2017

    Spring 2017

  • Kaka bird

    Who rules the roost?

    After a century-long absence, kākā were successfully reintroduced in Wellington in 2002—but the restoration of the iconic native bird has ruffled a few feathers.

  • Professor Linda Trenberth, Vice-Provost (Academic and Equity)

    Future focused

    “My vision for Victoria is that our staff and students understand what it means to be part of a truly global civic university at the heart of the capital city of New Zealand.”

  • Professor Ian Williamson

    Making an impact

    “Why is education valuable to people here? It’s not the same answer everywhere around the world.”

  • A boost for Biological Sciences

    Clinical health, conservation, drug discovery, genetics, reproduction—the science of the life that surrounds us.

  • Emeritus Professor Lydia Weavers, Professor John Townend and Dr Maria Bargh

    The hills have names

    How does it shift your perspective if you see the landscape as the head of the fish—Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui?

  • Emeritus Professor Lydia Wevers

    Hundreds of lives as a reader

    “My life’s a pretty open book, I think,” says Emeritus Professor Lydia Wevers when asked for something about herself that might surprise people.

  • Professor Richard Furneaux

    Medicine in the making

    In 1998, Professor Richard Furneaux was knocking on pharmaceutical companies’ doors to tell them of his team’s promising new chemical compound.

  • Emily Parker

    A growth in synthetic biology

    The field of synthetic biology is making waves internationally, says Professor Emily Parker—and with the leading biochemist recently moving to Wellington, it’s taking off at Victoria too.

  • Landscape view from the harbour

    Indigenous cities

    A project involving Victoria researchers from different disciplines is encouraging people to think about the forces that have shaped their cities.

  • Ancient Greek art, series of vases

    Amphorae in the modern age

    The worlds of 3D printing and ancient Greek art are colliding at Victoria, giving students unique opportunities such as the chance to portray their personal history on an amphora.

  • Bhavana Bhim, a BA(Hons) student

    The Bachelor of Arts: Key to the future

    The future of work is currently a hot topic. The Labour Party’s Future of Work Commission report predicted that 46 percent of Kiwi jobs are under threat of automation in the next 10 to 15 years and, globally, swathes of researchers speculate about the impact of a rapidly changing job market.

  • Preserving authenticity

    A ‘digital bookshelf’ created at Victoria is helping New Zealand’s Cook Islands community preserve its language and traditional stories.

  • Girl holding her stuffed teddy bear toy while sitting on her bed

    Bedtime stories

    Every month, a number of children around New Zealand receive the sound of their mother’s voice in the mail.

  • Teen sitting on his bed looking overwhelmed

    The truth of our youth

    Why do some young people deliberately hurt themselves, but others never do? Why do some go on to chronically engage in self-injury, while others stop?

  • Paper dolls and exercise books

    “I like the way a writer’s papers and rough drafts can return us to the idea of writing as making. You can learn a lot from seeing the author stumbling, mucking about, failing, doodling, reviving.”

  • Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability) Associate Professor Marjan van den Belt

    Championing a sustainability agenda

    Victoria this year signalled its commitment to begin implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  • Ripple effect

    For the past two decades, Victoria’s New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) programme has been helping to make more New Zealanders understood.

  • Series of light bulbs on a dark background

    Shining a light on the public sector

    The New Zealand public sector lags behind its Australian counterparts when it comes to whistle-blowing practices. A Victoria academic is on a mission to help turn that around.

  • Professor Bronwyn Wood, Professor Carmen Dalli and Professor Miriam Meyerhoff

    Embracing diversity in education

    As New Zealand’s cultural diversity continues to grow, Victoria academics are asking how it will affect children and young people’s sense of belonging, participation and citizenship.

  • Professor Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

    Building bridges to India

    New Zealand may be far from India on a world map, but Professor Sekhar Bandyopadhyay is ensuring his adopted home is firmly on the radar for Indian policymakers and academics.

  • Stand up and be counted

    New Zealand ranks third highest in the English-speaking world on the Gini coefficient, a key global measure of inequality. How do we give the most marginalised people in our society a voice?

  • Associate Professor Yvette Tinsley

    The verdict on jury reforms

    If, in the past 15 years, you have sat on a New Zealand jury for a criminal trial and appreciated the judge’s guidance about how to reach your verdict, Associate Professor Yvette Tinsley is one of the people you can thank.

  • Dr Simon Chapple

    Blink of an eye

    Dr Simon Chapple, the newly appointed director of Victoria’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (IGPS), first discovered his interest in government when he was just nine years old.

  • Advice to advisers

    Policy advising is an art, not a science, says Dr David Bromell, senior associate at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies.

  • Dr Bevan Marten

    Shape up or ship out

    Dr Bevan Marten’s keen interest in maritime law is purely scholarly—although he admits his favourite Lego model as a child was a container ship.

  • Alumni profiles

    Graduates of Victoria University are doing impressive things across the world. We caught up with four alumni who shared their advice, experience and memories

  • Dr Nessa Lynch

    Rights ... and responsibilities

    It can be challenging to explain what exactly the academic role is. Most of these conversations go something like this: “What do you do?” “I’m an academic at the Law School at Victoria University of Wellington.” “So you teach students who want to be lawyers? I guess you get the summers and holidays off then?”

  • Professor Karl Löfgren

    Better for whom?

    While politicians, decision makers and many academics seem to consider ‘success’ (and ‘failure’) in government business as something self-evident, there is reason to examine what we actually mean by ‘better’ government.

  • The political trading you don't see

    When Parliament passed the Organised Crime and Anticorruption Legislation Bill in 2015, it created a new criminal offence—‘trading in influence’.

  • Lifting public sector performance

    In 2009, the State Services Commission (SSC) launched its Performance Improvement Framework (PIF) to help senior leaders improve state sector agencies’ performances.

  • View of snowy mountain range from overlooking a lake

    Turning up the heat

    The Alpine Fault is one of the world’s major geological features and its tectonic movements have created the more than three-kilometre-high Southern Alps.

  • Helen Lowry Hall

    Who's in my room?

    Playwright and actress Emma Kinane revisits her former room in Helen Lowry Hall, where she reminisces about what’s changed and what hasn’t with current resident Xin Jin.

  • Dayna Berghan-Wyman (Ngati Kahu)

    From Beowulf to battle

    Old English Literature might seem an unlikely gateway to representative sport. For Victoria alumna Dayna Berghan-Wyman (Ngati Kahu) however, her journey towards representing New Zealand at the International Medieval Combat Federation World Championships began with an Old English Literature course.

  • Two children playing with toys

    More than child's play

    Have you ever wondered how a newborn baby’s brain develops into a fully functioning adult mind?

  • Victoria University Rowing Club

    Ninety years of rowing at Victoria

    Established in 1927, the Victoria University Rowing Club celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in September with a regatta on Wellington harbour and an evening alumni reunion.

  • Know your audience

    Dr James McKinnon, who this year won a prestigious Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award, draws his teaching philosophy from an unlikely source.

  • A remarkable life in letters

    In 1956, when Barbara Francis first met Victoria alumna Agnes (Nessie) Moncrieff, she was deeply impressed by this remarkable woman and they soon became lifelong friends.

  • Annaleese Jochems

    Bad baby

    A debut novel by Annaleese Jochems won the 2016 Adam Prize for best folio at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters and has just been published by Victoria University Press.

  • Belgium remembers

    When New Zealanders think of World War I, the images that often come to mind are of heroic deeds and sacrifice on the battlefield rather than what was happening at home.

  • Dr Bruce McFadgen standing in a grassy field

    Unearthing the secrets of the stone rows

    For years, archaeologist Dr Bruce McFadgen pondered the rows of stones that snake across farmland at right angles to the sea along the rugged Wairarapa coastline and elsewhere in coastal New Zealand.

  • The haunting history of the photographic image

    The 10 iterations of the Duke of Wellington’s portrait, featuring in the Adam Art Gallery’s Apparitions exhibition, show that the history of the photographic image is not a stable one.

  • Autumn 2017

  • Eye on the health system

    Victoria’s expertise in health research and teaching underpins the new Faculty of Health recently established at the University.

  • Sharing best practice

    A partnership with a Swiss university will give Victoria an insight into the best approaches to adopt when developing its new Faculty of Health.

  • Spreading the word

    Dr Rebecca Priestley started working in science communication in the 1990s—“before that phrase was even used in New Zealand”.

  • Finding favour in China

    A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beijing Jiaotong University is already reaping rewards for Victoria, including access to some of the highest echelons of the Chinese Government.

  • Co-creative

    Learning from the professionals takes on a whole new meaning for Victoria students who will study at the soon-to-open Miramar Creative Centre.

  • From petri dish to pregnancy

    More than five million babies have been born through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) worldwide.

  • All fun and games

    A new therapy model being used by Victoria researchers is aiding the development of children with autism through the process of play.

  • Te reo Māori thesis a Victoria first

    A thesis that examines the hidden factors behind te reo Māori speakers’ language choices has become the first Victoria PhD written entirely in te reo Māori.

  • Musical diversity

    The music created by alumna Eva Prowse is not what you might expect from a musician who trained in classical music.

  • “I’m sorry Alice, but ...”

    Finding out you have a serious illness or disease is something many people have either experienced or can imagine very clearly. But why do we often see the moment of diagnosis in films, too?

  • Emeritus Professor Neil Curtis

    Rewarding science

    For many people, retirement is a chance to relax and explore a world outside work. Not, however, for Emeritus Professor Neil Curtis.

  • The words

    Honouring outstanding Victoria alumni

    Seven of Victoria’s most accomplished and influential alumni are to receive Distinguished Alumni Awards at a black-tie dinner in November.

  • Spearheading digital futures

    Digital technologies are changing our world—how we live, work and think. At Victoria, we have the skills to explore and understand how the future will unfold. Bring us a problem and we will try to solve it.

  • Dr Karsten Lundqvist, a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering and Computer Science

    Game on

    When Dr Karsten Lundqvist was a child and received one of the first home computers as a birthday present, he was “like a kid in a candy shop”.

  • Blessed are the mech

    New Zealand School of Music lecturer Dr Jim Murphy’s zeal for exploring new frontiers in the sonic arts dates back to his childhood.

  • Deeply digital

    Digital technologies are evolving at lightning speed. How they will affect universities’ learning, teaching, research and community engagement over the coming years is unknown territory, but one which Professor Steven Warburton hopes to navigate.

  • Blurred lines

    Ross Stevens is the first to admit 3D printing can be "creepy".

  • A galaxy of connections

    Associate Professor Leon Gurevitch credits dyslexia with helping him build bridges between disciplines in new and exciting ways, something that is a hallmark of his work in Victoria’s School of Design.

  • Virtual reality showcase

    In March 2017, Victoria partnered with Te Papa Tongarewa for a series of public events that focused on how virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) are changing the way people live, work and play.

  • The digital handmade

    The worlds of ink, lead, 3D printing and plastic are colliding at Victoria’s unique letterpress printing facility Wai-te-ata Press / Te Whare Ta O Waiteata, where staff are using technology to create type characters for historic printing processes.

  • An eye for an AI

    When Mengjie (Meng) Zhang embarked on an academic career, his ambition was “to do one thing and to do it well”. The one thing he opted for proved an astute choice in which he has done exceedingly well and to the benefit of us all.

  • Immersed in new media

    For Dr Taehyun Rhee, a senior lecturer in Victoria’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, academic research offers a precious freedom.

  • Shaking up the office

    When the Kaikoura earthquake hit in November 2016, many organisations went into emergency mode. Unable to fully access buildings, business processes were decentralised and digital technologies were crucial to ensure business continuity.

  • Smarter with data

    New Zealand schools accumulate a lot of data about students and their community, but many lack access to tools that would help them analyse it.

  • Leaders in sign language

    Victoria is continuing its leading role in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) documentation, research and resource development with the release of a new online learning resource from the University’s Deaf Studies Research Unit (DSRU).

  • Between music and meaning

    In April, Victoria University Press published two Bill Manhire books: a new poetry collection, Some Things to Place in a Coffin, and Tell Me My Name, a book with a CD of his riddles set to music by Norman Meehan and sung by Hannah Griffin.

  • We need to talk about climate change

    Wellington writer James McNaughton’s second novel tackles the very topical subject of climate change. Published by Victoria University Press in March, Star Sailors is set in Wellington in 2045 after climate change has devastated the world and New Zealand has become a haven for “elites”.

  • Aotearoa’s landscapes go global

    Victoria University of Wellington’s partnership with edX is well underway, with the first massive online open course (MOOC) finished and the second soon to open for enrolment.

  • Who’s in my room?

    A friendship formed in their first year at Victoria has continued to flourish for two alumnae, who have since gone on to establish a successful Auckland-based travel gear business.

  • Surveying working life

    A survey of more than 14,000 public sector workers revealed that while many are motivated, resilient and satisfied in their jobs, they also felt underpaid and inadequately supported by their organisation.

  • Alumni profiles

    Graduates of Victoria University are doing impressive things across the world. We caught up with four alumni who shared their advice, experience and memories.

  • Finding the light

    A garment that lights up and was designed by two alumnae won the 2016 World of Wearable Arts (WOW) People’s Choice Award.

  • Redevelopment complete

    Victoria’s new Rutherford House Annexe on the Pipitea campus was officially opened by Prime Minister the Right Honourable Bill English in March.

  • Making headway

    It's estimated someone in the world develops Alzheimer's disease every 60 seconds. Scientists from Victoria’s Ferrier Research Institute have been awarded more than $850,000 to advance a potential treatment for the disease, which leads to an inability to retain new information and difficulty in recognising people and places.

  • Climate change conference returns

    In response to the urgent and potentially life-threatening consequences of climate change on the Pacific, Victoria is holding a second Pacific Climate Change Conference from 21 to 23 February 2018.

  • Sixties students 50 years on

    ‘The silent majority’ is a favourite phrase of political pundits in the wake of Brexit and the election of President Trump, but it could equally have been applied to 1960s student politics at Victoria.

  • Lessons on university life

    Seventy-two Pasifika students had a taste of university life at Victoria’s first academic preparatory camp, held before classes started in Trimester One.

  • Change lives, change our world

    The Victoria University Foundation has raised more than $50 million since 2011 and aims to raise the same amount again over the next few years as part of its first major fundraising campaign, Capital Thinking: The Victoria University of Wellington Campaign.

  • Sounds like a great idea

    What began as a great idea between staff in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has become a compelling podcast series investigating the world’s most revolutionary ideas.

  • The edges of international law

    A study of foreign relations law written by a Victoria University law professor is making a big impact overseas.

  • The one that almost got away

    Many in the Victoria community will fondly remember the late Professor Tim Beaglehole as a key figure in building the University’s art collection.