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Summer Gold Posters

24 April 2012

The Science Faculty had 4 winners for 'Best overall' in group four, five and six and in 'Best visual poster'.

Winners of the Summer Gold poster Competition 2012

 

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Professor Sir Paul Callaghan

26 March 2012

It is with the utmost sadness that I have to inform you that our colleague and friend, Professor Sir Paul Callaghan, has died today after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Paul's acievements are well known; he received national and international recognition at the highest level during his illustrious career as a physicist. He was knighted in 2009 and was named New Zealander of the Year in 2011.

Paul was an inspiration to us all, as a colleague and a teacher he will be deeply missed by staff and students alike; as a scientist he was passionate about his research and achieved at the highest levels possible, and he did not just talk about the value of his science, he applied it to form a world class technology start-up company; as a communicator he had an outstanding talent for conveying the excitement and value of science to all he met; most of all he had a vision for New Zealand that we could be a place where "talent wants to live".

I know we will all miss him deeply. 

Sincerely,

David Bibby

Pro Vice-Chancellor & Dean,
Science Faculty Office

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Eureka

7 March 2012

The Rotary Club of Wellington, with the support of Professor Sir Paul Callaghan, is launching a new initiative, the Eureka! Symposium and Sir Paul Callaghan Awards.

The purpose of the initiative is to recognise New Zealand’s best young science/technology/engineering orators in secondary schools and at undergraduate level in universities, polytechnics and wānanga throughout the country.

The inaugural Sir Paul Callaghan Awards will be presented at the Eureka! Symposium to be held at Victoria University of Wellington on 12 July 2012.

The winner will be chosen by an eminent judging panel from 12 finalists who will each make a 20 minute presentation to an invited audience of key government decision makers, business people, policy makers, scientists, investors, and science/technology/engineering consumers. The presentation will be about their chosen science/technology/engineering subject, based on either their own or others’ research.

These 12 finalists will be chosen for the demonstration of their:

  • passion for science/technology/engineering and depth of knowledge of their subject
  • depth of understanding of the social and economic value of science/technology/engineering
  • presentational skills and ability to communicate to a business audience about science/technology/engineering

The closing date for entries is Thursday 31May. Please go to http://issues.co.nz/eureka for more information and entry form.

The competition is open to all students in science and technology departments in secondary schools, and to the undergraduate science, technology and engineering students in universities, polytechnics and wānanga.

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Dean's list

1 March 2012

This is the first year that Victoria University of Wellington has compiled a Dean's list for excellent academic performance during 2011. It requires considerable dedication and commitment to maintain a high and consistent standard of university study to achieve a grade point average of 7.5 or better; this is an accomplishment to be proud of. The Faculty of Science wishes all recipients continued success in their studies and endeavours here at Victoria.

All PDF documents require Acrobat Reader.

Document File size File type
PDF icon Dean's List 2012 160 KB PDF

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Teaching Excellence Awards

10 February 2012

Teaching Excellence Award winner in the Science Faculty for 2011 is Simon Davy, School of Biological Sciences.

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Research Excellence Awards

10 February 2012

Research Excellence Award winners in the Science Faculty for 2011 are:

  • Dr Ron Fischer, School of Psychology
  • Professor Jim Johnston, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
  • Dr Jeff Shima, School of Biological Sciences

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Early Career Research Awards

10 February 2012

Early Career Research Awards winners in the Science Faculty for 2011 are:

  • Dr Dillon Mayhew, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research
  • Dr Nicky Nelson, School of Biological Sciences

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Kiwi bach takes third place in Solar Decathlon in US capital

5 October 2011

In a contest that went down to the wire the Victoria University team has been awarded third place at the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, just a few points behind the winner. The Meridian First Light house ended with a total of 919 points in the competition against 19 university teams from around the world. The winner of the competition was the University of Maryland with 951 points. Team member Nick Officer says, “While we may not have won overall we are incredibly proud to have represented New Zealand on the world stage. We had such and amazing response from the US public here along with supporters back home.” The Solar Decathlon challenges the teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive. The competition is made up of 10 contests which challenge teams in a number of different areas including energy balance, home entertainment, architecture and engineering. The Victoria University team had high scores in many of the contests, winning the Engineering contest, gaining first equal in Hot Water and Energy Balance, second for Architecture and third for Market Appeal. “Even though we didn’t get the top spot overall, we feel like a winning team. Our house performed how we designed it to and it looks great too!,” says Nick. The Meridian First Light house managed to produce more energy than it consumed over the competition period achieving net zero energy consumption, despite 10 days of undesirable weather. The final results were announced today at 2:30pm in Washington DC (7:30am NZ time). The houses will be open to the public for the last time tomorrow. Teams then have just four days to pack up their houses and get them off the West Potomac Park. The Meridian First Light house will then be packed back up and put on a ship back home to New Zealand. For more information please contact Sophie Prebble on 00 1 202 476 0850 or email sophie.prebble@vuw.ac.nz or visit www.firstlighthouse.ac.nz

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Keeping count of our species

13 June 2011

Just how bad is the plight of native frogs? How are kakapo or tuatara doing? 

A Victoria University professor has used statistical techniques to estimate numbers in animal populations, providing accurate data that are essential to conservation efforts.

Professor Shirley Pledger, an international expert in this area, will explore how statistics has helped conservation in her inaugural professorial lecture at Victoria University next Tuesday.

Her research has built on the ‘capture-recapture’ method used by scientists.

“Capture-recapture is a technique that provides accurate estimates of animals, including any that remain hidden,” says Professor Pledger. “It gives us data so we know what we’re dealing with. For instance, do we need to concentrate more on removing predators? Where are numbers strong?”

Using the technique, scientists capture a sample of animals, mark them then release them. Later they capture another sample and use the proportion of marked animals that are recaptured to estimate the total animal population.

Professor Pledger’s research has focused on improving the capture-recapture method, trying different models to accurately estimate the numbers of animals.

“Some animals are bold, some shy, some move around. Scientists either surveyed ‘closed’ populations, which is a kind of snapshot, or ‘open’ populations over a length of time that saw births, deaths and migrations. The outstanding problem for 20 years or so was that most surveys typically underestimated population sizes—now that’s much less of an issue.”

As well as working with biologists at Victoria and other institutions in New Zealand, Professor Pledger has strong international connections.

Her statistical work forms part of a US computer package for surveying animal populations.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh says Victoria’s inaugural lecture series is an opportunity for professors to provide family, friends, colleagues and the wider community with an insight into their specialist area of study.

“It is also an opportunity for the University to celebrate and acknowledge our valued professors,” says Professor Walsh.

Inaugural lecture—Professor Shirley Pledger

‘How many animals are in the area? When counting doesn’t work’

Tuesday 21 June,
6pm Hunter Council Chamber,
Level 2, Hunter Building
Victoria University, Kelburn


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