Research focus areas

Victoria University of Wellington leads the world in some areas and has international success in many others. Explore some of our cutting-edge projects.

Manufacturing state-of-the-art magnetic thin film materials.

Advanced materials

Victoria University of Wellington's advanced materials researchers are among the best in the world and are leading many collaborations to improve our lives.
Landscape of an iceberg in a deep blue antarctic sea.

Antarctic and climate change

We are New Zealand's top academic institution for Antarctic and climate change research and are a world leader in this vital field.
Woman addressing listeners, with city at night in background.

Asia-Pacific relations

The political, economic, cultural and environmental significance of the Asia-Pacific has never been greater and our research is focused on these four aspects.
Dr Raqi Syed discussing the history of virtual reality

Colliding conversations: virtual reality and beyond

Video conversations exploring how staff and students across different disciplines contribute to hot topics in virtual reality and digital creation.
Research scientist adding liquid to glass flask.

Organic chemistry

University researchers are working with world-class biologists and fellow global leaders in organic chemistry to tackle diseases such as cancer.
Artistic iron work that trims the upper part of a building.

Public law

Located at the centre of New Zealand political life, we are proud of our long history as the country's pre-eminent place to study and research public law.
Two students work on an orange remotely operated vehicle that has large tracks – Wellington is in the background.

Artificial intelligence, evolutionary computation and machine learning

Victoria University of Wellington is leading this exciting field of future-defining research.