Professor Harry Ricketts
Award: Pou Aronui Award
For prolific contributions to literature.
Research awards 2021
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington celebrates outstanding researchers for their achievements.
At Te Herenga Waka, we place strong emphasis on research that addresses real-world issues and informs innovative solutions for the future. As New Zealand’s number one university for research intensity, our research vigour, distinctiveness, and quality are recognised internationally.
Below, we celebrate our staff who have been recognised for their contributions across a range of fields, including the social sciences, analytical chemistry, literature, climate change, and sustainability.
2021 New Zealand Research Honours
These awards are presented by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in celebration of outstanding achievements and excellence of New Zealand researchers.
Professor Tony Ward
Award: Mason Durie Medal
For research on treating violent individuals, which has been hugely influential across the world.
Professor Eric Le Ru
Award: Hector Medal
For world-leading research in physics and analytical chemistry at the nanoscale using surface-enhanced spectroscopies.
Dr Zhenan Jiang
Award: Scott Medal
For work on measuring and modelling the response of superconductors, leading to cost-effective superconducting machines.
Dr Kyle Clem
Award: Hamilton Award
For research on the warming of the remote interior of Antarctica that reveals that this is one of the fastest warming places on Earth.
Dr Emily Beausoleil
Award: Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Science
For research that seeks to enhance equality of voice in diverse communities.
Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award.
The Imagining Decolonised Cities team, a collaboration of staff from various organisations, for innovative co-created research conducted by Māori that has made a distinctive contribution to community wellbeing and development in Aotearoa.
Rutherford Medal
Adjunct Professor Ralph Chapman, Professor Robyn Phipps and Professor Arthur Grimes are part of the team receiving the 2021 Rutherford Medal for research that has quantified the effects of housing interventions on occupants’ health and wellbeing, and informed legislation and policy.
Learn more about our 2021 Research Honours winners.
Rutherford Discovery Fellowships
Four of 11 prestigious Rutherford Discovery Fellowships awarded this year by Royal Society Te Apārangi have gone to researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. These fellowships recognise New Zealand’s future research leaders.
Dr Calum Chamberlain
For research that identifies key signals that precede an earthquake, using state-of-the-art computational methods and modern machine learning.
Associate Professor
Jessica Lai
For research that examines what defines a patentable invention, who benefits from it and possible alternatives to the current system.
Dr Samuel Mehr
For research that seeks to understand how human minds perceive music and how this process has evolved.
Dr Michael Price
For research that enhances the energy efficiency of organic solar cells, making them a viable sustainable source of energy.
