in the Troodos and Semail ophiolite (as part of the Oman Drilling Project of which he was Co-PI), and atmospheric CO2 reduction through the enhanced weathering of mine tailings. His New Zealand geological research includes the initial structural studies of the Hyde-Macraes shear-zone, the sourcing of gold in metamorphic deposits, and fluid and heat budgets along the Alpine Fault.

The SMMI is a pan-University of Southampton inter-disciplinary institute that pulls together the University of Southampton’s distinctive strengths in ocean-facing research, education and knowledge exchange including marine science, oceanography and climate change, naval architecture, maritime, offshore and coastal engineering, materials and energy systems, archaeology, maritime law, politics and business, medicine and human health, as well as the arts, humanities and music. Major research themes include the decarbonisation and optimisation of maritime trade, ports and logistic networks, autonomous and robotic observations and monitoring of the natural and built environments and associated data analytics, air pollution, coastal societies, the responsible use of future oceans and the just transition to a decarbonised, zero-pollution world.

Damon is keen to engage with groups across the University of Auckland to share common interests and experiences, and potentially generate future research opportunities, The University of Southampton is a founding member of the Worldwide University Network and already has a number of productive links with the University of Auckland.

Python for Research Science

The Rangahau/Research Committee has organized “Python for Research Science course”.

Dr. Irene Wallis will be delivering the course, which will run for five consecutives Mondays and it will be divided in two parts:

Five lectures that include discussion and code-along components
Five tutorials.

The dates are the following:

1^st Monday: 27/March

2^nd Monday: 03/April

BREAK-Eastern April 10/April

3^rd Monday: 17/April

4^th Monday: 24/April

5^th Monday: 01/May

There are 5 sessions. Each session starts with a lecture/discussion/code-along (1.5 – 2 hrs) followed by a tutorial during which participants can work on their own data or specific issues they are having. The lecture can be hybrid (in person and with video conference for remote attendees). However, Tutorials will ideally be in-person only because it allows for a more fluid setting focused on the participants’ interest (unless our covid levels change).

The room is booked from 9:00 to 13:00 h. Not every session will take this long, but it allows for flexibility.

It is open to postdoc, staff, and also last-year PhD students.

If you are interested, send me an email and a short motivation letter at joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz. There are few spots left and they will assigned on a first-come, first-served basis

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Talofa ni, Ni sa bula, Fakafeiloaki, Fakatalofa atu, Halo, Gude, Greetings, Tēnā koutou katoa

This is to inform you that the first round of the ENV Māori Postgraduate Research Awards and the Moana Postgraduate Research Awards is now open.

This award is intended to help you to be able to do postgraduate research – maybe covering transport costs or something like that.

There is an application form to fill out if you are keen – I am really happy to answer any questions you may have about it, just let me know, Sonia, s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz

Can you please email me your application by 5pm Monday 20^th March?

There are five $500 awards for each category available so make sure you give it a go.

Hauraki Gulf Scholarship

The Hauraki Gulf Scholarship for MSc and Phd students is open for application from today. The award is provided by Newmarket Rotary Club for research with the potential to improve the natural environment of the Hauraki Gulf, its islands and environs. The award is $10,000. If this covers your area of research then you are encouraged to apply.

More details are here:- https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/find-a-scholarship/rotary-club-newmarket-hauraki-gulf-environment-pg-award-1125-sci.html

If you have any enquiries about the award you can contact the Scholarships Office or myself.

Best wishes

Professor Andrew Jeffs

Institute of Marine Science, & School of Biological Sciences

University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zeland

Ph +64-21-256-3303

R N Brothers Memorial Award – The University of Auckland

An Award of up to $5,000 to assist a postgraduate research student to undertake field-based geological research in New Zealand or the South West Pacific.

About the scholarship

Application status: Apply now
Applicable study: Postgraduate degree in Earth Sciences
Opening date: 17 January 2023
Closing date: 28 February 2023
Tenure: One year
For: Assistance with field-based Research
Number on offer: One
Offer rate: Annually
Value: Up to $5,000

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

Horrocks, M., Bickler, S., Gumbley, W., & Jones, B. (2023). Plant microfossil and 14C analysis of archaeological features at Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand: Evidence for regional Māori use of introduced and indigenous plants. Journal of Pacific Archaeology. https://pacificarchaeology.org/index.php/journal/article/view/345

Dowell, A., Lewis, N., & Jones, R. (2023). Experimentation as infrastructure: Enacting transitions differently through diverse economy‐environment assemblages in Aotearoa New Zealand. Geographical Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12590

Categories: Uncategorised

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Issue 94 – Monday 13th February 2023

February 13, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

I jotted the last Heads-up in the wake of the floods. Two weeks later, I’m doing so on a laptop with a fading battery as the house shakes in Gabrielle’s grip. I am grateful for a cup of tea brewed on my tramping stove, the power and wifi having been out all morning. What times. No option but to be adaptable, patient and learn from experience…

As the tempest howls, it’s hard to focus on the usual cycle of events. But as Marsden applications await my attention and signoff (when the internet returns!) I want to congratulate all those who have prepared preliminary bids and contributed to such a fascinating range of topics and questions. Such an indication of the breadth of our School’s scholarship! Best wishes to all.

Reflecting on the last fortnight, I have been pondering to what extent we as Taiao/Environment people grab the moment and add our voice to interpreting events in our world? Perhaps doing so could be a new academic year’s resolution for us all. I was especially inspired by Martin Brook’s engagement with the print and spoken media on the topic of landslides after the events of a fortnight ago. And Shane Cronin’s engagement with the media on the anniversary of the Tongan eruption. Are we often too shy of be asked questions outside our expertise? I know I have been. But surely one indirect but potent way of keeping our School relevant and being seen as a destination for enrolments and inquiry is putting ourselves out there as commentators on current issues relating to the environments of everyday life.

Next week – Tuesday 21^st – we have our first staff meeting of the year. This will be a chance, weather and all other obstacles permitting, to meet in person and reflect on the year ahead. As I mentioned in the last Heads-up, these gatherings are intentionally few in number through the year (n=4). Attendance is expected to assist us working as a fully functional team.

And to end with a plea. I have had a few requests for travel reimbursement through Concur lately. Please be reminded that university policy requires all travel and hotel accommodation to be booked through Orbit. I am breaching policy approving any claim that departs from that rule.

All for now before my laptop battery dies!

Robin

General Announcements

Supervisors of new Masters students

Supervisors of new Masters students starting a 90 or 120 point research project in S1 of 2023 should direct the student to the following link to submit an Expression of Interest. The student will need a support message from you as supervisor to upload at this site. The information gathered allows me and the science faculty keep track of student-supervisor pairing. This is important when there are issues relating to extensions, reporting and examination.

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/our-research/finding-your-supervisor.html

Phil Shane (DGA)

Laboratory Survey for Staff

The Technical Services team would like to undertake a small survey to understand the expectations around school laboratories and support.

This link will remain active until March 1^st 2023.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qPEWuhBB0BxR1s

CapEx Requests for 2024

Applications are now open for 2024 CapEx requests. We have decided to give a longer time frame than usual, so more staff have the opportunity to submit. This link will remain active until April 15^th 2023.

If you have an item that isn’t on the list for this year (P2) then please submit a request so we know its still needed. Blair will email those staff directly.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJXjoluewgiVizs

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

20th February Bartrum lecture titled ‘The State of Carbon Removal’ by Dr Julio Friedmann – 3-4pm, Conference Centre (across street from ENV), 423.342, with refreshments following.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) has gained recognition as a necessary addition to greenhouse gas reductions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Reforestation and afforestation can contribute substantially to this goal but are insufficient. As such, innovations ranging from direct air capture to carbon mineralization to biomass internment will be needed to reach these targets. Questions about the quality of CDR have prompted accusations of greenwashing and fraud. Navigating the next few years will create immense opportunities for people seeking to position themselves as the vanguards of this critical climate and environmental service.

27th February Green Hydrogen lecture on ‘The Status of Hydrogen Technology and Key RD&D Drivers for Innovation by Dr Julio Friedmann, 303.G016

Over 30 nations have developed hydrogen strategies, and a combination of climate commitments, geopolitical threats, and technology advances have produced skyrocketing investments around the world. Although some key innovations have been relatively straightforward, such as renewable power cost reductions, the opportunity for dramatic improvements in cost, performance, and applications across technology options is immense. Global competition around hydrogen production, conversion, transportation, and use will remain central to rapid decarbonization, expanded trade, and maximizing advantage of key natural resource.

If anyone would like to meet with Dr Julio Friedmann of Carbon Direct please contact Kathy Campbell for info – ka.campbell@auckland.ac.nz

Funding

Climate Impacts Awards
The aim of the Climate Impacts Awards is to make the impacts of climate change visible across a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes in order to drive urgent climate policy and practice change at scale. This scheme will fund transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high-impact projects, combining evidence generation with communications and/or public engagement.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
• Project duration is up to 3 years. • Funding level is up to GBP2.5M (circa NZD4.6M). • Indirects for the UOA will be limited to 15% of the direct research costs.	5pm Wednesday 5 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funding call Guidelines Website If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ngā Ara Whetū 2023 Doctoral Scholarships

Ngā Ara Whetū is delighted to announce that we have three UoA doctoral stipends to award in 2023. The purpose is to support the mission of our centre, particularly fostering transdisciplinary research. Therefore, the supervisors must be affiliated to Ngā Ara Whetū and come from at least two different Faculties/large scale research institutes. It’s easy to become an affiliate, UoA academics just need to email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz and you will be added to our list. We invite students to apply for the scholarships by 1 March 2023.

More information, including the application form, can be found on the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships page in the Faculty/LSRI/USC Doctoral Scholarship Strategies and Opportunities section:

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/scholarship-types/postgraduate-scholarships/doctoral-scholarships.html

If you have any questions, please email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz.

Climate Change AI – Innovation Grants
The CCAI Innovation Grants aim to encourage research activity that addresses these challenges. The second cycle allocates grants for research projects that apply AI to help study, mitigate, or adapt to climate change. Projects that address AI governance in the context of climate change or that assess the climate impacts of AI and its applications are also eligible for funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•In this cycle, up to USD150,000 (circa NZD228,000) will be allocated per proposal. •The duration of the project can be up to 12 months. Project start date to be August 15, 2023.	5pm, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Website · UoA Funding Call Please inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly) if you are interested in applying.

Te Tahua Taiao Ngā Taonga – Lottery Environment and Heritage grants – Round Two
Lottery Environment and Heritage grants are available for projects that will help protect, conserve or care for our natural, cultural and physical heritage, or allow us to better understand and access these resources.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small projects, where the grant requested is for less than $250,000. •Large projects, where the grant requested is for $250,000 or more.	5pm, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Website · UoA Funding Call Please inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly) if you are interested in applying.

RSNZ- Catalyst Fund Seeding
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
A maximum of NZ$80,000 (excl. GST) is available per proposal for projects lasting up to two years.	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

RSNZ- Catalyst Leaders
Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1: International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards) Supports exceptional individuals from any country outside New Zealand to catalyse science and innovation capability and capacity development in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years. JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards) Supports excellent post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards) Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
International Leader Fellowship Up to $50,000 per annum for up to three years. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme NZ$3,000 travel grant JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships •Round trip air-ticket + approx. $6690 allowances	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

2023 MBIE Endeavour Fund – Research Programmes
The Endeavour Fund supports excellent research with the potential to positively transform New Zealand’s economy, environment and society Research Programmes are intended to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Value: $0.5 million or more per year · Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years	· Registration: 12 noon, Friday 25 November 2022 · Full proposal: 12 noon, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Toka Tū Ake EQC University Research Programme (URP 2024-26)
Since the 1990s, Toka Tū Ake EQC has provided funding to tertiary institutions across New Zealand. This funding has helped to support research capability in natural disaster risk reduction. From 2020, Toka Tū Ake EQC funding introduced a three-year University Research Programme for tertiary institutions focused on: Research that is targeted to Toka Tū Ake EQC’s goals and priorities Contribution to better outcomes for New Zealanders Developing research capability that is aligned with programme delivery End user and/or stakeholder collaboration and partnerships A greater partnership approach with Toka Tū Ake EQC
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Projects can be up to a maximum duration of 36 months · The award is up to NZD150,000/annum	· EOI Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 2 November 2022. · Full Proposal Deadline: Wednesday 22 March 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Rangahau – Research

Student Research Experience

Are you a post-grad student researcher at the School of Environment (Hons/MS/PhD)? Would you like to get some support for your research from an undergrad student sometime this year? We are talking about 30 hours as a guide, either used as a block or distributed in the year. We have flexibility. In addition to gaining support for your research, this is a great opportunity for you to gain experience in mentoring an undergrad student and share your passion for the research you conduct.

If you are interested, please complete this form by 26^th February: https://forms.gle/Ro5wbh6qskSdF2Mw8

Please email Melanie Kah melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz if you have questions.

Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Talofa ni, Ni sa bula, Fakafeiloaki, Fakatalofa atu, Halo, Gude, Greetings, Tēnā koutou katoa

This is to inform you that the first round of the ENV Māori Postgraduate Research Awards and the Moana Postgraduate Research Awards is now open.

This award is intended to help you to be able to do postgraduate research – maybe covering transport costs or something like that.

There is an application form to fill out if you are keen – I am really happy to answer any questions you may have about it, just let me know, Sonia, s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz

Can you please email me your application by 5pm Monday 20^th March?

There are five $500 awards for each category available so make sure you give it a go.

Hauraki Gulf Scholarship

The Hauraki Gulf Scholarship for MSc and Phd students is open for application from today. The award is provided by Newmarket Rotary Club for research with the potential to improve the natural environment of the Hauraki Gulf, its islands and environs. The award is $10,000. If this covers your area of research then you are encouraged to apply.

More details are here:- https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/find-a-scholarship/rotary-club-newmarket-hauraki-gulf-environment-pg-award-1125-sci.html

If you have any enquiries about the award you can contact the Scholarships Office or myself.

Best wishes

Professor Andrew Jeffs

Institute of Marine Science, & School of Biological Sciences

University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zeland

Ph +64-21-256-3303

R N Brothers Memorial Award – The University of Auckland

An Award of up to $5,000 to assist a postgraduate research student to undertake field-based geological research in New Zealand or the South West Pacific.

About the scholarship

Application status: Apply now
Applicable study: Postgraduate degree in Earth Sciences
Opening date: 17 January 2023
Closing date: 28 February 2023
Tenure: One year
For: Assistance with field-based Research
Number on offer: One
Offer rate: Annually
Value: Up to $5,000

DRDF Call for proposals

We are opening the call for DRDF proposals (former PBRF) early this year to allow as many people to apply as possible.

The guidelines are available here and the application form, here.

In addition to the usual activities, we are keen to see applications from groups with shared research interests and who would like to support engagement activities within our school, throughout the year and involving PG research students (seminar series, reading/writing groups, retreat, workshops etc.)

Please email the form (or your questions) to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz by 15^th February 2023.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Changes to first aid certificate revalidation

As of 1 February 2023, participants can attend a revalidation course if their certificate is no older than two years and three months from the date of issue. i.e. the time between attending courses can NOT be longer than two years three months.

As of 1 May 2023,participants can attend a revalidation course if their certificate is no older than two years from the date of issue. i.e. the time between attending courses can NOT be longer than two years. (three month ‘grace period’ no longer exists)

Publications

Kench, P.S., Liang, C., Ford, M.R., Owen, S.D., Aslam, M., Ryan, E.J., Turner, T., Beetham, E., Dickson, M.E., Stephenson, W., Vila-Concejo, A. and McLean, R.F. 2023 Reef islands have continually adjusted to environmental change over the past two millennia, Nature Communications, 14, 508.

Nikolai Siimes. (2023). Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture [Book review]. Social & Cultural Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2023.2172859

Categories: Uncategorised

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Issue 93 – Tuesday 31th January 2023

January 31, 2023 • igom365

HeadsUp

This was going to be the “welcome back, hope you had a great summer break” commentary. Well, there were some days that were glorious and quintessentially summer. And in due course I look forward to hearing how you spent them. But for now, here we are, working from home again. Heartbreakingly for some of us, there is also cleaning up flood debris or even reassessing what and where home is.

I won’t repeat in any detail the content of the VC’s email to everyone. Nor will I repeat my own sent yesterday, other than to remind you that an order from the Secretary of Education, endorsed by the VC, extended my urging we work from home for the time being. We are asked to work from home until Feb 7^th. Some of you may have the extra challenge of parenting, given schools are closed. As I said yesterday, be kind to yourselves and if you need to take time to deal with the immediacy of home life please do so. We cannot effectively work if we are seriously preoccupied.

Mercifully, perhaps, we only have one Summer School offering underway and I am grateful to Nick Richards for his flexibility in sorting out a solution to no field trips being possible this week.

The other adjustment we need to accommodate is use of Labs. The Technical Services team is not on site this week. Please bear in mind the VC’s exhortation: “Staff who do not have a pressing need to be on campus should work from home”. If you feel you must enter one of our labs, you must also contact Blair. He will either direct you to who needs to be present or arrange for he, or one of his team, to come onto campus to oversee your visit/lab work. This is a requirement not a request.

Please be aware that students you are supervising may have encountered flood related challenges and directly ask them how they are doing. If they are affected remind them that the student emergency fund is still operating. For longer-term disruption for PG students, suspensions are possible via the standard routes.

On a brighter note, I am happy to welcome four new staff: Tom Dowling (Lecturer in GISci) and Anthony Gampell (PTF) as well as Rachael Boswell and Joel Rindelaub (Postdocs working with me and Jenny Salmond, respectively). Please be on standby for a first-week-of semester call-out for drinks and nibbles, at which we can welcome these colleagues.

Looking ahead, I have considered what I discern to be a certain fatigue with three School retreats each year in which we ‘retreat’ no further than another room on campus. To try something new this year, as well as respond to popular requests, we will go ‘back to the future’ and return to the staff meeting model (with at least one mid-year retreat day that will be well and truly off campus). You will have received Outlook invitations. The first of only 4 staff meetings of the year will be Tuesday 21^st February 10-11am. Attendance is expected, but zoom and/or recording will be attempted for those eg ill or on RSL.

Having just four meetings and a strategy retreat does mean we continue to rely on emailed School communications. I therefore ask that you make a priority of regularly reading p-Cubed.

I also that you help Technical Services with their survey (discussed elsewhere in p-cubed this week) and ensure you complete Field Activity Plans are submitted in a timely manner.

I also ask that in lodging Concur claims you consolidate requests for seeking reimbursement to once a month. Multiple claims for smallish sums becomes a time-consumptive make-work project for he who needs to sign them off!

Finally…Covid (sorry, amid flood concerns, this may seem very last year). However, thanks to some investigations prompted by Jen Eccles’ forthcoming field course to Te Waipounamu (the South Island), we have established that our duty of care must extend to accommodating participants if they acquire Covid while away and need to isolate. This applies to any field trip that is a flight rather than drive away. So, if you are planning such a trip, please contact Michael Groom for details and the School will cover the premiums.

That’s it for this rain-disrupted week. Hang in everyone and do be in touch if you need assistance.

Robin Kearns

General Announcements

Laboratory Survey for Staff

The Technical Services team would like to undertake a small survey to understand the expectations around school laboratories and support.

This link will remain active until March 1^st 2023.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qPEWuhBB0BxR1s

CapEx Requests for 2024

Applications are now open for 2024 CapEx requests. We have decided to give a longer time frame than usual, so more staff have the opportunity to submit. This link will remain active until April 15^th 2023.

If you have an item that isn’t on the list for this year (P2) then please submit a request so we know its still needed. Blair will email those staff directly.

Please direct any questions to Blair.

https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJXjoluewgiVizs

Funding

Ngā Ara Whetū 2023 Doctoral Scholarships

Ngā Ara Whetū is delighted to announce that we have three UoA doctoral stipends to award in 2023. The purpose is to support the mission of our centre, particularly fostering transdisciplinary research. Therefore, the supervisors must be affiliated to Ngā Ara Whetū and come from at least two different Faculties/large scale research institutes. It’s easy to become an affiliate, UoA academics just need to email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz and you will be added to our list. We invite students to apply for the scholarships by 1 March 2023.

More information, including the application form, can be found on the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships page in the Faculty/LSRI/USC Doctoral Scholarship Strategies and Opportunities section:

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/scholarship-types/postgraduate-scholarships/doctoral-scholarships.html

If you have any questions, please email ngaarawhetu@auckland.ac.nz.

Climate Change AI – Innovation Grants
The CCAI Innovation Grants aim to encourage research activity that addresses these challenges. The second cycle allocates grants for research projects that apply AI to help study, mitigate, or adapt to climate change. Projects that address AI governance in the context of climate change or that assess the climate impacts of AI and its applications are also eligible for funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•In this cycle, up to USD150,000 (circa NZD228,000) will be allocated per proposal. •The duration of the project can be up to 12 months. Project start date to be August 15, 2023.	5pm, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Website · UoA Funding Call Please inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly) if you are interested in applying.

Te Tahua Taiao Ngā Taonga – Lottery Environment and Heritage grants – Round Two
Lottery Environment and Heritage grants are available for projects that will help protect, conserve or care for our natural, cultural and physical heritage, or allow us to better understand and access these resources.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
•Small projects, where the grant requested is for less than $250,000. •Large projects, where the grant requested is for $250,000 or more.	5pm, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Website · UoA Funding Call Please inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly) if you are interested in applying.

RSNZ- Catalyst Fund Seeding
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
A maximum of NZ$80,000 (excl. GST) is available per proposal for projects lasting up to two years.	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

RSNZ- Catalyst Leaders
Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1: International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards) Supports exceptional individuals from any country outside New Zealand to catalyse science and innovation capability and capacity development in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years. JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards) Supports excellent post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards) Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
International Leader Fellowship Up to $50,000 per annum for up to three years. New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme NZ$3,000 travel grant JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships •Round trip air-ticket + approx. $6690 allowances	5pm Wednesday 12 April 2023.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): · Guidelines · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department or click the above button to get registered to the portal. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly)

Royal Society New Zealand – Marsden Fund

The Marsden Fund invests in excellent, investigator-led research aimed at generating new knowledge, with long-term benefit to New Zealand.

Three types of awards are offered:

• Fast-Start: for emerging researchers – to give an impetus to their careers by promoting them as sole Principal Investigators (PI) in their own research programme

• Standard: for established and emerging researchers

• Council Award: for projects that are interdisciplinary in nature, with larger teams

Value/Duration:

Internal Deadlines:

All grants are for a maximum of three years and are GST exclusive.

Fast-Start: up to $120K p.a.
Standard: up to $220-$320K p.a. (varies by panel)
Council Award: up to $1M p.a.

Due to Funds Advisor Team by 12 noon, Tuesday 7 February 2023.

Fast-Start and Standard Expressions of Interest (EOIs)
Marsden Fund Council Award FULL proposals

Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

If you are interested in applying, please follow instructions in the UoA funding call to register your interest and inform FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, or Franca).

Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha
The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding.
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
The minimum grant available for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for other project types will be $50,000 Duration: Up to 4 years	· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023 · The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

2023 MBIE Endeavour Fund – Research Programmes
The Endeavour Fund supports excellent research with the potential to positively transform New Zealand’s economy, environment and society Research Programmes are intended to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Value: $0.5 million or more per year · Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years	· Registration: 12 noon, Friday 25 November 2022 · Full proposal: 12 noon, Monday 20 February 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Toka Tū Ake EQC University Research Programme (URP 2024-26)
Since the 1990s, Toka Tū Ake EQC has provided funding to tertiary institutions across New Zealand. This funding has helped to support research capability in natural disaster risk reduction. From 2020, Toka Tū Ake EQC funding introduced a three-year University Research Programme for tertiary institutions focused on: Research that is targeted to Toka Tū Ake EQC’s goals and priorities Contribution to better outcomes for New Zealanders Developing research capability that is aligned with programme delivery End user and/or stakeholder collaboration and partnerships A greater partnership approach with Toka Tū Ake EQC
Value/Duration:	Internal Deadlines:
· Projects can be up to a maximum duration of 36 months · The award is up to NZD150,000/annum	· EOI Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 2 November 2022. · Full Proposal Deadline: Wednesday 22 March 2023
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info): Funders website UoA funding call Please register with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission.

Rangahau – Research

Hauraki Gulf Scholarship

The Hauraki Gulf Scholarship for MSc and Phd students is open for application from today. The award is provided by Newmarket Rotary Club for research with the potential to improve the natural environment of the Hauraki Gulf, its islands and environs. The award is $10,000. If this covers your area of research then you are encouraged to apply.

More details are here:- https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/scholarships-and-awards/find-a-scholarship/rotary-club-newmarket-hauraki-gulf-environment-pg-award-1125-sci.html

If you have any enquiries about the award you can contact the Scholarships Office or myself.

Best wishes

Professor Andrew Jeffs

Institute of Marine Science, & School of Biological Sciences

University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zeland

Ph +64-21-256-3303

R N Brothers Memorial Award – The University of Auckland

An Award of up to $5,000 to assist a postgraduate research student to undertake field-based geological research in New Zealand or the South West Pacific.

About the scholarship

Application status: Apply now
Applicable study: Postgraduate degree in Earth Sciences
Opening date: 17 January 2023
Closing date: 28 February 2023
Tenure: One year
For: Assistance with field-based Research
Number on offer: One
Offer rate: Annually
Value: Up to $5,000

DRDF Call for proposals

We are opening the call for DRDF proposals (former PBRF) early this year to allow as many people to apply as possible.

The guidelines are available here and the application form, here.

In addition to the usual activities, we are keen to see applications from groups with shared research interests and who would like to support engagement activities within our school, throughout the year and involving PG research students (seminar series, reading/writing groups, retreat, workshops etc.)

Please email the form (or your questions) to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz by 15^th February 2023.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

New Field Activity Plans are ready to be rolled out, Watch this space in the coming days.

Publications

Cook M, Brook M, Cave M, Wolter A, Rosser B. (2022). November 2021 rainfall-triggered landslides in Gisborne/Tairāwhiti: field reconnaissance and insights from InSAR monitoring. New Zealand Geomechanics Mapping and monitoring landslides in New Zealand using Sentinel-1 InSAR data: A case study from Gisborne – New Zealand Geotechnical Society (nzgs.org)

Hamilton AR, Brook MS, Patel JP, Talbot N. (2022). Analysis and occurrence of fibrous erionite minerals in New Zealand: soke technical notes. New Zealand Geomechanics https://hdl.handle.net/2292/62599

Categories: Uncategorised

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Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Rangahau – Research

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Rangahau – Research

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Rangahau – Research

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities

Funding

Rangahau – Research

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

HeadsUp

General Announcements

Funding

Rangahau – Research

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Publications

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