Tagged: research

Forget fake news – the bigger problem in science is PR hype! - Griffin's Gadgets

Peter Griffin • Aug 18, 2017 •

• fake news,
• hype,
• research,
• Victor Chang

Thousands of scientific journal papers are being published every week and their authors and institutions are often under intense pressure to generate interest in the research beyond the world of peer review. Research leader Professor Sally Dunwoodie from the Victor Chang Institute with her team. Credit: Victor Chang Institute That can be a healthy thing – it is increasingly … Read More

When artists get involved in research, science benefits - Guest Work

Guest Work • Aug 17, 2017 •

• Antarctica,
• art,
• Creativity,
• ice,
• research,
• Science

By Craig Stevens and Gabby O’Connor When artists and scientists get together, creative sparks can fly. Collaborative sci-art projects are increasingly popular and one obvious benefit is the greater visibility of the research through the artist’s work. Our project explored scientific and artistic aspects of Antarctic ice crystals. But what’s in it for the … Read More

An Inventory of Citizen Science - Up and Atom

Kimberley Collins • Aug 22, 2016 •

• citizen science,
• community,
• Environment,
• research

The New Zealand Landcare Trust has launched ‘An Inventory of Citizen Science in New Zealand‘ to understand what’s happening in the citizen science space. An Inventory of Citizen Science, which was published earlier this month. The inventory, written by Dr. Monica Peters, includes a range of projects studying everything from children monitoring long-tailed bats, to patrolling beaches for dead seabirds and monitoring … Read More

Malaghan, Otago, GNS among rising stars in science - Griffin's Gadgets

Peter Griffin • Jul 28, 2016 •

• Nature Index,
• R&D,
• research

The scientific journal Nature has just published its annually updated Nature Index to identify the rising stars among research institutions around the world and a couple of New Zealand institutions get a mention. [UPDATE: I left out GNS Science, which came in 18th!] In the Asia Pacific picks for the top 25 rising stars are the University of … Read More

Govt asks: ‘Conservation science – are we doing it right?’ - News

John Kerr • Jul 18, 2016 •

• conservation,
• conservation and environment science roadmap,
• Department of Conservation,
• DoC,
• Environment,
• MfE,
• Ministry for the Environment,
• policy,
• research,
• research funding,
• research priorities,
• roadmap

The Government funds millions of dollars’ worth of conservation and environment research each year – and it needs your help to make sure that research is heading in the right direction. A planned conservation and environment science ‘roadmap’ will lay out the Government’s research priorities of for the next 20 years. The Department of Conservation (DOC) and Ministry for the Environment (MfE) have jointly … Read More

Budget 2016: On the face of it, science did well - Griffin's Gadgets

Peter Griffin • May 26, 2016 •

• Budget 2016,
• research,
• science funding

The Government claims it will put around $100 million extra into science and innovation each year for the next four years in a series of funding top-ups revealed in today’s Budget. It is always hard to tell for sure this early in the piece whether some of that is money reallocated. But the big ticket items certainly do appear … Read More

Pre-Budget announcements reveal science funding boost - Griffin's Gadgets

Peter Griffin • May 18, 2016 •

• Budget 2016,
• research,
• Science,
• science funding

There had been rumours of a significant science-related Budget announcement and yesterday we discovered what it was – a $97 million funding boost over four years for the Health Research Council.  Following some of the awkward self reflection that went on around the science system last week as Shaun Hendy’s book Silencing Science appeared, the unexpected funding news has allowed … Read More

Scientists need to engage more with the public to secure funding - Guest Work

Guest Work • May 03, 2016 •

• Antarctica,
• Edwardian funding,
• Funding,
• intrepid science,
• research,
• science communication

By Chris Turney, UNSW Australia and Christopher Fogwill, UNSW Australia We live in an age when society is crying out for scientific solutions to global problems. Just a few of the many considerable challenges we face include the urgent need to transition to a carbon-free economy, the need for new drugs to combat disease and improved … Read More

Reshaping the mould for Māori obesity research - Mātau Taiao

Laura Goodall • Apr 29, 2016 •

• community,
• Health,
• indigenous,
• indigenous knowledge,
• leadership,
• Maori,
• mātauranga māori,
• Northland,
• Obesity,
• partnership,
• rangatiratanga,
• research,
• te ao māori,
• te tai tokerau

What has the Māori word for ‘chieftainship’ got to do with a team of scientists looking at obesity in Northland? Answer: the researchers broke the scientific mould by putting the Māori communities — not scientists — in the leading role. Researcher Ricky Bell tells us how they did it. Rangatiratanga is a powerful word.  It’s loosely translated to mean chieftainship, authority, leadership.  But … Read More

Should degrees be taught mainly by research active staff? - Molecular Matters

Michael Edmonds • Mar 28, 2016 •

• Learning,
• new models of tertiary education,
• research,
• teaching,
• university

Should degrees be taught mainly by research active staff?* is one of the many questions being asked in the “New models of tertiary education” issues paper released for comment in February of this year. Looking at the various regulations currently embedded in New Zealand there appears to an assumption that degrees benefit from being taught by research active … Read More